The Plus/Minus: Virginia Digs Crater, Can’t Get Out Against UNC

An ugly start doomed the Virginia Cavaliers as they fell to North Carolina 81-66 on Saturday at the Dean Dome.

Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

The progress that Virginia had shown in February has officially disappeared following back-to-back drubbings by first Duke, and now UNC.  The Tar Heels raced out to a 21-2 lead and the Hoos never recovered.

Minus

It’s hard to overstate just how bad the start of the game went for Virginia.  By the 16 minute mark, Virginia was down 9-2 and coach Ron Sanchez was itching for the horn to sound for the 16-minute media timeout.  By the time he finally caved and called timeout, Virginia was down 15-2.  In those first six minutes, Isaac McKneely and Dai Dai Ames each airballed a three, Taine Murray, Elijah Saunders and Anthony Robinson were all stuffed at the rim, the Hoos committed a shot-clock violation, and UNC grabbed all 10 potential rebounds.  By the 11:32 mark, Virginia had scored just two points.

Plus

And then UNC shot themselves in the foot.  Over a span of 43 seconds, UNC was called for a flagrant-one and McKneely canned both free throws.  Andrew Rohde hit a three and then Jae’Lyn Withers was assessed a technical for taunting the UVA bench.  McKneely converted both of those as well.  Confidence comes in small doses sometimes, as those free throws primed the pump and the Cavaliers were in the midst of a 14-3 run.  After starting the game 1/10 from the floor, UVA went eight for their next ten.  Virginia was back in the ball game.

Minus

Except that UNC caught fire from deep.  There are 364 Division I programs, and 263 of them shoot the three better than UNC.  Somebody forgot to tell Withers and Ian Jackson that as the pair combined to go 5/5 from deep and the team 6/8 for the first half.  It was the perfect storm for Virginia – a craptastic start and UNC catching fire from deep – and the Hoos would not be able to get closer than seven points the rest of the way.

Minus

Virginia did manage to grab some rebounds after that 0/10 start, but they were still bullied on the boards to the tune of a 35-21 deficit.  It was worse on the offensive glass as the Tar Heels had an 11-3 advantage, which lead to a 17-2 differential in second-chance points.  “Carolina Refs” helped a bit with that disparity.  Four times Cavaliers were called for pushing in the back in the rebounding scrum.  I saw at least three instances of Tar Heels doing the same to the Cavs, but they were never penalized.

Plus

Virginia was solid at the line going 12/13.  But because UNC drives to the basket harder, they got to shoot 22 times from the charity stripe, converting 18.  (The basketball purist in me applauds two teams who combine to go 40/45 from the line.)  15 second-chance points and a six-point free throw differential, and that’s your ball game right there.

Minus

After being treated to some quality point guard play from Andrew Rohde in calendar year 2025, it was a shock to see him have a four-assist four-turnover kind of night.

Minus

Withers is averaging seven points on the year.  Today he had 16.  Ditto Ven-Allen Lubin and Drake Powell, both averaging six points per game, who had 14 and 12 points respectively.  There’s just too much talent at UNC so the Heels could withstand off nights from RJ Davis (3/14 from the floor) and Seth Trimble, who was relatively anonymous.

Minus

Hard to believe, but it could have been worse in the early going because UNC had 10 turnovers in the first 12 minutes of the game.  They would have just two more over the remaining 28 minutes.  Virginia never quit, never stopped playing hard.  Ames, sitting on the bench for most of the first half with foul trouble, had 12 second-half points on 5/6 shooting.  The Hoos whittled 15- and 21-point deficits to seven and eight points respectively, but the damage had been done by the time Ron Sanchez called that first time out.  Hindsight being 20/20 and all, he should have burned a timeout after it was 9-2.

Read More: Henry's Five Takeaways

Minus

Virginia fouled a shooter in the act of a three-pointer three times.  That’s high school level shenanigans.  This team doesn’t have the foot-speed to cover the weak side shooter after the team has rotated to the ball side.

Minus

Elijah Saunders has had an up and down year.  Since returning from his two-game absence due to a foot injury, he’s been decidedly down.  In these four games he’s totaled 20 points and 13 rebounds.  Virginia is still playing for a chance to get a first-day bye for the ACC Tournament, but that’s not going to happen if Elijah is puts up many more five-point games.

Next Up:  Virginia hosts Wake Forest on Wednesday, February 26th.  Gametime is 9:00pm and the game is on ESPNU.

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