University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Rapid Reactions
February 28, 2016 | Men's Basketball
By Adam Lucas
1. The key stretch in Saturday's 79-74 loss came midway through the second half, as the Tar Heels had some substitutes on the floor. Virginia quickly took the game from 49-49 to an 11-point lead in a span of about three minutes. It eventually turned into a 16-5 run, with the Cavaliers seemingly scoring on every possession.
2. In fact, they pretty much were scoring on every possession. At one juncture, the Cavaliers had had 18 second-half possessions. They had turned it over on three of them, but had scored on 14 of the other 15. Virginia is just very, very good at what they do offensively, and Carolina was unable to stop it.
3. Much was made of Cat Barber's 32-point performance against the Tar Heels on Wednesday, but Malcolm Brogdon's 24 points on Saturday night were much more impressive. Barber scored his points by dominating the ball; Brogdon got his in the flow of the offense and made a variety of shots, some with a very high degree of difficulty. The Tar Heels tried virtually every perimeter player guarding Brogdon and no one ever really figured him out.
4. The Cavs got an easy hoop in the Tar Heels' one possession of 3-2 zone defense, but Carolina's 1-3-1 zone was effective in the first half in stymying Virginia's offensive momentum. That's never going to be a Roy Williams staple, but as a defensive changeup, it's been effective more often than not this year (we will pause here for you to insert, "Except for when Duke hit that three against it!").
The Tar Heels also used the 1-3-1 twice in the second half and forced misses on both, although the Wahoos grabbed the offensive rebound on one of them and earned a trip to the free throw line. If these teams meet again, which it feels like they might, Roy Williams might employ even a little more 1-3-1.
5. Justin Jackson picked up two quick fouls and had to go to the bench early, and the foul trouble seemed to take him out of the offensive rhythm he had been in during recent games. The sophomore finished with 12 points and also missed a key front end of a one-and-one free throw opportunity late in the game. Jackson did, however, hit an important three-pointer late as the Tar Heels tried to rally.
Of course, that wasn't the only front end missed by the Tar Heels, who uncharacteristically struggled at the line (7-for-13 at the stripe as a team). Brice Johnson also missed a front end with 90 seconds left that could've potentially cut the deficit to three points. The Cavs, meanwhile, were busy hitting 18 of their 21 free throws. Even when they missed, however, as they did with 36 seconds left, the Tar Heels were unable to corral the miss, as Brice Johnson fell to the ground and turned the ball over.
6. The Carolina post men were able to start both halves strong. After that, however, the Virginia pack line defense almost completely dried up the Tar Heel post production. Brice Johnson went the final 18:31 without a field goal, and after Isaiah Hicks had an energetic segment early in the second half, he went scoreless for 13 minutes late in the second half. The Cavaliers held a 32-28 edge in points in the paint. That's the second time in the last couple of weeks Carolina has been unable to get Johnson involved offensively in the key stretch of games. Johnson's final tally over the final 18:31--just a couple of free throws, and only two field goals attempted.
7. Thank goodness for Joel Berry. The Carolina sophomore hit five of his eight three-pointers, including a couple at key junctures that felt like they kept the Tar Heels in the game. Berry finished with a career-high 21 points.
8. The truth is it's not Saturday night's loss that really hurts Carolina in the ACC race. Losing at Virginia is something everyone in the league has done so far. But it does highlight the pain of the loss at Notre Dame, which is a game the Tar Heels should've won. And the Heels also have to ensure they don't fall asleep during the quick turnaround to Monday night's important senior night home game against Syracuse.
With two games left, Carolina is in a tie with Miami atop the league, but UNC holds the tiebreaker in that race because of last weekend's blowout win. Carolina still needs one more win to clinch a double bye in the ACC Tournament. Six teams are within two games of the league lead; the best thing that happened to the Heels on Saturday was Notre Dame's blowout loss at Florida State. With the Irish holding the tiebreaker, UNC wants to stay clear of Mike Brey's team in the standings. Notre Dame is 10-6 in the ACC.
