virginia vs unc

Lucas: Virginia Rapid Reactions

February 22, 2025 | Men’s Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas

Quick takeaways from the only regular season matchup with the Cavaliers.

Players Mentioned

Elliot Cadeau

RJ Davis

Ian Jackson

Ven-Allen Lubin

Drake Powell

Cade Tyson

Jae’Lyn Withers

Instant Analysis: UNC Stacks Another Must-Have in Win Column

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina stacked another must-have game in the win column by a healthy margin on Saturday.

The Tar Heels took care of Virginia 81-66 in ACC basketball at the Smith Center, and picked up their third victory in a row.

Jae’Lyn Withers continued his sudden surge in productivity, delivering 16 points on the strength of four 3-pointers and a season-high 11 rebounds. Ian Jackson supplied 16 points off the bench, as UNC didn’t trail for the third consecutive game. The Tar Heels (17-11 overall, 10-6 ACC) won for fourth time across the last five games.

Carolina improved to 11-2 in home games this season, and wasn’t threatened after roaring ahead to a 19-point lead in the game’s opening 8½ minutes on this final Saturday before the month of March. Four regular-season games remain for the Tar Heels.

Ven-Allen Lubin added 14 points and six rebounds, RJ Davis chipped in 12 points despite a rough shooting outing (3-for-14) from the field, and Drake Powell finished with 11 points. UNC secured sizable advantages in rebounding (35-21), second-half points (17-2) and points in the paint (36-22).

Withers and Jackson hit a combined 7-for-9 from 3-point range. The Tar Heels collectively shot 9-for-16 beyond the arc (56.3 percent), their best 3-point percentage since December 2021.

Isaac McKneely’s 17 points and Dai Dai Ames’ 12 points topped Virginia (13-14, 6-10), which arrived after suffering a beatdown loss to Duke earlier in the week.

Tar Heels build another big first-half lead

Carolina led 46-34 by halftime, after Elliot Cadeau went the length of the court and scored on a racing lay-in, but wasn’t able to beat the first-half horn. Replays showed the ball still in Cadeau’s right hand when time expired and the red lights lining the backboard illuminated, as did the ensuing review by the officiating crew.

The Tar Heels built a commanding first-half lead for the second time in as many games. After zooming ahead of NC State and leading by 20 during the game’s opening 12 minutes on Wednesday night, UNC bolted ahead of Virginia 21-2 out of the gate here Saturday. Drake Powell’s three-point play on an inbounds situation and Ian Jackson’s 3-point swish capped a 15-0 burst by the Tar Heels, who led by 19 in the game’s first 8½ minutes. UNC connected on 10 of its first 14 shots from the field.

UVa used a 14-3 run to get within 24-16 and later trailed 39-32, but Carolina’s 46 points marked the highest scoring output allowed by the Cavaliers in a first half this season. Jae’Lyn Withers had 11 points and five rebounds by halftime. He buried three 3-pointers during the first half, moving him to 8-for-11 from 3-point range across the last three games.

Collectively, UNC drained 6-for-8 beyond the 3-point arc during the first half. Ian Jackson and Ven-Allen Lubin scored eight first-half points apiece. Lubin produced six of the Tar Heels’ first 11 points, as Carolina stormed out of the gate at the beginning. UNC started the game by grabbing an 11-0 rebounding advantage, and led 17-5 in that category by halftime.

Next on the schedule

UNC is tasked with navigating a quick turnaround to Monday night’s road assignment at Florida State (7 p.m., ESPN). It’s the second of two Saturday-Monday sequences in ACC league play this month for the Tar Heels, who edged Pittsburgh 67-66 two weeks ago at home, before falling hard 85-65 in a consequential road loss two nights later at Clemson. Monday night’s matchup against FSU marks Carolina’s only meeting with the Seminoles during the regular season. The Tar Heels are 6-9 away from home this season (4-6 in road games and 2-3 in neutral-site games).

Florida State lost 89-81 at No. 25 Louisville on Saturday afternoon. The Seminoles (16-11, 7-9) are in their final days under 76-year-old Leonard Hamilton, the longtime coach who’s stepping down at the end of the season after 23 seasons on the FSU job. UNC leads the all-time series 53-16 against Florida State, including 19-8 in road games, all of which have been played at the Tucker Center (formerly the Leon County Civic Center). The Tar Heels have won their last five meetings with the Seminoles.

