Notre Dame (13-11, 3-8) at No. 4 Virginia (21-2, 9-2), 2 p.m. ACC Network
The Cavaliers continued to be a thorn in North Carolina coach Roy Williams' side as Virginia went into the Dean Dome two days after a taxing loss to Duke and came away with an equally tough 69-61 win Monday. It was Virginia's fourth consecutive victory against UNC and seventh in 10 contests.
There were stretches in the game where Virginia played some of its best hoops of the year, and there was one stretch where it looked like nothing was going right. The ups and downs will hopefully prepare the team for March. I want the 'Hoos to remember this game when they are struggling with a lower-seeded team in the NCAA tournament, or when they find themselves down five points with four minutes left against a Kentucky, a Kansas, or a Michigan State in the Sweet 16 or Elite Eight. I want them to remember what they are capable of when they play their best. UVa was down seven, 55-48, to UNC with 7:51 left and finished the game on a 21-6 run. So Virginia scored 21 points in about eight minutes. That's close to a 100-point pace on the road vs. an ACC team. Not bad.
The Big Three came up big for the Cavaliers, who got 20 points each from Kyle Guy and De'Andre Hunter and the second double-double performance of Ty Jerome's career, as the junior point guard recorded 15 points and 11 assists. His other double-double came against Virginia Tech last month. Mamadi Diakite did not start, but possibly not because of his head injury he sustained against Duke, but rather because Tony Bennett wanted Kihei Clark on UNC's Coby White to start the game. Diakite
played 23 minutes, though, and came up with six points and four blocks. Clark hit one 3-pointer, Jay Huff had two points -- they were a big two, though -- and Braxton Key made one free throw and also recorded six rebounds and a nice block (UVa had six rejections).
Clark had an immediate impact on the game offensively and defensively. After making a 3 to make the score 6-5 UNC, he stole the inbounds pass from White and fed a pass to Jerome, who found Guy open in the corner for a 3. This was before the real trouble began for the Cavaliers, but just like that, the score went from 6-2 UNC to 8-5 UVa. That could've been a moment that stemmed the early tide, because Virginia went on to mostly control the rest of the first 20 minutes. Clark's other huge highlight came late in the first half when he drove the lane, jumped toward the rim, saw there was no way he was getting by the tall trees, and dumped off a nice pass around Cam Johnson to Hunter for an easy lay-in. What a fantastic play.
For the second straight game, Virginia found its stroke from beyond the arc (remember, UVa was 10 of 24 vs. Duke, it's just that the Blue Devils overshadowed them). The Cavaliers finished 11 of 20, with Guy going 5 of 9, Hunter 3 of 3, and Jerome 2 of 3. They nearly shot better on 3-pointers than at the line, where the 'Hoos put up an abysmal 10-of-18 performance. Let's hope that sort of free throw shooting doesn't rear its ugly head in another close game. An average game for UVa would've been about 14 of 18, so we can safely say it left about four points at the line, which would've put the team up over its season average for points (72.6).
In the second half, Virginia was pretty bad for a decently long stretch, but remained just in contact enough to not have the proceedings totally go against them. The Cavaliers did not score from the 15:15 to 10:44 marks, a period in which Virginia went from up 43-39 to down 49-45. Hunter capped both ends of the drought, first with a 3 and then with a jumper around the elbow when he took Luke Maye off the dribble, showing when UVa needs a bucket, he's the guy to go to because of his versatility. Jerome and Guy showed their flexibility down the stretch, too, with both getting really difficult runners to fall, but those shots are a little easier for Hunter given his frame, and he had one of his own, too.
One aspect of this performance that was improved from the past few games was Virginia's lack of turnovers. Against N.C. State, Miami, and Duke, the Cavaliers averaged 14.7 turnovers, well above their NCAA-leading season average of about nine (9.3 now to be exact, and used to be more like eight per game before the recent sloppiness). But at UNC, Virginia limited itself to 10 turnovers, with seven of those coming in the first half. It then had three in the first eight minutes of the second half when times were tough, but zero after the 12:24 mark and down the stretch run when the game was on the line. I've been taught correlation does not equal causation, but guess what? Limiting turnovers will of course increase a team's chance to win!
UNC was already without Sterling Manley coming into the game, a good player but far from its most important piece (and I mentioned him being out in my preview), but I'd be remiss if I didn't point out the Tar Heels had two guys go down during the game: Nassir Little and Johnson. Little went out with an ankle injury after playing just two minutes in the first half, and Johnson, the Tar Heels' leading scorer, rolled his ankle with about six minutes left, and when he did, UVa went down and got a 3 from Jerome, which tied the score at 55. He came back in with 2:27 left when Virginia was up 61-59.
Right before he came back, one of the game's critical moments happened, when the Heels got a rebound, and White found himself with the ball out near half court, not realizing the shot clock had not reset. He launched a prayer of a shot went through the net, and it would've given UNC a 62-59 lead. But the refs got together and reviewed the play, and White barely, and I mean barely, had his fingertips still on the ball as the clock hit zero. It was very, very close.
