Cavaliers Overpowered by Bacot and the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill
Virginia’s seven-game winning streak over North Carolina has come to an end. For the first time since February 18th, 2017, the Tar Heels defeated the Cavaliers and they did so in convincing fashion, routing UVA 74-58 on Saturday afternoon in Chapel Hill.
UNC’s game plan was simple. The Tar Heels knew they had a tremendous size advantage over the Cavaliers and they exploited that from the opening tip to the final buzzer. Nearly every Carolina possession involved throwing the ball into Armando Bacot in the post or having Bacot or Brady Manek setting a high ball screen and then rolling to the basket.
Armando Bacot delivered perhaps the best performance of his collegiate career, recording a 29-point, 21-rebound double-double. Bacot was an unstoppable force on the offensive glass, grabbing nine offensive rebounds, two more offensive rebounds than Virginia had as a team. North Carolina had 11 offensive rebounds and scored 14 second chance points.
UNC probably could have beaten UVA on its inside advantage alone, but the Tar Heels also shot a high percentage on perimeter shots. North Carolina made 11 threes on 25 attempts (44.0%). Caleb Love shot 4/9 from deep and scored 16 points and Brady Manek (19 points) stretched the floor, making five of his nine three-point attempts. Manek shooting well from beyond the arc was critical for the Tar Heels, as it allowed Bacot to operate in the low post against just one big. It also frequently resulted in a smaller guard like Reece Beekman or Armaan Franklin unsuccessfully trying to box out Bacot on the defensive glass.
The first half was fairly competitive. UNC’s size advantage gave the Tar Heels the lead but Virginia had played well enough on both ends of the floor to prevent the game from getting out of hand and North Carolina led 31-25 at halftime.
Reece Beekman had seven of his team-high 13 points in the first half and finished with four assists, three rebounds, and three steals. Armaan Franklin had 12 points and Jayden Gardner added 10 points. Early on, it seemed like Jayden Gardner was going to score at will as Brady Manek had trouble containing Gardner, who showed off his mid-range game and was able to use his quickness and strength to get inside to the basket. However, North Carolina adjusted well and cut Gardner off after halftime, holding the East Carolina transfer to just four points in the second half.
North Carolina blew the game wide open in the second half, using multiple big runs to take over the game and build a lead as big as 25 points. Had Virginia not closed the game on a 9-0 run in garbage time, the final score would have better reflected how thoroughly UNC outplayed UVA in this game.
While Virginia certainly did not match up well with North Carolina, it is concerning that the game got so out of hand in the second half, especially since this is not the first time the Cavaliers have lost by such a wide margin this season. The last two wins at Syracuse and Clemson were encouraging signs that Tony Bennett and the Wahoos could pull things together and become an NCAA Tournament team, but the lopsided loss in Chapel Hill on Saturday showed that UVA still has a lot of growing to do on both ends of the floor.
With the loss, Virginia falls to 9-6 overall and 3-2 in ACC play. After a three-game road trip, the Cavaliers return home to face Virginia Tech on Wednesday at 9pm.
Read more from Cavaliers Now
Elliott Makes Three Hires to Strength & Conditioning UVA Football Staff
Watch: Tony Elliott Welcomes New Staff Members to UVA Football
2022 Virginia Women's Lacrosse Schedule Revealed
2022 Virginia Men's Lacrosse Schedule Revealed
Braxton Key Signs 10-Day Deal with Sixers
Sweet Revenge: Gardner’s 23 Points Leads Virginia to 75-65 Victory over Clemson in Rematch
