North Carolina falls to Virginia 61-52

North Carolina

North Carolina falls to Virginia 61-52

Reggie Bullock # 35 with the ball. East Tennesee State visits UNC and leaves with a 78 to 55 loss. UNC improves to 7-2 record. Photo by CHRIS BAIRD

Jan 6, 2013

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FINAL: North Carolina falls to Virginia 61-52 despite Reggie Bullock's 22 points.

FACTS & STATS: Site: John Paul Jones Arena (14,593) -- Charlottesville, Virginia. Television: ESPNU. Home Record: UNC 7-0, UVA 9-1. Away Record: UNC 1-2, UVA 1-1. Neutral Record: UNC 2-1, UVA 0-1. Conference Record: UNC 0-0, UVA 0-0. Series Record: North Carolina leads, 127-49.

GAME NOTES: The North Carolina Tar Heels are set to tip-off their Atlantic Coast Conference season as they venture to John Paul Jones Arena to tangle with the Virginia Cavaliers on Sunday night.

The Tar Heels pulled off a 79-73 upset of UNLV on Dec. 29 to close out 2012 with a 10-3 overall record. Roy Williams and his team were not too successful on the road during the non-conference slate, going 2-2 in away games with double-digit losses at Indiana (83-59) and Texas (85-67). UNC has the top scoring offense in the ACC and ranks fourth in the nation with 83.6 points per game on an astounding 19.5 assists per contest, but it is nowhere near as impressive on the defensive end, where it is giving up 69.9 ppg.

It will be interesting to see how the Tar Heels' impressive offense performs against Virginia, which leads the ACC in scoring defense with only 50.7 points allowed per contest. UVA also has a 10-3 record thanks to its 74-39 rout of Wofford on Dec. 30. The Cavaliers shot a season-high 63.8 percent from the field and held an opponent under 40 points for the third time this season.The victory was the ninth in 10 outings for the Cavaliers, who are 9-1 at John Paul Jones Arena on the season. Recent history is on UVA's side in this one as coach Tony Bennett is 3-0 in ACC openers.

The Tar Heels have won the last three games in their series versus Virginia to build a 127-49 lead in the rivalry. The Cavaliers are just 30-44 all-time versus UNC in Charlottesville and winless in four tries against the Tar Heels at John Paul Jones Arena.

North Carolina did not look like an underdog early on last time out, as it held a 19-6 lead after nine minutes when J.P. Tokoto tipped in a Marcus Paige miss. The Tar Heels then sustained a UNLV run after the break and made free throws when it matted to come out on top. Dexter Strickland scored 16 points, P.J. Hairston posted 15 points to go with four steals, and James Michael McAdoo added 13 points and nine rebounds. McAdoo is not living up to the player of the year candidate expectations placed upon him after his promising freshman campaign in 2011-12, but the sophomore forward is still pacing the team with decent averages of 14.8 points and 8.3 boards. Reggie Bullock (13.1) and Hairston (12.4) are both carrying double-digit scoring averages into league action as well.

Mike Tobey scored 19 points off the bench to spearhead Virginia's offensive outburst against Wofford last Sunday. Joe Harris and Akil Mitchell each added 15 points, while the Cavaliers held a 31-19 edge in the rebounding battle and forced 17 Wofford turnovers. Harris, who has scored in double figures in 11 of 13 games, leads the team with 15 ppg. Mitchell is near a double-double with 13.2 points and 9.2 boards per outing, while Darion Atkins is netting a career-high 8.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game.

Although the Tar Heels took down the talented Runnin' Rebels their last time out, they will have a much tougher time against this unranked conference rival. Virginia's stifling defense will force UNC to play at a much slower pace than it is accustomed to. The Cavaliers may not run away with it, but they should be able to overpower their way to a win over North Carolina.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Virginia 68, North Carolina 64

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RE: Carolina Cupcakes falls to Virginia 61-52

Carolina fans doing what they do best....crying and complaining. Face it, you got beat by Virginia, your coach is washed up, and your team sux. Yes, I admit, it was hilarious that the Cavaliers spanked the holes, but it's time to move on now.. they have to get game ready and prepare for their next loss.

RE: North Carolina falls to Virginia 61-52

Go back to the first page. First comment. Now. You know the rest of this story.

