Lucas: Virginia Rapid Reactions

By Adam Lucas

1. Carolina ran away from Virginia early and cruised to a 81-66 win.

2. Somewhat incredibly, a Carolina team that seemingly always played close games has now has not trailed in any of the last three games.

3. Part of that credit, certainly, has to go to the lineup change that inserted Jae'Lyn Withers as the Tar Heels went to a two-big attack. Withers again was very good against the Wahoos. He had his second double-double of the season and fourth of his UNC career in finishing with 16 points and 11 rebounds. In addition to his 4-for-6 effort from three-point range, he was active on the glass, even pulling in four offensive rebounds among his 11 boards. Withers has 43 points and 21 rebounds in his last three games while shooting 15-for-24 from the field.

4. And Withers' shooting was part of another good Carolina three-point effort. The Tar Heels hit 9-for-16 from the arc (56.3 percent) and had four different players sink a three. Indicative of how they are shooting the ball right now: they posted those numbers with RJ Davis going 0-for-4 from three. The last three games, the Heels are shooting 30-for-58 from three. They are now 15-4 when shooting at least 30 percent from long range. Ian Jackson picked up the backcourt scoring by notching 16 points on 5-for-7 shooting.

5. Carolina took control of the game with a 21-2 run over the first 8:30 of the game. The Tar Heels were terrific offensively and defensively during that stretch.

6. Turnovers eventually brought the game closer, however. The Tar Heels committed eight in the first half, which led to 12 Virginia points. They were much more careful with the ball in the second half and finished with ten for the game.

7. Elliot Cadeau didn't score from the field (two points on free throws), but he might have had the highlight reel play of the game with a lob to Ven-Allen Lubin in the second half. Lubin had 14 points and six rebounds--the connection between he and Cadeau (six assists and just two turnovers) is starting to pay more consistent dividends.

8. Cade Tyson can be a real weapon off the bench as a three-point threat if he continues to knock down shots at this rate. He's now three of his last four after not sinking a three-pointer since the Louisville game. He's playing with more confidence and in addition to the very obvious shooting, he's defending more effectively. He's not going to shoot 75 percent the rest of the season. But if he could just be around 40 percent, that's much more of the offense Hubert Davis envisioned during the offseason.

9. Over the first 14 minutes of the game, the entire Virginia team had just two more rebounds than Wanda. The Tar Heels dominated the backboards, rolling up a 35-21 advantage for the game. The work on the offensive glass was especially impactful, as UNC had a 17-2 edge in second chance points while grabbing 11 offensive rebounds.

10. Drake Powell quietly had a solid game. He scored 11 points and his length on defense was bothersome to Isaac McKneely.

11. This is a very minor point, but the lettering on the front of Nike basketball uniforms is getting ridiculously small. Virginia's is absurdly tiny, but Carolina isn't exempt in this category either.

12. The Tar Heels now face a tough turnaround, as they'll board a flight tomorrow for Monday's 7 p.m. tipoff with Florida State. This is the last Saturday-Monday turnaround for the Heels this regular season. Carolina will be playing for the team's second four-game winning streak this season.

Players Mentioned

Elliot Cadeau

RJ Davis

Ian Jackson

Ven-Allen Lubin

Drake Powell

Cade Tyson

Jae'Lyn Withers

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