North Carolina (16-11, 9-6 ACC) vs. Virginia (13-13, 6-9 ACC)
Saturday, Feb. 22 — 4 p.m.
Chapel Hill, N.C. — Smith Center
TV: ESPN2 (Dave O’Brien, Cory Alexander)
Radio: Tar Heels Sports Network (Jones Angell, Tyler Zeller)

Quotables

“Virginia under Coach (Ron) Sanchez, from an offensive standpoint they will push the ball a little bit more in transition. But they’re still methodical in terms of their approach and what they want, where they want the ball to go to, and the shots that they want to get on the offensive end. Defensively, they’ve mixed in switching everything on the ball. That’s something that normally they haven’t done. But regardless of whatever scheme that they played defensively, they do it well and they do it consistently well.” — UNC coach Hubert Davis on Friday, assessing Saturday’s matchup against Virginia.

“We felt they were starting to crumble in the press. They wanted no part of it, and we felt that. I remember when they called a timeout after we were pressing, we were all just in the huddle going crazy. That energy was crazy. We just continued to feed off of it. … We were great at it last year, and I think we can be really good at it this year. We have guys like Drake (Powell) and (Jae’Lyn Withers) who can play the point on the press. You have quick guys like Ian (Jackson) and I who can get off-ball steals. So we’ve got the personnel for it.” — UNC guard Seth Trimble on Wednesday night, after the Tar Heels rolled past rival NC State 97-73 while deploying full-court defensive pressure at times.

Pregame Notes

Tar Heels Go Bigger: UNC mixed up its starting lineup again earlier this week, swapping in 6-foot-6 Drake Powell for 6-3 Seth Trimble. That move provided Carolina with more traditional size across the frontcourt positions. The Tar Heels played 18 different lineup combinations during the course of the blowout of the Wolfpack, while not using the four-guard lineup of Elliot Cadeau, RJ Davis, Ian Jackson and Trimble together at the same time.

As the Tar Heels have gone bigger in the last two games, they’ve been more efficient on the offensive end, averaging 92.5 points per game in their victories against Syracuse and NC State. Against the Wolfpack, UNC produced ACC season-highs in field goal shooting (57.4 percent), rebound margin (19), second-chance points (21) and bench points (43). The Tar Heels connected on 40 percent from 3-point range on Wednesday night, marking the third time in the last four games Carolina has eclipsed that shooting mark.

UNC moved up five spots in the NET rankings after routing NC State, bumping up from No. 50 to No. 45. On Friday, the Tar Heels checked in at No. 46 in the updated NET, and remain 1-10 in all-important Quad 1 games this season. The NET is one of the primary metrics that’s used as a sorting tool for selecting and seeding the NCAA Tournament field. Carolina has just one Quad 1 opportunity left on its schedule, the March 8 regular-season finale against Duke at the Smith Center. Three of UNC’s last five games in the regular season are Quad 3 or 4 contests. Last season, Virginia’s 2-7 record in Quad 1 games represented the worst mark among at-large teams that made the NCAA Tournament.

Looking at Virginia: The Cavaliers are 13-13 overall and 6-9 in ACC league play, and are in danger of finishing with their first losing conference record in 14 years. Virginia went 16-15 overall and 7-9 in ACC league play during the 2010-11 season. That was former coach Tony Bennett’s second season on the job. UVa is 4-7 away from home this season, including 3-5 in true road games. The Cavaliers have allowed 80 points or more four times away from home.

UVa won its first three games of the season, defeating Campbell (by a 65-56 margin) Coppin State (62-45) and Villanova (70-60). Then, the Cavaliers split their next 10 games, picking up wins over Manhattan (74-65), Holy Cross (67-41), Bethune-Cookman (59-41), American (63-58) and NC State (70-67). UVa fell hard in higher-profile losses to Tennessee (64-42), St. John’s (80-55), Florida (87-69), SMU (63-51) and Memphis (94-62) during that stretch.

And Virginia quickly hit a losing spell after the restart to ACC league play. After beating NC State (70-67) on New Year’s Eve, the Cavaliers dropped five straight. That slide included defeats at home to Louisville (70-50) and SMU (54-52), and on the road at California (75-61), Stanford (88-65) and Louisville (81-67). But since that point, though, Virginia has won five of its last eight games, defeating Boston College (74-56), Miami (82-71), Pittsburgh (73-57), Georgia Tech (75-61) and Virginia Tech (73-70). UVa is coming off a lopsided loss to Duke, an 80-62 beatdown suffered on Monday night at home in Charlottesville, Va., during which the Cavaliers trailed by as many as 27 points.

