Heels Humiliate Cavs, 110-76

The Cavs were down 50 before making a late run.

It was less a basketball game than it was a bloodletting. By the end of No. 3 North Carolina’s 110-76 dissection of Virginia at University Hall, there were virtually no signs of life remaining for the Cavaliers in a season gone horribly wrong.

It was the third-worst home loss in history for the Wahoos and their most lopsided defeat anywhere in four years, and the sad thing was the final score could have been worse. The Tar Heels led by 36 at halftime and by 50 with about five minutes to play.

“I’ve never lost like that in my life, not even in a video game,” said UVa swingman Gary Forbes.

The Cavaliers dropped to 1-7 in the ACC and 10-8 overall, providing little resistance against perhaps the most talented team in the country. After Sean Singletary opened the game with a 3-pointer, North Carolina (17-2, 6-1 ACC) reeled off the next 11 points and didn’t let up.

The Heels made 13 of their first 17 shots, played textbook basketball on both ends of the court and surged to a 42-11 lead. A 3-pointer by Melvin Scott – their eighth trey of the half – with four seconds left made it 62-26 going into the break.

“We played pretty daggone well,” said UNC coach Roy Williams, who later admitted that was an understatement. “It was a good day for us and it kind of snowballed on Virginia.”

J.R. Reynolds scored 18 points and made four 3-pointers.

It was an embarrassment for the Cavs, who had been within six points at the half during every other ACC game this season. This time they started unraveling from the outset and suffered their worst home loss since a 100-54 rout by Duke on Feb. 11, 1999. That was Pete Gillen’s first season as Virginia’s coach. This will almost certainly be his last.

“Pete Gillen is one of the gentlemen in the coaching profession. And not only is he one of the gentlemen in the coaching profession, he’s someone everyone respects a great deal and does a great job in coaching,” Williams said. “Pete has more desire in his little finger than all of the Cavalier fans in the world. It is tough because he’s one of the true, quality people in our profession. You feel for any coach who’s going through difficult times.”

As both coaches pointed out, Virginia was coming off a tough 79-73 loss at Virginia Tech on Thursday night, while the Tar Heels had a week to prepare for the game.

“Carolina certainly has a great team and they had a great day today,” Gillen said. “We didn’t play with energy and we seemed hesitant and tentative. Thursday night took a lot out of us. That’s not an excuse, but it’s a fact.”

It was utter domination. North Carolina shot 60% from the field, 61% from 3-point range and won the rebounding battle 45-26. Leading scorer Rashad McCants got into early foul trouble and didn’t make a basket until 14:25 remained in the game. It didn’t matter. By then, the Heels led 78-39. Jawad Williams, Sean May, Raymond Felton and Marvin Williams combined for 74 points on 25-of-35 shooting.

J.R. Reynolds led Virginia with 18 points and Forbes finished with 11, all in the second half. Down 98-48, the Cavs whittled the final margin to 34 thanks in part to backup guard Billy Campbell, who drew some of the home crowd’s only cheers with two 3-pointers and a bank shot down the stretch.

“We just didn’t play hard,” Reynolds said. “We came out flat and you can’t do that against a great team.”