Fourth-ranked UVA outscored #8 North Carolina 21-6 over the final 7:51 to erase a seven-point deficit and win in the Dean Dome, 69-61, Monday night.
Virginia (21-2, 9-2 ACC) led 36-29 at the half, but a 17-3 Carolina run over a 5:39 stretch turned things around for the Heels, who led 55-48 on a Luke Maye turnaround jumper with 7:51 to go.
The defense clamped down from there, limiting UNC (19-5, 9-2 ACC), which had won seven straight coming in, to 2-of-14 shooting from the field from there.
A Kyle Guy three triggered the game-ending run for the ‘Hoos, who made seven of their last eight from the field, shooting 4-of-5 from three-point range in the closing stretch.
A Jay Huff layup on a dish from De’Andre Hunter put Virginia back on top, 61-59, with 3:12 to go, and a pair of threes from Guy, the second at the 1:10 mark, pushed the margin to six, at 67-61.
UNC missed its final eight shots, and only poor free-throw shooting from Virginia, which finished an abysmal 10-of-18 from the charity stripe on the evening, allowed things to stay interesting into the final seconds.
Hunter finally hit the front and back end of a 1-and-1 with 16 seconds left to ice the game.
Hunter had 20 points, shooting 7-of-10 from the floor and 3-of-3 from three-point range.
Guy also had 20 for Virginia, shooting 7-of-13 from the field and 5-of-9 from three.
Ty Jerome had 15 points and 11 assists for UVA, which shot 53.3 percent from the floor (24-of-45) for the game, and connected on 11-of-20 (55 percent) from three-point range.
North Carolina got 17 points from Coby White, who was just 6-of-19 shooting. Cam Johnson had 16 points on 6-of-14 shooting for the Tar Heels, which shot 35.4 percent (23-of-65) from the floor and 9-of-30 (30 percent) from three-point range.
Story by Chris Graham
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