Virginia continues its walk along the long ACC trail when they travel to the Dean Smith Center to play No. 11 North Carolina Saturday. The Cavaliers (12-4, 2-3 ACC) hope to reach a .500 winning percentage in the conference and possibly climb into the national rankings. They face a Tar Heels squad (11-3, 1-2) riding high after a thrilling win against then No. 1 Connecticut.
Virginia Coach Pete Gillen is under no illusions of the daunting task that lies ahead.
"It's going to be a killer game," he said.
Virginia faced harsh criticism after a horrendous 0-3 start in the ACC, but recent results suggest the team may be turning the corner. The Cavaliers have won two of their last ACC home games in an unentertaining -- but nevertheless efficient -- manner. The team said it believes recent wins have given them a much-needed confidence booster.
"The last win gives us a lot of confidence going into the game at Chapel Hill," freshman J.R Reynolds said. "We've been playing great defense, and I think that's going to help us win in the ACC."
Defense may well be the key to unraveling a UNC side brimming with offensive talent. From Rashad McCants, who scored 27 points in the win against UConn, to center Sean May and point guard Raymond Felton, UNC has countless attacking options. The potent Tar Heel offense leads the ACC in points per game, averaging 88.4, thanks in large part to May, Felton and McCants who all average double digits. The Cavaliers definitely understand those impressive numbers and appreciate the importance of maintaining an airtight defense.
"We're not going to win games with offense," Gillen said. "We're not that type of team. We're going to try and win with defense and hopefully get enough offense to get us by."
Senior point guard Todd Billet said he believes the Cavaliers have been improving defensively.
"Two games in a row now where our defense has been excellent, and that's going to win us a lot of games this year if we keep that up," he said. "We have to keep getting better defensively, get our rest and watch some film on Carolina -- just get a good game plan and follow it up."
As is now characteristic of Virginia sports, the highly-touted freshman class may have to step up. Freshmen Donte Minter and Reynolds scored 21 crucial second-half points Tuesday when both Virginia and Clemson were in a deep scoring funk. The veteran members of the team will also have to step up, including Derrick Byars, whose recent lack of form has sparked concern from his coach.
"He did some things that I was surprised happened," Gillen said. "He's a very talented player, and we need to get him going."
Devin Smith has recently shouldered a lot of responsibility, averaging 12.9 points and 5.9 rebounds. His excellent play in recent games is one of the reasons for the Cavaliers' recent success.
Another huge problem for the Cavaliers is their offensive rebounding. Against Clemson the whole team combined for three offensive rebounds against 20 by the Tigers. Gillen said he believes the team has to work hard to improve on that statistic.
"We have to work on it," he said. "We're not physical, and we need to put our body on people better."
The odds might be against Virginia, but the team definitely has the tools to pull an upset in Chapel Hill and earn a coveted ACC road win.
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