With 53.4 seconds left and a 68-64 Virginia lead, guard T.J. Bannister found himself at the free throw line with a chance to put North Carolina away. Bannister, who has spent much of the season battling back from injury, missed the first of his two shots, but instead of panicking and making the second shot more difficult, Bannister found tranquility thinking of the late-night free throw practice him and teammate Jason Cain take part in.
"Me and Cain always go and shoot free throws at night and I've never missed two in a row," Bannister said. "So he was joking with me at the line about that and I just took my time and blocked everything out and made the shot."
Bannister's free throw plus two more he would add with 15.3 seconds remaining proved to be the nails in the coffin in Virginia's 72-68 win over No. 23 North Carolina (10-4, 2-2 ACC). The win is the first Virginia victory over a ranked ACC opponent since a Mar.ch 2 2004 victory over No. 11 Wake Forest. The win also gives the Cavaliers (9-6, 3-2 ACC) a winning conference record for the first time since early in the 2002-2003 season.
The Cavaliers started the game by racing out to 24-14 advantage.The lead would not hold, however, as the Tar Heels went on a 10-0 run to tie the game. North Carolina freshman Danny Green scored the first five points of the run to reignite his team. The Tar Heels would continue their surge and take a 29-27 lead into halftime.
After the break, Virginia guard Sean Singletary scored five of his team-high 18 points to bring the score within two, 36-34. Singletary first had a three-point play after he was fouled by Marcus Ginyard. On Virginia's next possession, Singletary scored an acrobatic, back-to-the-basket lay-up that had the 8,392 fans at University Hall cheering loudly. The Cavaliers would take control of the game a few minutes later when Virginia coach Dave Leitao employed a three guard line-up that included Singletary, Bannister and J.R. Reynolds. Leitao felt that having Bannister on the floor was a big advantage for his team.
"I thought it was huge," Leitao said of having Bannister on the floor. "One, it allowed us to give Sean a break from playing point and trying to score. Two, he got us some fast break points. And he stepped up and got fouled and made some big free throws."
Virginia's front-court players also played well in the win. Junior Jason Cain had a career-high five blocks to go with seven points. Two of those points came after Reynolds hit Cain with a crisp pass down low that Cain then slammed through the hoop to the delight of the crowd. Freshman Lars Mikalauskas played strong defense against North Carolina center Tyler Hansbrough.
"I think [Mikalauskas] did a nice job," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. "He didn't let Tyler get as low as he wanted to get. But I really thought their defense dominated our offense."
But the game came down to the closing moments and Bannister's free throws, which showed Leitao a lot about Bannister's character.
"He's been playing full tilt in practice for about a week now," Leitao said. "But obviously, games are the best place to get back. Today did a lot, not only for us, but for his self confidence and my confidence in him."
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