UVa is under Sanchez, the interim coach. He stepped in for Bennett, who retired suddenly on Oct. 18, less than three weeks prior to the team’s season opener. Bennett left Virginia as the program’s all-time winningest coach, posting a 364-136 record across his 15 seasons there. He owns a career mark of 433-169. He was a three-time National Coach of the Year (2007, 2015, 2018) and led Virginia to its first NCAA championship in 2019. Sanchez spent 10 seasons under Bennett as an assistant coach (2009-2018, 2023-24). In between those stints as an assistant, Sanchez served as the head coach at Charlotte. He compiled a 72-78 record during five seasons leading the 49ers.

Cavaliers Lean On Trio of Guards: Virginia features a three-headed guard attack in Isaac McKneely, Andrew Rohde and Dai Dai Ames. McKneely is supplying a team-high 13.7 points to go along with 3 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game. He’s shooting an ACC-best 42.3 percent from 3-point range on more than seven attempts per game. He has made at least three 3-pointers in 16 games this season, including six 3-point makes three times. McKneely ranks top-25 nationally and second in the ACC in 3-pointers made this season (82), trailing only Louisville lefty Reyne Smith (100 made 3-pointers, tied for first nationally). In last season’s loss to UNC, McKneely was limited to seven points on 2-of-9 shooting from the field, including 1-of-5 shooting beyond the arc.

Rohde is contributing 9.2 points, a team-high 4.5 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game. He’s in his second season with the Cavaliers, after transferring in from St. Thomas (Minn.). Rohde’s scoring production is up nearly 5 points per game from last season, and he’s playing nearly five more minutes per game. His efficiency has seen massive improvement. Rohde is shooting 43.6 percent from the field (up 14.3 percentage points), including 41.3 percent on 3-pointers (up 15.6 percentage points). He has dished out 32 assists and coughed up just four turnovers across the last four games. In conference-only games, Rohde leads the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio at 4.9.

The sophomore Ames has blossomed lately. He has finished in double-digit scoring in five straight games, including a career-high 27 points in UVa’s victory at Pitt. The 6-1 lefty Ames is in his first season at Virginia, after transferring from Kansas State. He’s shooting 40 percent from 3-point range and 46.1 percent from the field this season.

The Cavaliers, as per their tradition, play one of the slowest paces in the country. UVa’s adjusted tempo of 60.9 possessions per game (for both teams) is tied for the third-lowest mark nationally, according to Ken Pomeroy’s college basketball database. That’s easily the slowest pace in the ACC. Clemson is the league’s second-slowest team at an adjusted tempo of 63.9 possessions per game. By comparison, UNC ranks 25th nationally in adjusted tempo (71.3 possessions per game), according to KenPom.

Transfer, Freshman Top the Frontcourt: Elijah Saunders, a 6-8 forward, checks in second for Virginia in scoring at 10.9 points per game. He’s in his first season with the Cavaliers, after playing two seasons at San Diego State. He was a member of the San Diego State team that reached the 2023 NCAA championship game. Saunders has led UVa in scoring eight times this season, and he’s shooting a career-best 37.1 percent from 3-point range.

Jacob Cofie has been productive during his freshman season. He’s averaging 7.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, and leads UVa with 26 steals. The 6-10 Cofie finished in double-figure scoring in the Cavaliers’ first three games this season, becoming the first Virginia freshman to accomplish that feat since Sylven Landesberg (2008-09). Cofie was considered a four-star prospect and the top recruit out of the state of Washington, according to 247Sports.

Virginia still hangs its hat on the defensive end. The Cavaliers are limiting opponents to 65.5 points per game, ranking 33rd in the nation and second in the ACC. Coming into this season, Virginia had finished top-10 nationally in points allowed for 13 straight seasons.

Last Meeting: Carolina won a 54-44 slugfest at UVa in February last season. That snapped a 12-year winless skid for Carolina at Virginia’s John Paul Jones Arena. The Tar Heels shot just 32 percent from the field, but held Virginia to 27.6-percent shooting from the field, including 14.3-percent shooting from 3-point range. Cormac Ryan’s 18 points came by way of six made 3-pointers. RJ Davis added 12 points, but shot just 1-for-14 from the field. Armando Bacot chipped in 10 points and 13 rebounds.

Series History: UNC leads the all-time series 135-62. The Tar Heels are 68-9 in home games against the Cavaliers, including a 26-6 mark at the Smith Center. These teams have split the last six meetings at the Smith Center with three victories apiece.

