CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Jay Huff had 18 points and 12 rebounds and No. 9 Virginia took control early and beat North Carolina for the seventh consecutive time 60-48. Sam Hauser added 17 points for 15-3 Virginia and Trey Murphy III had 12 as the ACC-leading Cavaliers won their fourth in a row.
“It’s always a battle of kind of imposing your will or systems against them, so I liked how we had a level of patience and movement offensively, that helped us and then we didn’t give up too many easy breakdowns. A couple at the rim but not too many,” said head coach Tony Bennett.
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The Cavaliers led 21-4 midway through the first half as the Tar Heels missed 13 of their first 15 shots. North Carolina closed to within 27-18 by halftime, but never threatened. The Tar Heels finished just 2 for 16 from 3-point territory.
“It’s just hard work and preparation for the game. We spend a lot of time (on) scout and focusing on what we need to do. We’re getting better every game. That’s what I can see, so I feel like we just keep working on what we do, we’ll be good,” said Cavaliers guard Reece Beekman.
“A lot of it was just our transition defense that’s something we worked on a lot in practice, and that’s kind of their thing and they do a really good job of it. We always have to prepare a little extra for a team like that. Props to them for the way they play. Luckily we were able to stop that for the most part,” said Cavaliers center Jay Huff.