Virginia falls short against UNC

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Akil Mitchell drove right around North Carolina 7-footer Tyler Zeller like he was a statue and threw down a vicious one-handed jam. Jontel Evans created havoc with numerous forays into the heart of the Tar Heels’ defense. Joe Harris stroked a pair 3-pointers to quell a hostile Dean Dome crowd.

But in the end Virginia forgot who they were on Saturday afternoon against UNC.

The No. 19 Wahoos didn’t rebound and became lethargic on defense at the worst possible times. That, coupled with Mike Scott’s foul trouble, doomed them.

Fifth-ranked UNC, behind 25 points from Zeller and a dominating effort on the glass, defeated Virginia, 70-52, in front of a crowd of 20,496.

Virginia held the No. 5 Tar Heels to 35 percent shooting, but got outrebounded 52-32.

“I can’t put a finger on why exactly we weren’t boxing out,” said Harris, who finished with eight points and five rebounds. “I don’t know — just a lack of heart and toughness I guess.

“We kind of just lost focus in the second half defensively and weren’t doing the things that we pride ourselves on — boxing out, being tough and sound on both ends.”

Harris injured the index and middle knuckles on his left hand and played with a bandage on it in the second half. X-rays are pending.

“It made it a little bit tougher to grab [the ball],” Harris said. “My left hand — I can’t really squeeze it.”

Losing Harris for any stretch of time would be a death knell for a team that only has eight healthy scholarship players.

Virginia (19-5, 6-4) is already without Assane Sene. The center, who probably won’t be back for at least another three weeks, could have come in handy against one of the biggest teams UVa will face all season.

North Carolina had a whopping 23 offensive rebounds, which it converted into 23 points.

“For us to have a chance in a game like this,” said Virginia coach Tony Bennett, “you’ve got to do a better job on the glass and for whatever reason we struggled...

“It was alarming how many second shots they got or third shots in a possession. There were three or four times where we forgot to block out. You can’t afford those.” 

Virginia only trailed by three at the half and took a 41-39 lead early in the second half after Harris scored seven straight points, including two 3-pointers.

But UNC, behind Zeller and fellow big men John Henson and James Michael McAdoo, went on a 14-3 run. The Tar Heels, with Scott on the bench with three fouls, mauled Virginia on the interior, converting numerous second-chance opportunities.

“Soft’s not the right word,” Bennett said, “but we didn’t have the same kind of toughness and focus that was required that we had earlier.”

North Carolina coach Roy Williams seemed relieved that his team was able to put the loss to Duke earlier this week in its rearview.

“To have a disappointment like we did the other night, you want to play somebody who you’re going to beat by 60, but that’s going to be false confidence,” Williams said. “I wanted to be tested. I think Virginia’s one of the best teams in our league. They gave us everything we wanted and more.”

Bennett didn’t seem to feel that way.

“We certainly got in foul trouble and were scrambling, playing four guards, certainly some inexperienced guys out there,” Bennett said, “but all you got to do is look at the stat sheet. With them — 23 offensive rebounds is too much.

“After that stretch in the second half, we really lost our way and couldn’t get them off the glass and had some breakdowns defensively. We didn’t execute.”

Evans, one of the lone bright spots — he had 12 points and five assists, outplaying North Carolina’s Kendall Marshall — was more blunt.

“Everybody was just lackadaisical, lukewarm out there,” he said. “And we can’t have that if we want to go where we want to go.”

Dunks

Bennett said he didn’t know the severity of Harris’ injury. “Hopefully it’s nothing serious,” he said...Scott, who led Virginia with 18 points, had his ankle “flare up” on him during practice on Friday but said it didn’t affect him at all against UNC. “It’s fine,” he said…Virginia plays at Clemson on Tuesday.