UNC basketball beats Virginia to strengthen NCAA Tournament chances
CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina basketball punched first Saturday and put itself in better position to make the NCAA Tournament with a 71-63 win against No. 6 Virginia.
It was the first Quad 1 victory of the season for the Tar Heels (18-11, 10-8 ACC), who brought the fight to the Cavaliers (21-6, 13-5) with a sizzling shooting stretch to deliver a knockout blow at the Smith Center.
Ahead of the game Saturday, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi had UNC among the first four teams on the wrong side of the bubble, projected to miss the NCAA Tournament with two weeks until Selection Sunday.
BRACKETOLOGY:UNC basketball bracketology: Tar Heels currently outside looking in for NCAA Tournament
Facing a must-win situation, the Tar Heels came out of the gate with arguably their best first-half performance of the season and fended off Virginia in the second half to improve to 12-2 in Chapel Hill.
Pete Nance powered the effort with 22 points and three blocks. RJ Davis logged his third double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Armando Bacot had 11 points and six rebounds.
RJ Davis, Pete Nance heating up
Nance missed the first game against Virginia with a sore back, but made up for lost time with a sensational first half against the Hoos.
Nance had 14 points, including a buzzer-beater 3 to cap a 4-for-4 effort from long range, that helped UNC carry a 42-26 lead into the locker room. He hadn’t knocked down that many treys since making five against Portland on Thanksgiving.
After shooting 6 of 29 (20%) in the four games ahead of Saturday, Nance found his groove with a 7-for-10 shooting performance against Virginia. In addition to his four treys, Nance made all four of his free-throw attempts.
Davis aided Nance’s first-half surge with 11 points and six rebounds in the first 20 minutes. Davis endured an 8-for-42 stretch from 3-point range in the first seven games of February. He made five of his 10 shots Saturday, including 2-of-4 three-pointers.
UNC followed a season-worst 33.3% shooting performance in its win at Notre Dame with a blistering start against Virginia. The Tar Heels made 58% of their shots in the first half, including nine 3-pointers, and had eight assists on 15 makes.
Tar Heels close with Florida State, Duke
UNC will have a quick turnaround with a trip to Florida State set for Monday (7 p.m., ESPN). The Tar Heels will close the regular season against rival Duke on March 4 (6:30 p.m., ESPN).
Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com or @RoddBaxley on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: UNC basketball: Pete Nance powers Tar Heels in big win vs. Virginia