Projected UNC Starters:
3 Elliot Cadeau (So., 6-1, 180) — 10.3 ppg, 6 apg, 3.1 rpg
4 RJ Davis (Gr., 6-0, 180) — 17.5 ppg, 3.9 apg, 3.7 rpg
9 Drake Powell (Fr., 6-6, 195) — 6.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg
22 Ven-Allen Lubin (Jr., 6-8, 230) — 6.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg
24 Jae’Lyn Withers (Gr., 6-9, 220) — 5.3 ppg, 3.6 rpg

Projected Virginia Starters:
0 Blake Buchanan (So., 6-11, 227) — 5.7 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 1.2 bpg
4 Andrew Rohde (Jr., 6-6, 200) — 9.2 ppg, 4.5 apg, 2.8 rpg
5 Jacob Cofie (Fr., 6-10, 232) — 7.2 ppg, 4.8 rpg
7 Dai Dai Ames (So., 6-1, 190) — 8 ppg, 2.1 apg
11 Isaac McKneely (Jr., 6-4, 195) — 13.7 ppg, 3 apg, 2.8 rpg

UNC Info
Schedule/Results
Roster & Bios
Stats

Virginia Info
Schedule/Info
Roster & Bios
Stats

Florida State men’s basketball hits the road and travels to the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky. to face No. 25/22 Louisville on Saturday at noon. The game between the Seminoles and Cardinals will be shown on The CW. Audio can also be heard on the Seminole Sports Network.

FSU sits at 16-10 on the season, incluing 7-8 in Atlantic Coast Conference play. The Seminoles are looking for their first win over a ranked opponent during the 2024-25 season.

UL is 20-6 on the season and 13-2 in league play. They enter Saturday’s game on a four-game winning streak. They are 10-3 on the season at home.

FSU lost at home to Louisville, 90-76, back on December 21st. They have won two meetings in a row and the last two games played at Louisville. The Cardinals have a 36-18 advantage over the Seminoles in their all-time series.

Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton enters Saturday’s game against Louisville ranked fourth in ACC history with 199 career regular season ACC victories. He needs just one regular season ACC win to become just the fourth coach in the illustrious history of the league to win 200 or more regular season conference games.

POSSIBLE STARTING LINEUP FOR FLORIDA STATE

F #1 Jamir Watkins (17.9 ppg and 5.4 rpg; 25 pts and 3 rebs against Louisville, December 21, 2024)

F #10 Taylor Bol Bowen (8.7 ppg and 5.5 rpg; 8 pts and 3 rebs against Louisville, December 21, 2024)

C #12 Malique Ewin (14.2 ppg and 8.0 rpg; 17 pts and 3 rebs against Louisville, December 21, 2024)

G #0 Chandler Jackson (7.0 ppg and 2.1 apg; 5 pts and 4 assists against Louisville, December 21, 2024)

G #5 Daquan Davis (8.8 ppg and 2.7 apg; 9 pts and 2 asts against Louisville, December 21, 2024)

TOP RESERVES

G #3 Bostyn Holt (3.2 ppg and 1.3 apg; 0 pts and 0 rebs against Louisville, December 21, 2024)

F #7 Jerry Deng (6.5 ppg and 2.0 rpg; 3 pts and 3 rebs against Louisville, December 21, 2024)

G #25 Justin Thomas (5.0 ppg and 2.2 rpg; 0 pts and 0 rebs against Louisville, December 21, 2024)

G #19 AJ Swinton (2.8 ppg and 1.5 rpg; 4 pts and 0 rebs against Louisville, December 21, 2024)

F #21 Alier Maluk (2.4 ppg and 2.0 rpg; 5 pts and 0 rebs against Louisville, December 21, 2024)

G #7 Anastasios Rozakeas (0.5 ppg and 0.2 rpg; First career game against Louisville)

F #11 Christian Nitu (1.6 ppg and 1.1 rpg; First career game against Louisville)

POSSIBLE STARTING LINEUP FOR LOUISVILLE

F #0 James Scott (7.2 ppg and 6.6 rpg; 3 pts and 4 rebs against Florida State, December 21, 2024)

G #1 J’Vonne Hadley (12.4 ppg and 7.2 rpg; 9 pts and 8 rebs against Florida State, December 21, 2024)

G #5 Terrence Edwards Jr. (14.8 ppg and 4.0 apg; 19 pts and 7 rebs against Florida State, December 21, 2024)

G #6 Reyne Smith (14.3 ppg and 3.0 rpg; 27 pts and 1 reb against Florida State, December 21, 2024)

G #24 Chucky Hepburn (15.0 ppg and 6.2 apg; 16 pts and 8 assists against Florida State, December 21, 2024)

NOTES: The Cardinals do not go overly deep. Their bench consists of Aboubacar Traore (5.6 ppg, 4.9 rpg), Noah Waterman (6.0 ppg, 3.7 rpg), and Khani Rooths (3.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg).