On the next trip down the floor, Huff made his critical basket through contact under the rim on an
assist by Hunter to make it 61-59, and the 'Hoos never trailed again. So obviously, it was a huge moment, and everyone pretty much knew it would be, whether the refs allowed the shot or didn't. Finally, Guy made his two huge 3s, the first of which came when he faked a more common play the 'Hoos run and slipped out the other side of the lane to get open. And his last was the dagger, made with a foul, that caused Guy to go swagger-walking toward midcourt, feeling himself a bit.
UVa escaped Chapel Hill with a big-time ACC road victory. It's going to go down on the NCAA tournament resume as a top-10 road win, and those are very hard to come by. Virginia now has three top-10 wins on the season, with the others coming at home vs. FSU and Virginia Tech.
Now, after four days off and a chance to catch their breath, the 'Hoos host Notre Dame, welcoming the Fighting Irish to JPJ less than a month since Virginia went into South Bend and soundly captured a win.
The Wahoos won that game, 82-55, getting five players in double figures: Hunter (19), Guy (15), Jerome (13), Clark (12), and Diakite (10). Virginia took a 12-0 lead in the first six minutes, and that was pretty much it. UVa made it 18-7 midway through the first half, and its lead remained in double figures until the end of the game. It was one of Virginia's most dominating performances of the season, though Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said he was not happy with his team's effort. He was, however, effusive in his praise of Bennett's squad.
Interestingly enough, in that South Bend meeting, Virginia turned the ball over just twice, one of the nation's gems this season when it comes to ballhandling. But for whatever reasons, the next stretch of three games is when the 'Hoos struggled with turnovers. So hopefully this can be a matchup where UVa can continue to get back to its old ways of being careful with the ball.
John Mooney averages a double-double for the Irish and led the team in defeat with 15 points and 10 boards. No other player scored more than nine points. D.J. Harvey and TJ Gibbs had nine each, and Dane Goodwin finished with eight. One player for Notre Dame that did not play in that game because of an injury but is back for this one is junior Juwan Durham, who is averaging 5.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks. Since the loss to UVa, Notre Dame has gone 2-2, losing to Duke and Miami and beating BC and Georgia Tech in fairly close games.
Following this game, UVa has another quick turnaround as it goes on the road to face Virginia Tech on Monday. I'm sure the 'Hoos have been thankful for the recent days off. I think it's possible this could be a somewhat lackadaisical performance, a la the Wake Forest game, but I think UVa will be pretty sharp for the most part, wanting to keep the momentum going after such a good finish to the UNC game. But I don't think the Irish are going to start the game as badly as they did in South Bend, nor play that badly overall. Brey's teams are usually tough and put up better fights than that. I'm expecting a fairly easy Wahoos win, though.
Gut feeling: Virginia wins by 15-20 points.
The Cavaliers continued to be a thorn in North Carolina coach Roy Williams' side as Virginia went into the Dean Dome two days after a taxing loss to Duke and came away with an equally tough 69-61 win Monday. It was Virginia's fourth consecutive victory against UNC and seventh in 10 contests.
There were stretches in the game where Virginia played some of its best hoops of the year, and there was one stretch where it looked like nothing was going right. The ups and downs will hopefully prepare the team for March. I want the 'Hoos to remember this game when they are struggling with a lower-seeded team in the NCAA tournament, or when they find themselves down five points with four minutes left against a Kentucky, a Kansas, or a Michigan State in the Sweet 16 or Elite Eight. I want them to remember what they are capable of when they play their best. UVa was down seven, 55-48, to UNC with 7:51 left and finished the game on a 21-6 run. So Virginia scored 21 points in about eight minutes. That's close to a 100-point pace on the road vs. an ACC team. Not bad.
The Big Three came up big for the Cavaliers, who got 20 points each from Kyle Guy and De'Andre Hunter and the second double-double performance of Ty Jerome's career, as the junior point guard recorded 15 points and 11 assists. His other double-double came against Virginia Tech last month. Mamadi Diakite did not start, but possibly not because of his head injury he sustained against Duke, but rather because Tony Bennett wanted Kihei Clark on UNC's Coby White to start the game. Diakite
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| De'Andre Hunter co-led the 'Hoos with 20 points along with Kyle Guy, making all three of his 3s and getting a tough basket for Virginia in the second half when it was in the middle of its drought. |
Clark had an immediate impact on the game offensively and defensively. After making a 3 to make the score 6-5 UNC, he stole the inbounds pass from White and fed a pass to Jerome, who found Guy open in the corner for a 3. This was before the real trouble began for the Cavaliers, but just like that, the score went from 6-2 UNC to 8-5 UVa. That could've been a moment that stemmed the early tide, because Virginia went on to mostly control the rest of the first 20 minutes. Clark's other huge highlight came late in the first half when he drove the lane, jumped toward the rim, saw there was no way he was getting by the tall trees, and dumped off a nice pass around Cam Johnson to Hunter for an easy lay-in. What a fantastic play.
