No. 22 North Carolina got 17 second-half points from Jarin Stevenson and rallied for an 85-80 win over No. 14 Virginia in Atlantic Coast Conference action Saturday in Charlottesville, Va.
Caleb Wilson scored 20 points for the Tar Heels (16-4, 4-3 ACC), who had lost their first three conference road games. It was the 14th 20-point game of the season for the freshman star.
Seth Trimble added 16 points, Luka Bogavac had 14 and Derek Dixon added 11 for North Carolina, which finished with a 21-10 advantage in fast-break points.
It snapped a five-game winning streak for the Cavaliers (16-3, 5-2), who lost for the first time in 11 home games.
Thijs De Ridder led Virginia with 20 points and Malik Thomas, Sam Lewis and Chance Mallory each had 11.
Down 16 late in the first half, the Tar Heels pulled within 52-49 on Dixon’s triple with 15:57 to play.
Stevenson’s dunk put North Carolina up 59-58 with 11:57 left, its first lead since the game’s first basket.
Virginia surged back in front at 69-67 on De Ridder’s floater with 7:04 remaining, part of a 9-0 run.
Consecutive three-point plays by Trimble and Stevenson gave the lead back to the Tar Heels at 78-74.
After drawing a charge at the other end, Stevenson drained a 3-pointer to make it 81-74 with 1:38 left.
A 3-pointer by Thomas and a layup by Dallin Hall cut the Cavaliers’ deficit to 81-79.
Wilson’s bank shot gave North Carolina an 83-79 cushion with 31 seconds left and Virginia missed a pair of late 3-point attempts.
North Carolina shot just 35.5% (11 of 31) from the field in the first half, when its only lead was 2-0.
Virginia ran off 10 unanswered points for a quick 10-2 lead and maintained control throughout the half.
The Cavaliers took their largest lead at 43-27 on Johann Grunloh’s free throw with 2:05 left until halftime.
Consecutive 3-pointers by Bogavac and Dixon to finish the half trimmed the Tar Heels’ deficit to 43-34.
–Field Level Media
