UNC Fell Short Against Virginia with an Injury loss of Bacot; Davis Lead-Scorer

Charlottesville, VA – On Tuesday night, January 10th, UNC (11-6, 3-3) lost to UVA (12-3, 4-2) 65-58 at the John Paul Jones Arena for the seventh time in a row. Coming off a team win last week, Carolina fell short, maintaining their win-lose cycle.

Early in the first half, Virginia kept the Tar Heels from scoring for over five minutes, making it a defensive battle. Despite an apparent ankle injury that led UNC’s Armando Bacot to leave the game within the first two minutes of the game, a 9-0 surge by UNC halfway through the first half helped the Tar Heels take their first lead of the game (12-10) after the Cavaliers had led for the 1st quarter. In the opening 20 minutes of the game, the Tar Heels outrebounded UVA 23-15, allowing UNC to maintain their lead of 29-27 at the break. The Cavaliers gradually reduced the UNC advantage for the remainder of the half. 

The UVA offense surged five minutes into the second half, starting a 17-2 run that was finished by a dunk by Vander Plas. Since the 9:08 mark in the first half, UVA already has its first lead [46-40] thanks to a scoring spree. After making only two of its first eleven 3-point attempts, UVA made four of its eight attempts in the second half and finished the game with a field goal percentage of more than fifty percent in the last 20 minutes. 

With 2:47 left, Love’s 3-pointer pulled the Tar Heels to within 58-55, but McKneely answered with a long 3-pointer in front of the Virginia bench to extend the advantage back to six. Love drained another 3-pointer, but Beekman found an open path for a slam. In the closing seconds of the game, as the fans exploded, Vander Plas grabbed the ball during a UNC inbound play near midcourt and laid down a two-handed slam.

Ben Vander Plas for UVA had 17 points and eight rebounds on Tuesday night as his team used a 17-2 second-half run to rally for a 65-58 victory over North Carolina. Reece Beekman’s 13 points and Armaan Franklin’s 12 points and nine rebounds. Isaac McKneely, a freshman, scored 11 points for Virginia and made 3 of 4 three-pointers, including a crucial one with 2:21 left on the clock. 

With 16 points, RJ Davis led the Tar Heels, and Caleb Love and Jalen Washington each chipped in with 13 points. In Bacot’s place, a freshman named Washington played 27 minutes and made five field goals, matching his season total.

The Tar Heels travel to Louisville on January 14th, 12 pm, to compete against the Cardinals.