Virginia, Tomas Woldetensae Stun North Carolina With Last-Second Shot

Virginia has 17 wins.
Tomas Woldetensae nailed the game-winning shot for Virginia. ~ Mike Ingalls

Just when it seemed like the Virginia basketball team couldn’t make things more dramatic at the end of games, the Hoos added another chapter Saturday night to this season’s suspenseful finishes. Trailing by one after seeing a late-game lead slip away in the final 12 seconds, Tomas Woldetensae delivered a game-winning 3-pointer with 0.8 remaining to give UVA the 64-62 win against North Carolina.

That marked the seventh time in 2020’s 12 ACC games to date that the Cavaliers played a game with a final winning margin of 5 points or less. They own a 5-2 record in those games. Four other league contests were decided by 7 or 8 points and they’re 1-3 in those games, though the January meeting with Syracuse went to overtime before reaching the eight-point final spread.

In other words, the down-to-the-wire battles have pretty much become standard operating procedure for these Hoos.

“Moments like this definitely make you a better player,” Woldetensae said on the Virginia Sports Radio Network. “You’ve got to think more, got to be prepared to stay focused in the moment, try to avoid mistakes, turnovers so I think our team is experiencing a lot of that. So moments like this, it allowed us to learn from and be ready for the next time. Of course, you’d like to blow [out] teams but that’s the way we have to win. You always take the win.”

Woldetensae was in the thick of the tension in Chapel Hill. The Cavaliers had led for most of the final 11 minutes, but were unable to put the Tar Heels away. The game settled into a 57-57 tie with 1:10 to go, but UVA’s Mamadi Diakite finished a strong post move and added a free throw for the old-fashioned three-point play that put the visitors in the driver’s seat. Kihei Clark missed the second free throw from a one-and-one opportunity, however, and that left the door open for UNC.

Carolina’s Cole Anthony missed a shot, but Armando Bacot grabbed the offensive rebound and kicked out a pass to Christian Keeling behind the 3-point line. With his team up just 61-60, Woldetensae closed out to try to get there defensively and carried just enough momentum into the shooter’s landing area for a foul to be called with 10.3 seconds remaining. Keeling made all three free throws, including the final one after a Virginia timeout, and North Carolina led 62-61.

Clark and Woldetensae, however, got a shot at redemption. Clark caught the ensuring inbounds pass, pushed the ball quickly up the right side of the floor, and got around Anthony going to the rim. Clark then kicked the pass out to the left corner for a waiting Woldetensae, who calmly used a shot fake to get rid of defender Leaky Black as he closed quickly to the area. One dribble to the right later, Woldetensae rose up and buried the game-winning 3-pointer to stun the Dean Dome crowd and send the Hoos into celebration mode.

“He’s a very steady, calm person,” Bennett said. “He’s unaffected. I don’t know if it’s because he didn’t grow up here and he doesn’t understand ‘hey this Carolina, this is the ACC,’ he just plays. He’s real hard and critical on himself. He just works hard on his shot.”

That demeanor allowed Woldetensae, who said he had made a similar shot at the JUCO level, to keep his thoughts in line for UVA’s final possession.

“I knew Black, No. 1, was guarding me so he was way more lengthy and taller than No. 55 [Keeling] and at that point, I remembered the previous shot on him that I threw an air ball,” Woldetensae said. “So what I did, I knew he would jump because I knew he was just ready to lock in as he did earlier. I just pump-fake, took a dribble, and let it fly.”

That capped another big night for the junior guard. He led his team with 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting from 3-point range. That sort of hot shooting night from behind the arc has become the norm of late for Woldetensae on the road. This marked the third straight road game where he had at least 6 3-pointers. He hit 7 of 14 triples in the overtime win at Wake Forest and 7 of 10 in the road loss at Louisville. The three-game total adds up to 20-of-34 shooting (58.8%) from behind the line.

“He’s getting more comfortable where the shots come and I thought he got some really good screens again tonight and guys found him,” Bennett said. “He’s a bit of a streaky shooter so when he gets his rhythm and his timing, you want to try to find him. Again to do that in that setting was big time.”

While Woldetensae had his shot going, it was far from a one-man effort. The Cavaliers placed four players in double figures in the win. Diakite tallied 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting and had the go-ahead and-one play with 48 seconds to go prior to the closing fireworks. Diakite also had 4 rebounds and 1 blocked shot, which moved him into a second-place tie with Chris Alexander for career blocks at Virginia.

Clark chipped in 10 points to go with 9 assists, including the game-winning pass. Casey Morsell also came off the bench with a big lift. He scored 10 points and made both of his 3-point attempts. Francisco Caffaro added 4 points, while Kody Stattmann made a triple for 3 points. Braxton Key and Jay Huff had 2 points each.

With the game coming down to that final shot, the Hoos needed all those contributions obviously. It helped cover up a sub-par defensive night as North Carolina kept pace thanks to 50% shooting (56.5% in the first half). Garrison Brooks led Carolina with 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting to go with 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Anthony posted 17 points and 5 assists, while Keeling had 11 points. Bacot chipped in with 8 points and 16 rebounds, while Black added 6 points and 3 steals. The Tar Heels managed just 3-of-10 shooting from 3-point range, however, so the Hoos had a big edge in that category.

No matter how you slice it up, however, it was a big win for the Cavaliers and their NCAA Tournament push. Plus, it gave Virginia back-to-back wins in Chapel Hill for the first time ever. UVA has won three of the last four in the Dean Dome. Combined with the home win in December, the Hoos completed the season sweep for the first time since 2001-2002 and extended their recent success in the series as well. They’ve won 8 of the last 9 meetings with the Tar Heels.

Bennett now has led the program to four wins in Chapel Hill. Prior to his arrival, UVA had won only five times in the history of the series. In other words, regardless of North Carolina’s struggles at 3-11 in ACC play, this was a significant road win for the Wahoos (17-7, 9-5 ACC).

“It’s such a small margin between winning and losing,” Bennett said. “Carolina, I feel for them in that regard, because they’ve been close and they’ve been hit by the injury bug in a way that a lot of teams haven’t so I’m sure they’re battling the ups and downs. We’ve been so close in every game and it was an important game for us. I’m thankful for how our guys responded. I thought we made plays down the stretch as they did too.”

Final Stats

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