A loss to Duke didn’t send Virginia into some decline, rebounding well with a 75-64 win on the road against North Carolina, which probably means it’s going to be almost impossible for the Tar Heels to bounce back well enough to somehow win the conference.
Virginia did what it does best – dominate the paint on both ends of the floor, and one thing that usually makes it impossible for North Carolina to win games is getting outscored in the paint, 40-34 this time. That’s the most they’ve given up in the paint this season. It was the first time Virginia (number 3 in the nation) beat a ranked North Carolina team in Chapel Hill since 1981, which came by limiting North Carolina to just 11 offensive rebounds and 11 second-chance points, well below their 15 average.
Malcolm Brogdon led the Cavaliers with 17 points, Justin Anderson followed with 16 points and London Perrantes scored 15 points. Marcus Paige led North Carolina with 15 points and has been keeping his more efficient and responsible mode intact, but J.P. Tokoto was limited to just one point and they got almost nothing from the bench.
The Tar Heels lose two in a row and are now two games behind Virginia in the race for the regular season ACC title, and are off to three consecutive games on the road which will probably determine if they stay in the picture of slide further down the standings and the rankings. Virginia have one more game against a ranked team (home vs Louisville) before a mostly comfortable stretch until the season finisher which is against Louisville once more, this time on the road.