Last night's men's basketball game against North Carolina was closer than most expected, but unfortunately, for Virginia, few were surprised by the result. The Tar Heels defeated the Cavaliers 75-74 at John Paul Jones Arena despite a hard-fought game on Virginia's part. Senior guard Sean Singletary led the way for the Cavs with 27 points and seven assists, but once again came up just short as he failed to receive the necessary support to pull off the improbable upset. The loss drops Virginia's record to 11-12 (1-9 ACC).
The Cavaliers played remarkably well against the No. 5-ranked Tar Heels (23-2, 8-2 ACC) but ultimately didn't have enough to knock them off. North Carolina's combination of junior forward Tyler Hansbrough and sophomore guard Wayne Ellington for 42 combined points was just too much to handle, and Virginia did not have the requisite personnel or stamina to slow down North Carolina's efficient offensive machine.
"We feel very fortunate," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. "I thought they were much more aggressive than we were. Tyler Hansbrough was something else, to say the least. They [Virginia] aimed their whole defense at him and he still gave us a lot."
The Cavaliers got things started quickly and decisively as they scored on their first two possessions of the game. North Carolina, however, got going quickly as well and began executing its well-oiled offensive machine with great success. Hansbrough dropped in several of his patented short jumpers over the defense of senior forward Ryan Pettinella, sophomore forward Jamil Tucker and others. After jumping out to a 7-5 lead in the opening minutes, Virginia trailed the Heels by 4 points with just over 14 minutes remaining in the opening half and trailed by 11 with nine minutes left.
Singletary, senior forward Adrian Joseph and freshman forward Mike Scott revived Virginia's early energy later on during the half as the trio combined to connect on several 3-pointers and inside baskets, which decreased the Tar Heels' lead to 3 points with 6:13 remaining in the half. Junior forward Laurynas Mikalauskas even got in on the action when he forced a North Carolina turnover that brought the Lars faithful at JPJ to their feet. Singletary, soon after, drew Virginia within 1 point when knocked down two free throws. Hansbrough, however, came back and answered with a convincing dunk to push North Carolina's lead back to 3 points.
Just a minute later, Joseph, after a series of chaotic events, connected on two free throws and evened the score at 28 with 3:44 to play in the first half.
North Carolina, however, turned up the pressure and ended the half on a 10-3 run behind the play of Hansbrough and others. Virginia ended the first half facing a 38-31 deficit.
The Cavs began the second half with the same high-energy play characteristic of the first. Singletary and sophomore guard Calvin Baker slashed through the North Carolina defense with success. Junior forward Mamadi Diane even got in the mix as the Cavs pulled to within 5 points.
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