For the second straight game, Virginia found its stroke from beyond the arc (remember, UVa was 10 of 24 vs. Duke, it's just that the Blue Devils overshadowed them). The Cavaliers finished 11 of 20, with Guy going 5 of 9, Hunter 3 of 3, and Jerome 2 of 3. They nearly shot better on 3-pointers than at the line, where the 'Hoos put up an abysmal 10-of-18 performance. Let's hope that sort of free throw shooting doesn't rear its ugly head in another close game. An average game for UVa would've been about 14 of 18, so we can safely say it left about four points at the line, which would've put the team up over its season average for points (72.6).
In the second half, Virginia was pretty bad for a decently long stretch, but remained just in contact enough to not have the proceedings totally go against them. The Cavaliers did not score from the 15:15 to 10:44 marks, a period in which Virginia went from up 43-39 to down 49-45. Hunter capped both ends of the drought, first with a 3 and then with a jumper around the elbow when he took Luke Maye off the dribble, showing when UVa needs a bucket, he's the guy to go to because of his versatility. Jerome and Guy showed their flexibility down the stretch, too, with both getting really difficult runners to fall, but those shots are a little easier for Hunter given his frame, and he had one of his own, too.
One aspect of this performance that was improved from the past few games was Virginia's lack of turnovers. Against N.C. State, Miami, and Duke, the Cavaliers averaged 14.7 turnovers, well above their NCAA-leading season average of about nine (9.3 now to be exact, and used to be more like eight per game before the recent sloppiness). But at UNC, Virginia limited itself to 10 turnovers, with seven of those coming in the first half. It then had three in the first eight minutes of the second half when times were tough, but zero after the 12:24 mark and down the stretch run when the game was on the line. I've been taught correlation does not equal causation, but guess what? Limiting turnovers will of course increase a team's chance to win!
UNC was already without Sterling Manley coming into the game, a good player but far from its most important piece (and I mentioned him being out in my preview), but I'd be remiss if I didn't point out the Tar Heels had two guys go down during the game: Nassir Little and Johnson. Little went out with an ankle injury after playing just two minutes in the first half, and Johnson, the Tar Heels' leading scorer, rolled his ankle with about six minutes left, and when he did, UVa went down and got a 3 from Jerome, which tied the score at 55. He came back in with 2:27 left when Virginia was up 61-59.
Right before he came back, one of the game's critical moments happened, when the Heels got a rebound, and White found himself with the ball out near half court, not realizing the shot clock had not reset. He launched a prayer of a shot went through the net, and it would've given UNC a 62-59 lead. But the refs got together and reviewed the play, and White barely, and I mean barely, had his fingertips still on the ball as the clock hit zero. It was very, very close.
On the next trip down the floor, Huff made his critical basket through contact under the rim on an
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| Kyle Guy sealed the victory with two 3-pointers and was feeling a little cocky after making the second one. |
UVa escaped Chapel Hill with a big-time ACC road victory. It's going to go down on the NCAA tournament resume as a top-10 road win, and those are very hard to come by. Virginia now has three top-10 wins on the season, with the others coming at home vs. FSU and Virginia Tech.
Now, after four days off and a chance to catch their breath, the 'Hoos host Notre Dame, welcoming the Fighting Irish to JPJ less than a month since Virginia went into South Bend and soundly captured a win.
The Wahoos won that game, 82-55, getting five players in double figures: Hunter (19), Guy (15), Jerome (13), Clark (12), and Diakite (10). Virginia took a 12-0 lead in the first six minutes, and that was pretty much it. UVa made it 18-7 midway through the first half, and its lead remained in double figures until the end of the game. It was one of Virginia's most dominating performances of the season, though Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said he was not happy with his team's effort. He was, however, effusive in his praise of Bennett's squad.
Interestingly enough, in that South Bend meeting, Virginia turned the ball over just twice, one of the nation's gems this season when it comes to ballhandling. But for whatever reasons, the next stretch of three games is when the 'Hoos struggled with turnovers. So hopefully this can be a matchup where UVa can continue to get back to its old ways of being careful with the ball.
John Mooney averages a double-double for the Irish and led the team in defeat with 15 points and 10 boards. No other player scored more than nine points. D.J. Harvey and TJ Gibbs had nine each, and Dane Goodwin finished with eight. One player for Notre Dame that did not play in that game because of an injury but is back for this one is junior Juwan Durham, who is averaging 5.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks. Since the loss to UVa, Notre Dame has gone 2-2, losing to Duke and Miami and beating BC and Georgia Tech in fairly close games.
Following this game, UVa has another quick turnaround as it goes on the road to face Virginia Tech on Monday. I'm sure the 'Hoos have been thankful for the recent days off. I think it's possible this could be a somewhat lackadaisical performance, a la the Wake Forest game, but I think UVa will be pretty sharp for the most part, wanting to keep the momentum going after such a good finish to the UNC game. But I don't think the Irish are going to start the game as badly as they did in South Bend, nor play that badly overall. Brey's teams are usually tough and put up better fights than that. I'm expecting a fairly easy Wahoos win, though.
Gut feeling: Virginia wins by 15-20 points.
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