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No. 3 Virginia can’t overcome slow start, falls to UNC in ACC semifinals, 71-67 No. 3 Virginia can’t overcome slow start, falls to UNC in ACC semifinals, 71-67
(35 minutes later)
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Malcolm Brogdon’s expression was stoic as the North Carolina band triumphantly played. He weaved through the reporters crowding the court with cameras and headed straight for the locker room. GREENSBORO, N.C. — Justin Anderson kept repeating to his Virginia teammates, “We’re going to win this game,” confident in the Cavaliers’ ability to come back from a double-digit deficit. But as time kept ticking off the clock, North Carolina’s lead appeared frozen.
Brogdon nearly helped No. 3 Virginia pull off a remarkable comeback in the last five minutes in the ACC tournament semifinal against North Carolina on Friday night. But the third-ranked Cavaliers fell short, 71-67, and now have to wait to see if the loss will cost them an expected No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Virginia had been in this position before, and it had found ways to make shots and get stops. But by the time Virginia found its rhythm, it was too late, and the comeback fell short in a 71-67 loss to the No. 16 Tar Heels in an ACC tournament semifinal.
After trailing by as much as 13 in the second half, Brogdon’s three-pointer cut Virginia’s deficit to three with about 4 minutes 30 seconds remaining. Brogdon had just three points at halftime before lighting up the Tar Heels with 22 in the second half. The third-ranked Cavaliers (29-3) now have to wait to see if the loss will cost them an expected No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
His three-pointer with 2:48 remaining made it a one-point game. Tar Heels’ freshman Justin Jackson’s jumper gave North Carolina a 63-60 lead with 1 minutes 43 seconds left, but Brogdon answered with a jumper of his own on the next possession, getting the Cavaliers within a point with less than a minute left. “It came too late for us,” forward Darion Atkins said. “It came with five minutes left in the second half. We can’t have that because with an elite team, they can just close the door on us, and we can’t put our foot back in.”
After trailing by 13 in the second half, guard Malcolm Brogdon’s three-pointer cut Virginia’s deficit to three with about 4 minutes 30 seconds remaining. Brogdon had just three points at halftime before lighting up the Tar Heels with 22 in the second half.
His three-pointer with 2:48 remaining made it a one-point game. Tar Heels freshman Justin Jackson’s jumper gave North Carolina a 63-60 lead with 1:43 left, but Brogdon answered with a jumper of his own on the next possession, getting the Cavaliers within a point with less than a minute left.
Brogdon missed a potential game-tying three-pointer with 19 seconds left. North Carolina collected the rebound and Brice Johnson made a pair of free throws to secure the win. Brogdon finished with 25 points and five rebounds.Brogdon missed a potential game-tying three-pointer with 19 seconds left. North Carolina collected the rebound and Brice Johnson made a pair of free throws to secure the win. Brogdon finished with 25 points and five rebounds.
North Carolina (24-10) extended its seven-point halftime lead to 11 in the first three minutes of the second half, prompting Virginia Coach Tony Bennett to call timeout. The Tar Heels maintained control of the game, extending their lead to 13 with 15:49 remaining and not letting the Cavaliers get closer than seven points until there was about five minutes left. Virginia was 2 for 10 from the field in the first eight minutes after halftime. “If it is on ESPN Classic, I hope one day when my son’s watching, I can say, ‘That boy Brogdon was a beast,’ because he took over the second half,” Anderson said.
Virginia’s Justin Anderson, in his second game back after sitting out more than a month with a broken pinkie on his shooting hand and then an appendectomy, again didn’t score. Anderson attempted a three-pointer that would’ve tied the game with 33 seconds left, but it clanged off the rim. He finished 0 for 4 with two rebounds in 14 minutes off the bench. The seven-point deficit matched the most Virginia has trailed at halftime this season. When they trailed Wake Forest by seven, the Cavaliers erased that margin early in the second half to win the game.
The Cavaliers (29-3) trailed North Carolina, 30-23, at halftime after shooting 37.5 percent from the field in the first half. The seven-point deficit matched the most Virginia has trailed at halftime this season. After scoring with ease in the paint to start the game, the Tar Heels then attacked Virginia’s vulnerability defending the perimeter, going 5 for 9 from three-point range. When Virginia was down to Virginia Tech by 10 in the second half, the Cavaliers made a run with about 10 minutes left in the game to get back in it and win.
Virginia’s offense started slow, not making a field goal in the first five minutes and starting 0 for 6. A dunk by forward Anthony Gill with 14 minutes 38 seconds ended the scoring drought, but by then North Carolina had an 8-3 lead. Virginia, which averages around nine turnovers a game, had nine in the first half. “We were waiting for it rather than going after it,” forward Anthony Gill said. “A lot of times, we go after that switch instead of just waiting for somebody to click. I think at the end of the game, when we started coming back, that was a little too late for us to flip that switch.”
As the Cavaliers’ offense struggled, the heralded defense played uncharacteristically. Eight of North Carolina’s first 14 points were scored in the paint, which Virginia usually protects with its post trap. Needing a boost, Bennett went to a lineup of forward Darion Atkins, forward Isaiah Wilkins, wing Evan Nolte, Brogdon and guard Marial Shayok. North Carolina played at its preferred faster pace early, while Virginia’s offense started slow, not making a field goal in the first five minutes and starting 0 for 6. A dunk by Gill with 14 minutes 38 seconds left in the first half ended the scoring drought, but by then North Carolina had an 8-3 lead and the Cavaliers never caught up. Virginia, which averages around nine turnovers a game, had nine in the first half.
A three-pointer by Shayok cut North Carolina’s deficit to six points with 11 minutes left in the first half. The Cavaliers forced a shot-clock violation on the next possession when Brogdon batted the ball out of Tar Heels’ point guard Marcus Paige’s hand. Shayok made a jumper on the next possession, and Wilkins followed with a layup on the next one to make it a two-point game. North Carolina’s field goal percentage (54.8) was the highest a team has had against Virginia in 163 games.
But North Carolina had an answer to every Virginia run. Paige extended the lead back to seven after a three-pointer, then a steal and score. After the Cavaliers cut North Carolina’s lead to 15-13, the Tar Heels made four of their next five field goals, three of which were three-pointers. “We can’t just sit back and let them do whatever they want to because we think that we’re this all-mighty team or something like that,” Gill said. “We need to go back to being who we are, and that’s playing with a chip on our shoulder.
The Tar Heels shot 52.4 percent from the field in the first half, and their lead would’ve likely been greater had they not had 11 turnovers in the first half, from which Virginia scored 14 points. Appearing frustrated with his team’s first-half performance, Bennett didn’t do a brief halftime interview with an ESPN television reporter when it was requested, walking directly to the locker room. “They have the McDonald’s all-Americans, and I think tonight in the first half, we were trying to play like we were them.”
Anderson said the hardest part about the next two days will not be waiting to find out what seed the Cavaliers receive in the NCAA tournament, but it’ll be watching the ACC tournament championship game, which Virginia won last season. Players said it didn’t matter to them what seed they received.
“One seed, two seed, that’s not for me to decide,” Virginia Coach Tony Bennett said. “We’ve just got to be ready to play better than we did in the first half for sure and work at that.”