Surging North Carolina glides past Virginia

Jae'Lyn Withers had 16 points and 11 rebounds, Ian Jackson added 16 points, and North Carolina rolled to an 81-66 Atlantic Coast Conference win over Virginia on Saturday in Chapel Hill, N.C.

It marked the third straight wire-to-wire win for the Tar Heels (17-11, 10-6), who won for the fourth time in the past five games.

Ven-Allen Lubin had 14 points for UNC, which outrebounded Virginia 35-21, including 11-3 on the offensive glass that led to 17 second-chance points for the Tar Heels.

Isaac McKneely paced Virginia (13-14, 6-10) with 17 points, which dropped its second straight game. Dai Dai Ames scored all 12 of his points in the second half of the game, which featured the most points between these two teams since 2016.

For the second straight game, North Carolina sprinted of the starting blocks, hitting 8 of its first 12 shots from the field, including a 3-pointer from Jackson that capped a 15-0 run to put the Heels on top 21-2.

The Cavaliers were just 1-of-10 shooting and committed four turnovers during that stretch of nearly nine minutes, which featured a Virginia scoreless drought of just under six minutes.

Virginia bounced back, however, with a Jacob Cofie dunk and 3-pointer ending a 14-3 burst that brought the Cavaliers back to within eight points. McKneely later hit a triple to trim the deficit to 39-32 before North Carolina extended its advantage to 46-34 at the half, posting the most first-half points allowed by Virginia this season.

After missing 9 of its first 10 shots from the floor to start the game, Virginia ended the first half by making 11 of 14 attempts for a 12-of-24 total.

After North Carolina went up by 17 early in the second half, the Cavaliers again chipped away.

McKneely's fast-break layup capped an 11-2 burst for Virginia to cut the deficit to 55-47. The Cavaliers never got closer, however, as a 3-pointer from Jackson pushed the Tar Heels back in front by double digits en route to the victory.

--Field Level Media