If you’re looking for an offensive-minded college basketball game, you’ll want to search somewhere besides Charlottesville, Va.
Through one half of play, the North Carolina Tar Heels lead the Virginia Cavaliers by a 26-16 mark. This is more like a halftime score you’d see in a youth basketball game, but it’s instead of today’s UNC-UVA matchup with major implications in the conference standings.
RJ Davis didn’t score a single point on 0-of-6 shooting, while Armando Bacot spent most of his half on the bench in foul trouble. North Carolina’s defense rose to the challenge despite their two stars struggling, limiting the host Cavaliers to an ice-cold, 5-of-30 mark from the field.
What offensive production the Tar Heels lacked in Davis or Bacot, they gained in Cormac Ryan. The Notre Dame transfer dropped 15 points of 5-of-9 shooting, with all of his first-half makes from beyond the arc.
We knew today’s game was going to be more defensive-minded, but what’s played out in the first half is stunning. UVA is too good a team to struggle shooting the whole game, while North Carolina will need to find ways to push the second-half pace.
If UNC lets the Cavaliers hang around for too long, it could be staring at yet another loss in Charlottesville.
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