Derek Dixon Notes What Sparked UNC in Virginia

The North Carolina Tar Heels overcame a 16-point deficit to defeat the Virginia Cavaliers 85-80 on Saturday at John Paul Jones Arena.

Freshman guard Derek Dixon made his third start of the season, totaling 11 points, 7 assists, and four rebounds while shooting 4-of-11 from the field, including 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.

While speaking with the media during his postgame press conference, Dixon explained what the mindset was in the second half.

Dixon's Thoughts

Jan 10, 2026; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels guard Derek Dixon (3) brings the ball up court against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons during the second half at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Cory Knowlton-Imagn Images | Cory Knowlton-Imagn Images

“Putting an emphasis on running," Dixon said. "The bigs were really running down the middle of the floor, I got them on a couple pitch-aheads - Caleb [Wilson] on one, Jarin [Stevenson] on one. Just really focusing on being fast, playing fast and those guys running it makes it a lot easier for us.”

Rebounding was an issue for the Tar Heels, as they were outrebounded 44-28 by Virginia. Because of those struggles, North Carolina's backcourt felt the extra pressure to contributing on the glass.

"They had two really good bigs that are great rebounders and they were crashing the offensive glass hard," Davis said. "So, it’s not [going to] be Caleb and Henri [Veesaar] all the time, they’re hitting, they’re boxing out - so for some of the guards it was really a focus for us to come back and help on the boards.”

Jan 21, 2026; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels guard Luka Bogavac (44) on the fast break in the second half at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Dixon and Luka Bogavac hit two consecutive threes seconds before halftime, which cut North Carolina's deficit to single digits. The 6-foot-5, 200-pound guard explained the importance of that sequence.

"I think it was really big to go into the half with a little bit of momentum, being down nine at halftime is much better than being down 16 or 20," Dixon said. "So, it gives us a little more confidence coming out, and I thought at the start of the second half we came out really well and got right back into it.”

Dixon went on to explain how the team was able to come together and slowly work itself back into the game.

Jan 21, 2026; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Hubert Davis with guard Derek Dixon (3) in the first half at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

“We’re a resilient group, and we believe in [Head] Coach [Hubert Davis]," Dixon said. "He’s been doing a lot of great things with us this past week to get us ready for these two wins we had. I saw the quote where Caleb said some of our lapses, that’s on us, that’s not always on him (Davis), and I thought we were much better tonight.”

Stevenson was fantastic in the second half, scoring all of his 17 points during that span. The freshman guard was not surprised, as he discussed that everyone expects this type of outing by the Alabama transfer.

“We all have confidence in him," Dixon said. "He’s really skilled, he’s versatile, hit a three, hit an and-one, drove, and I just love when he’s confident like that, it was really big for us. Some days at practice, he’ll just start going off and I’m like, ‘Why can’t you do that all the time?’ And I was telling him out there, ‘Keep being aggressive, keep being aggressive.’ And he was making big plays.”

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