Game Preview: Virginia Basketball at North Carolina

Virginia could not have asked for a better start to the new year. After limping to the finish line in 2021 with losses to JMU and Clemson in two out of their last three games, the Cavaliers have seemingly turned a corner with back-to-back strong road victories at Syracuse and Clemson. Now, UVA looks to keep the momentum going in Chapel Hill against North Carolina. The Cavaliers will look to extend their winning-streak to three games and pick up their eighth-consecutive victory over the Tar Heels.

Game Details

Who: Virginia Cavaliers (9-5, 3-1 ACC) vs. North Carolina Tar Heels (10-4, 2-1 ACC)

When: Saturday, January 8th at 1pm

Where: Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

How to watch: ESPN

All-time series: North Carolina leads 131-60

Last meeting: Virginia defeated North Carolina 60-48 on February 13th, 2021 at John Paul Jones Arena

By the Numbers

Virginia	By the Numbers	North Carolina
63.6	Points Per Game	79.1
57.7	Opponent PPG	71.4
45.8%	Field Goal %	48.3%
39.7%	Opponent FG %	42.6%
31.7%	Three-Point FG %	39.7%
33.9%	Opponent 3PT FG %	32.1%
-10	Rebounding Margin	+122
+16	Turnover Margin	-39
73rd	NET Ranking	42nd
100th	RPI	41st

Opponent Breakdown: North Carolina

Notable Results: Purdue (93-84 L), Tennessee (89-72 L), Michigan (72-51 W), Georgia Tech (79-62 W), Kentucky (98-69 W), Notre Dame (78-73 L)

It has been an up-and-down season so far for North Carolina. The Tar Heels have looked very strong at times, especially in a dominant 72-51 victory over Michigan in the ACC/Big 10 Challenge back in early December. But, the Tar Heels have also looked vulnerable, as they did in back-to-back losses to Purdue and Tennessee as well as this past Wednesday in a 78-73 loss at Notre Dame.

As usual, North Carolina has an abundance of scoring options on the offensive end. Five different Tar Heels average in double figures: Armando Bacot (15.7 ppg, 10.4 rpg), Caleb Love (15.6 ppg, 44.1% from three), RJ Davis (13.7 ppg, 45.5% from three), Brady Manek (12.4 ppg, 4.9 rpg), and Dawson Garcia (10.0 ppg, 45.8% from three). Armando Bacot leads the team in scoring and is currently averaging a double-double.

UNC has been a strong rebounding team this season (outrebounding opponents 560-438), but the Tar Heels have struggled with ball security, giving up almost 15 points per game off of turnovers.

Head coach Hubert Davis, in his first season taking over for the retired Roy Williams, said on Friday that Dawson Garcia and rotation player Kerwin Walton will not be available to play on Saturday.

What to Watch For

Home cooking at the Dean Dome

All four of UNC's losses this season have come away from home. The Tar Heels own a perfect 7-0 record at the Dean Dome this season and they have looked their best when they are playing in front of their home crowd. North Carolina will look to stay undefeated at home and beat Virginia in Chapel Hill for the first time since the 2016-2017 season.

UVA winning streak

February 18th, 2017 - that's the last time North Carolina beat Virginia. It was a 65-41 blowout by the eventual national champion Tar Heels that UVA avenged nine days later with a 53-43 victory over UNC in Charlottesville. Since then, Virginia has won seven straight against North Carolina, the longest winning streak in the series for the Hoos since they won eight straight against the Tar Heels from 1911-1916. Virginia will be eager to see that streak continued and North Carolina will certainly come motivated to see a return to its overall dominance (131-60) in this historic rivalry.

Familiar faces and new faces

Players on both sides such as Kihei Clark and Armando Bacot will be very familiar with each other, but both teams have experienced a significant amount of roster turnover since their last meeting. With UNC expecting to be down a couple of key players for this game, that could open the door for more playing time for ex-Cavalier Justin McKoy, who transferred from Virginia this past offseason and who has scored just 10 total points this season in 6.1 minutes of action per game. McKoy will be facing UVA for the first time, as will first-year head coach Hubert Davis, who looks to accomplish what Roy Williams was not able to do in his last seven games against Tony Bennett and the Cavaliers.

Game Details

By the Numbers

Opponent Breakdown: North Carolina

What to Watch For

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