After Monday’s embarrassing loss to Virginia Tech, the Cavaliers (20-8, 11-6 ACC) welcomed perhaps their toughest challenge of the season, the North Carolina Tar Heels (21-6, 13-3 ACC), into the confines of John Paul Jones Arena Saturday. Coach Tony Bennett opted for the lineup he has put out on the court the last several games, featuring senior guard Reece Beekman and graduate forward Jordan Minor as well as three sophomore guards in Isaac McKneely, Andrew Rohde and Ryan Dunn. Despite an impressive defensive showing from the Cavaliers, a physical matchup all afternoon resulted in a 54-44 defeat.
Beekman started hot, making nearly identical pull-up jump shots from the key to get things going for the Cavaliers — but a dry spell ensued with 13 consecutive missed shots. Luckily for Virginia, its packline defense did a good job of strangling the North Carolina offense, limiting them to only nine points after nearly 10 minutes had elapsed. North Carolina was also met with another serious problem early on, as graduate forward Armando Bacot got into early foul trouble after accruing two calls in quick succession.
Even if it seemed as though nothing was going right for the Cavaliers offensively, Virginia’s big men began a series of highlight-reel moments on the defensive end, with Dunn, freshman forward Blake Buchanan and graduate forward Jake Groves all recording massive blocks to keep North Carolina’s brute post play at bay.
A raucous two-handed dunk by Buchanan — courtesy of a pass from Beekman — finally brought the Cavaliers out of their scoring slump, but their shooting woes were not over yet. Another four missed shots followed before Beekman drew a foul and made both of his attempts from the free-throw line.
Minor finally began to make himself known on the offensive side of the ball, corralling a wayward three-point attempt by freshman guard Elijah Gertrude and fighting underneath the basket for two points. After an over-and-back foul on the Tar Heels, he once again found himself in a position to score, making both his free throws.
The referees and the North Carolina coaches found themselves out of the good graces of the JPJ crowd when Gertrude was fouled hard on a high-flying offensive rebound and the call went under video review. Luckily for the Cavaliers, nothing came of it and Gertrude made both free throw attempts.
As the clock ticked away to under a minute left in the first half, Beekman intercepted a pass at the top of the key and hustled down court for an uncontested dunk, bringing the nearby student section to its feet.
For all of their elation, one man had gone the whole half relatively unscathed by the Cavaliers’ hungry defense. North Carolina’s graduate guard Cormac Ryan was on fire from beyond the arc, scoring 15 points in the first half and proving himself to be the sole reason for the Tar Heels’ 26-16 lead at halftime.
The second half began as an all-Virginia affair, with Minor first making a tremendous block on Bacot in his first minutes back into the game. He and Beekman both backed down their defenders in the post for an easy four points. The two then combined for another great play, with Beekman slashing to the basket and feeding it to Minor for another two points.
Rohde made his way back onto the court in the second half after a long hiatus, and he made it count, making his first attempt from beyond the arc. Dunn then tried his chances from three-point range, but to no avail. Fortunately, Minor was waiting under the basket to gather the rebound and put it back up for two points.
A McKneely turnaround jump shot and a successful floater off of an inbound pass by Dunn sparked the offense in the last minutes. Minor continued his spectacular play in the post, recovering an airball from Beekman and putting it up off the glass to add two more points to his total. McKneely added a three point shot, and a shot clock violation on the defensive end made it look as though momentum was shifting.
Virginia crept even closer with two made free throws from McKneely and the crowd rose to their feet to help the Cavaliers recover in whatever way they could. Dunn then stepped up to an open Bacot and came down with the ball after an incredible clutch block.
Five points was as close as Virginia would get, however, as the clock quickly ticked down and the Cavaliers were forced to foul once the one-minute threshold was breached. Cold shooting down the stretch and well-timed success at the line from the Tar Heels resulted in a 10-point win.
After the game, much of the talk centered around the slip-ups in what was otherwise an impressive defensive night that kept the Cavaliers in the game. In particular, Ryan’s efficiency from beyond the arc — which resulted in a team-high 18 points and was a significant factor in North Carolina’s offensive game Saturday — became a significant topic of discussion.
“[Ryan] got shots. I thought we ran into some screens uncharacteristically and we didn’t lower our shoulder and get on his numbers and chase,” Bennett said in the post-game press conference. “We didn’t give enough help and got lost a couple times, and then he made us pay with those shots.”
With only three more games left before the ACC Tournament, the Cavaliers will look to make the most of their remaining opportunities — starting with a visit to Boston College Wednesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 9 p.m. and will be available to watch on both ESPN2 and ESPNU.
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