No. 6 Virginia looks to get right against desperate North Carolina

CHARLOTTESVILLE – After having to squeak out a pair of one-possession victories over the two teams at the bottom of the ACC standings, Virginia traveled to Boston College confident it could get itself straightened out and headed in the right direction.

“I thought we had a good couple days of practice,” freshman guard Isaac McKneely said. “We looked good defensively. Shots were falling, running really good offense. I’m kind of surprised we came out like we did. All we can do is learn from it.”

After three straight shaky games, including Wednesday’s loss at Boston College, No. 6 Virginia smacks of desperation for a solid outing.

North Carolina, in danger of becoming the first preseason No. 1 team in the nation to miss the NCAA tournament, is just plain desperate.

The two teams meet Saturday in Chapel Hill, N.C.

“North Carolina desperately needs a win,” McKneely said. “They’re on the bubble. And, it’s at North Carolina. It’ll be a really tough environment.”

Neither team impressed in their midweek games this week. Hours after Virginia lost to Boston College, the Tar Heels narrowly escaped with a win over Notre Dame. For the Cavaliers, the loss snapped a four-game win streak, although the last two were subpar performances and one-possession wins over Louisville and Notre Dame, the two teams tied for last place in the conference.

UVa’s loss dropped them out of first place in the ACC and into a tie for second with Pittsburgh.

“We have to wipe our memories and get ready for Saturday,” forward Jayden Gardner said. “You can’t dwell on this because we’re still chasing something. We got to get ready for Carolina.”

For the Cavaliers (21-5, 13-4 ACC), the BC game was another rough offensive outing. They scored a season-low 48 points, shot 32.2% from the floor and went 4 for 21 from 3-point range. Coach Tony Bennett said, unlike the previous two games, he didn’t think his players worked for and got great shots against the Eagles, contributing to the poor shooting percentage and low points total.

Over its past three games, Virginia has shot just 37.4% from the floor and 26.9% from beyond the 3-point line.

Since its 69-62 overtime win against Duke on Feb. 7, UVa’s points total has gone down each game. It edged Louisville 61-58 on Feb. 15 and nipped Notre Dame 57-55 on Saturday.

“We were trying to break the funk on offense,” said Gardner, who was Virginia’s most productive player against BC, scoring 16 points on a 6 for 12 shooting effort. “The last few games, we won it with our defense. But we’re still kind of in the lull. We’ll just keep working.”

What was, perhaps, most troubling about the loss to Boston College was the fact that defense struggled, too. The Eagles shot 52% for the game and committed just two turnovers in the second half.

Fixing that surprising issue is the most vital concern for Virginia going into the game at North Carolina (17-11, 9-8).

“There’s always a sense of urgency when things aren’t going well,” Gardner said. “We’re just trying to get back to our way, and the defense has been what’s got us here. It needs to keep being our bread and butter when shots are not falling.”

Despite their disappointing season to date, the Tar Heels are 11-2 at home, while UVa is just 6-4 in true road games.

Virginia beat North Carolina 65-58 on Jan. 10. In that game, Tar Heels forward Armando Bacot, a former Trinity Episcopal star, played just over a minute before injuring his ankle. UNC was also without forward Pete Nance for the earlier meeting.

“Way different team,” Bennett said of the full-strength Tar Heels. “Every game down the stretch matters for us, matters for them. So, you’ll have to be ready.”