Thank you, Gill! UVA power forward Anthony Gill had looked quite human in the weeks since his dominant 25-point, 13-rebound effort in an 83-72 win over Davidson on Dec. 30, averaging just 7.5 points per game and 5.5 rebounds on 39 percent shooting in ACC play.
Gill had a solid night Monday at UNC, scoring 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting with seven rebounds in 27 minutes off the bench.
Perhaps most significantly, Gill, beset of late by foul trouble, recorded only one foul Monday night.
Aggressive Perrantes: London Perrantes was 6-of-10 from the field Monday night, scoring 15 points and dishing out six assists in 37 minutes.
Perrantes had averaged 5.1 field-goal attempts per game coming in, getting into double figures just once, putting up 11 shots in the double-OT win at Miami on Jan. 3.
The more aggressive Perrantes was a more effective Perrantes, as UVA coach Tony Bennett noted after the game.
“Him taking 10 shots and just aggressive in the lane with his six assists, that just adds another dimension to us,” Bennett said.
Nice bounceback game for Anderson: Justin Anderson had been a bit waggy of late, going 4-for-17 (23.5 percent) from three-point range and 10-of-33 (33 percent) overall from the field in his last four, averaging 9.5 points per game in the stretch.
Anderson scored 16 at UNC Monday night, 11 in the first half, hitting three three-pointers early that were huge with the Heels’ starting 7-of-9 from the field.
The third three cut the UNC lead at the time to two at 16-14, and it had to be a bit of a body blow for the Heels to be shooting the lights out and still be up just two.
Anderson also finished with a career-high seven assists.
UVA only plays position defense in slow games, right? The basketball experts talk about how Virginia can only win at slow tempo. Monday’s game had 10 more possessions than the average UVA game this season, and Virginia beat an up-tempo team on the road by 11.
The experts also say Virginia doesn’t force enough turnovers or block enough shots for their liking.
Monday night, Virginia had nine steals (Carolina had three) and blocked seven shots (Carolina had three blocks).
So much for what the experts know.
– Column by Chris Graham
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Chris Graham