OFFICIALS: Referee is Clarence Armstrong and the umpires are Tony Henderson and Matt Porter.

UP NEXT: FSU will return home to face North Carolina on Monday at 7 p.m.

Noles247 will have coverage throughout the game.

– FSU closed the gap to six points a couple of times, but lose 89-81 at Louisville.

– FSU trails 68-60 at the under-8.

– UL leads FSU, 60-51, with 11:58 remaining in the game.

– Three-point play (jumper and free throw) by Jamir Watkins closes the gap to 54-47.

– FSU uses a 7-0 run to close the gap to eight points. It is now 10 – 54-44 – with 15:24 left.

– FSU trails 45-31 as the second half begins.

– FSU trails 45-31 at the half.

– The UL lead is 39-22 with 3:48 left in the opening half.

– The Seminoles trail 29-15 with 7:51 remaining in the half. FSU has committed nine turnovers.

– FSU now down 29-13, UL on 12-2 run over last 3:20.

– FSU trails 19-11 with 11:05 left in the opening half. Jamir Watkins has five points to lead the Seminoles.

– FSU trails 8-2 at the first media timeout. Seminoles have yet to make a shot. Jamir Watkins made a pair of free throws.

– Louisville opened the game with back-to-back 3-point baskets. FSU uses a timeout 80 seconds into this one, down 6-0.

FSU: Jackson, Davis, Watkins, Bol Bowen, Ewin

UL: Hadley, Edwards Jr., Smith, Hepburn, Scott

This article originates on Noles247.

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The Tar Heels don’t trail again and dispatch Virginia 81-66 to earn their third victory in a row.

Carolina can pick up its third victory in a row and fourth win across the last five games on Saturday.

Florida State men’s basketball travels to face Louisville on Saturday at noon.

SECOND HALF

FIRST HALF

STARTING 5

UNC basketball vs Virginia: Score prediction, scouting report for ACC game at Smith Center

UNC basketball had arguably its best performance of the season in a wire-to-wire win against N.C. State.

The Tar Heels (16-11, 9-6 ACC) will need to keep that momentum going in the right direction against Virginia (13-13, 6-9) on Saturday (4 p.m., ESPN2) in Chapel Hill. Overall, UNC is 26-6 against the Cavaliers at the Smith Center.

The Hoos, who haven’t won in Chapel Hill since 2020, have lost four of the last six games in the series. As UNC continues to chase an NCAA Tournament berth, here are some things to know and a score prediction for the Tar Heels’ latest matchup with Virginia.

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The Tar Heels trampled N.C. State in a multitude of ways, most notably on the offensive glass. UNC finished with 14 offensive rebounds and 21 second-chance points against the Wolfpack, with Drake Powell and Ven-Allen Lubin teaming up for six of those boards. Virginia allowed Duke to grab 10 offensive rebounds for 16 second-chance points. If the Heels can continue to create extra opportunities offensively, they’re capable of a late-season surge.

UNC is 8-3 when Ian Jackson knocks down multiple 3-pointers and 11-5 when Jackson reaches double figures. Over the last two games against Syracuse and N.C. State, the Bronx guard is 7 of 12 (58.3%) from beyond the arc. The Tar Heels are a different team when Jackson is scoring at a high level.

The Cavaliers scored 70 or more points in five straight games, finishing with a 4-1 record in that stretch before their loss to Duke. Following a season that saw Virginia finish 200th in offensive efficiency, the Hoos are at 107 through 26 games, according to KenPom.com. A big reason for that improvement is Virginia’s ability to connect from long distance, making 37.6% of its 3-pointers for the 25th-best rate in the nation. Isaac McKneely, a 42.3% long-range shooter, is the top scoring option. Over the last three games, McKneely is 14 of 30 (46.6%) from beyond the arc.

UNC 78, Virginia 67: Following a pair of wire-to-wire victories, the Tar Heels will keep it rolling against the Hoos. UNC seems to have found its footing with a more free-flowing offense and a willingness to improve its rebounding.

Rodd Baxley covers Duke, North Carolina and N.C. State for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his ACC coverage on X/Twitter or Bluesky: @RoddBaxley. Got questions regarding those teams? Send them to rbaxley@fayobserver.com.