Lifeless Offense Dooms Virginia Again in 54-44 Loss to No. 10 North Carolina
For the first time since February 25th, 2012, North Carolina defeated Virginia at John Paul Jones Arena.
Despite shooting 32% from the field for the game and having their two best players held to a combined two points in the first half, the Tar Heels managed to walk out of a building in which they hadn't won in nearly 12 years with a 10-point victory.
Cormac Ryan gave UNC an unexpected and significant lift with 18 points on six threes and although the Cavaliers' defense gave themselves a chance to win the game down the stretch, they couldn't quite make enough shots to fully close the gap as Virginia (20-8, 11-6 ACC) suffered a 54-44 loss to No. 10 North Carolina (21-6, 13-3 ACC) on Saturday evening at John Paul Jones Arena.
Any confidence that UVA basketball supporters might have had in this game was thoroughly shaken by the Cavaliers' performance in their most recent game, as they were utterly blown off the floor by in-state rival Virginia Tech 75-41. Virginia went nearly nine minutes without scoring in the first half of that game and had just 16 points at halftime.
Reece Beekman made two short jumpers in the paint in the first two minutes of this game, providing some encouragement that UVA's offense was about to see a resurgence simply by playing at home. Instead, and almost unbelievably, the Cavaliers proceeded to deliver a near identical performance on the offensive end in the first half of their next game.
Virginia endured a scoring drought of seven minutes and 58 seconds, a drought that was finally snapped as Beekman found the paint and dished to an open Blake Buchanan for a dunk. But that was followed immediately by another scoring drought of more than four minutes for the Cavaliers, who made just one of 23 field goal attempts during that stretch of play.
Fortunately for the Cavaliers, their defense kept them hanging in the game by a thread. UVA successfully kept a lid on Armando Bacot, who had just two points and played only seven minutes in the first half after picking up two personal fouls. RJ Davis, the ACC's leading scorer at 21.3 points per game coming in, was held scoreless by Reece Beekman and company in the first half.
The only real problem on that end of the floor was Cormac Ryan. The Notre Dame transfer is shooting a lowly 31.7% from three on the season, but has been shooting better of late, having made four threes in each of his last two games. Ryan was simply on fire in the first half, knocking down five three-pointers and accounting for 15 of North Carolina's 26 points.
With Bacot and Davis seemingly being non-factors on the offensive end, though, UVA was able to keep things within reach even as its offense failed to get into any type of rhythm. Jordan Minor grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to get Virginia to 10 points with a little over three minutes left in the half. Minor and Elijah Gertrude, who played seven minutes in the first half, both made a pair of free throws to get back the Cavaliers back within seven points, but Ryan quieted the crowd with his fifth three of the half.
Virginia ended the half on a high note, as Minor and Jake Groves executed a perfect post trap to force Jalen Washington to throw a pass that was intercepted by Beekman and taken the other way for a dunk. That got the Cavaliers back within 10, trailing 26-16 at halftime.
UVA made just five shots in the first half on 16.7% shooting and gave up five three-pointers to Ryan, but Virginia's all-around team defensive effort, and in particular the success in completely taking Davis and Bacot out of the game, allowed the Cavaliers to keep some semblance of hope in the second half trailing by just 10 points.
Virginia started the second half on the right foot, as Beekman got inside for a layup and Minor used some crafty footwork to score over Bacot with his left hand. But Cormac Ryan stayed hot, pulling up with Andrew Rohde's hand in his face and burying his sixth three-pointer of the game.
Momentum swung in favor of the Cavaliers at a couple points in the second half, but never for long, be that because of UNC hitting some timely shots or from being on the wrong side of a few questionable calls. On one such sequence, Virginia had narrowed the deficit to six points, but then the Tar Heels caught a lucky break as Bacot simply dropped the ball out of bounds, but the refs puzzlingly kept possession with UNC. RJ Davis capitalized with a step-back three-pointer, his first made basket of the game.
That was the lone made field goal of the game for Davis, who was hounded into a 1/14 shooting night by Beekman, but still scored 12 points in the second half, nine of which came from the free throw line. That Davis three-pointer turned into a 7-0 run for UNC to reestablish a 13-point advantage, matching the largest lead of the game.
The Cavaliers continued to give themselves chances with their play on the defensive end, at one point holding UNC without a made shot over a six-minute stretch. That allowed Virginia to work back into striking distance again and an offensive rebound and putback by Jordan Minor made it an eight-point game with a little over five minutes to go.
As opposed to the first half, when Cormac Ryan accounted for most of UNC's offensive production, while Armando Bacot and RJ Davis were held quiet, Bacot and Davis came alive in the second half and scored a combined 20 points. A dunk from Bacot pushed the North Carolina lead back up to 10.
After a timeout, Virginia executed a well-designed play with Beekman driving baseline and finding McKneely in the opposite corner for UVA's second three-pointer of the game. The Cavaliers then forced a UNC shot-clock violation and then McKneely made a pair of free throws to keep the door open for a comeback, as Virginia trailed 47-42 with a little over two minutes to play.
UVA got another stop thanks to a block by Ryan Dunn on Bacot, but the Cavaliers came up empty on their next possession, as McKneely missed a three and Minor missed the front and of a one-and-one after grabbing an offensive rebound.
Elijah Gertrude, who played a season-high 19 minutes and gave Virginia a good lift, got lost on an off-ball switch, leaving Harrison Ingram open under the basket for a layup. Gertrude then atoned for his mistake by hitting a mid-range jumper to make it 49-44 with a little over a minute to go.
UNC got three points on its next possession thanks to an offensive rebound by Bacot on a missed free throw and then Beekman missed a layup on Virginia's next possession, sealing the outcome as North Carolina went on to win 54-44.
"The defense held us in there enough to try to stay attached," Tony Bennett said after the game. "Offensively... we were a little better in the second half, but you know, they're really keying in on a few guys and really playing off of some others. Some of those shots we need to finish and knock them down... but the effort was there. I told our guys after the game. I said you were smart some of the time, most of the time, but not enough of the time. I thought there were some stretches where we got a little scattered."
Virginia recovered its defensive play from the disaster at Virginia Tech on Monday and played well enough on the defensive end to win the game, holding North Carolina to 32.0% shooting from the floor and limiting RJ Davis and Armando Bacot to a combined 22 points, although Cormac Ryan going off for 18 points on six threes certainly wasn't part of the game plan.
But the Cavaliers couldn't overcome their own offensive struggles and simply failed to hit enough shots to fully close the gap. Virginia failed to reach 50 points for the third-straight game, shot just 27.6% from the floor and 2/14 from beyond the arc. Jordan Minor was the leading scorer for UVA with 12 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double and Reece Beekman had 10 points, seven rebounds, and five assists.
Virginia has now lost three of its last four games will look to get back on track on Wednesday night, when the Cavaliers travel to Chestnut Hill to take on Boston College. Tipoff is set for 9pm on Wednesday on ESPNU.
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