My list right now is Duke and Maryland. MD is the 2nd best team. State, Miami, FSU, and UVA are tied for what 3-5th. No way State is the 23th team. Maryland will move up tonight. UNC will grow up.
- Posted by Hokie 94

I saw your post. Mine was just a few posts down from yours on the first page. I knew this would be a tough game; UNC barely squeeked out a win last year and the Heels were much better then.

You think Maryland is better than State? Duke is by far the best in the ACC. I think State could be second, then Maryland. Who knows after that, all I know is that this is going to be tough year for Carolina and Roy.
- Posted by jgunn

I think Maryland might be better than State. I do not know what it is but State just does not seem to be nearly as good as I and most thought they would be. Duke is easily the best in the league.
- Posted by Deacons

State has lost 2 games to teams with a combined record of 23-1 going into this weekend. Maryland lost to a not that good Kentucky team that has more losses than the 2 teams State lost to combined. A close win is a win regardless, any conference road win is a good win. State did not play good against BC and BC played a little better than they probably are, but they are not that bad of a team, this is not last year and BC had won 5-6 in a row before State. Maryland is very good, but State and Maryland will probably split this year. Duke should beat State next Saturday, but it will be close and if State comes to play, it could be very interesting. They are one of the few teams in the conference that has the talent to match up with Duke man for man. And States freshmen will get better and better. Warren has been good from the start and now Purvis is starting to live up to his ability, remember he missed several games until he was cleared by the NCAA. Just like any other team, State has to build chemistry with the new players, but it is happening, State would have folded against BC in other years. As far as all the talk about Leslie, sure he has an attitude, but it is getting better, he had a bad game against BC, but he also scored over 20 two times in his last 5 games and his average is going up. But you have a game like that against BC where your starters aren't doing anything except Wood in the last 2 minutes and you have Purvis come off the bench and score 19. State could stand another big man off the bench, but this team will be fine and get better and better as the year goes. And they will still have some close games to teams that are not as good as they are like BC, every team will.

RE: North Carolina falls to Virginia 61-52

Despite Duke being #1, this may turn out to be another bummer of a year for the ACC. Only one conference game in the books, and already almost half the league (BC, Clemson, GT, VT and WF) are hopeless. FSU and Miami will have to do more if they're going dancing in March, and despite tonight's win, UVA still doesn't impress me that much. UNC isn't headed for one of their glory years, and State still can't seem to get interested in playing up to their potential, despite Gottfried's efforts. Maryland is the only ACC team, I think, that's underrated.

And as far as UNC looking like a team that is having to attend classes for the first time in a long time, they've definitely been schooled.

RE: North Carolina falls to Virginia 61-52

Duke and Maryland are clearly in front folks. No one even mentioned Maryland on here except me. State isn't even a 23rd team more than UVA. BC had this team on the ropes at home. That tells me enough. Luck counts. Wood shows up finally. That's all it takes. State should fall out regardless of the BC win. State has some chemistry issues. Leslie played like his personality. Which one shows up??? It's the truth.
- Posted by Hokie 94

Yeah most teams with chemistry issues have all 5 starters averaging in double figures. And BC will not that good of a team are not that bad of a team either. Any team in the ACC can lose on the road at any time. Right now BC is better than WF, Clemson, VT, and from the looks of the way FSU has been playing, better than they are at this point. Use to think you were p[retty smart, but I guess your son going to UNC has rubbed off on you. Over the last year your posts are becoming more and more like Tarheel posts. Maryland is very good, knew they would be, but saying State should not be ranked is a joke. They had a terrible game against OSU and lost to Michigan in a tough game at Michigan, who may be the best team in the country. They beat BC at BC by 5, so if a team goes 30-0 and don't win a game by more than 5 points, they should not be ranked? Duke, Michigan and everybody else will win some games by less than 5 points on the road this year to teams they should kill. State has lost 2 of their first 12 games by teams that had a combined record of 23-1 going into this weekend. Sounds like you are bitter that your son's team and your own team aren't very good this year, yep, starting to sound just like a Tarheel fan. Lord, UNC embarrasses themselves and you are starting to embarrass VT.

RE: North Carolina falls to Virginia 61-52

They look like a team that is having to attend classes for the first time in a long time.

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