Slowly but Surely, Heels Halt Wahoo Winning Streak

At least it was better than last time. Then again, it could scarcely have been worse.

Virginia managed to slow down No. 4 North Carolina tonight at the Dean Dome in Chapel Hill, but the final outcome was another Tar Heel rout. The Cavaliers hung close for 15 minutes before UNC pulled away for an 85-61 victory, ending UVa’s three-game winning streak.

It was an improvement over the teams’ meeting in Charlottesville on Jan. 29, when North Carolina led by 36 at the half, went up by as many as 50 and won 110-76. This time Virginia used its stall-ball offense to good effect and trailed just 24-20 with five minutes left in the first half, but North Carolina broke the game open with a 14-0 run and cruised from there.

“We weren’t playing to play close. … It was a game where we hung around and had a chance if we made some shots,” said UVa coach Pete Gillen. “But nobody shot well, so we’ll never know.”

Gary Forbes scored a career-high 23 points to lead the Cavaliers (13-10, 4-8 ACC), but he didn’t get enough help. Devin Smith, Sean Singletary , J.R. Reynolds and T.J. Bannister, all starters, combined to go 7 of 31 as Virginia shot 38% from the field and 24% from 3-point range.

The Cavs needed much better shooting to overcome the overwhelming talent of the Tar Heels (21-3, 9-2 ACC). Even without star freshman Marvin Williams, out with a sprained toe, Carolina was too good. Rashad McCants led the way with 23 points, while Sean May dominated down low with 17 points and 16 rebounds. The Heels shot 54% from the field and outrebounded Virginia 38-26. Forbes grabbed six rebounds, two more than any of his teammates.

Still, the Wahoos didn’t get embarrassed. Down 15 at the break, they pulled within 12 points on two occasions in the second half. A putback by Forbes made it 43-31 before the Heels made three straight layups. Virginia fought back with two baskets by Elton Brown and a 3-pointer by Sean Singletary to draw within 52-40 with 12:40 remaining. The crowd sounded anxious at that point, but the nation’s highest-scoring offense soon started clicking.

May made a layup off an inbounds pass, McCants converted a 3-point play and drilled a 3-pointer, and Jawad Williams scored four straight points to help North Carolina stretch its lead to 21. The largest margin was 26 points and Forbes made sure it didn’t get any bigger by scoring 11 points in the final eight minutes.

“We played decent defense and our execution was pretty good. We just didn’t make shots,” Gillen said. “One guy shot it well and that was Gary Forbes. … We need our scorers to score.”

In their matchup last month, the Tar Heels surged to a 42-11 lead and had 62 points by halftime. That game and a subsequent loss to Providence led Gillen to adjust his strategy and adopt slowdown tactics on offense. Those tactics helped lead to three straight wins but didn’t pay dividends tonight.

“I told Pete I thought it was a great game plan,” said UNC coach Roy Williams. “I told our team it’s good for us to have to play against a different style.”