Now in a rhythm with three wins in its past four games, North Carolina will look to continue climbing the Atlantic Coast Conference standings on Saturday afternoon when the Tar Heels host Virginia in Chapel Hill, N.C.
With five games left in the regular season, North Carolina (16-11, 9-6) sits two games out of the No. 4 ACC seed — a coveted position because the top four teams will earn double byes.
Three of the Tar Heels’ final contests will take place at home, where the team is 10-2 this season.
Virginia (13-13, 6-9) suffered an 80-62 home loss against third-ranked Duke on Monday that snapped a three-game winning streak. But Ron Sanchez, the Cavaliers’ interim coach, said he’d rather spend more attention on the surge leading up to Monday rather than the game itself.
“I think messaging is important,” Sanchez said. “The power of the tongue is what you need in this space, and I’ve got to make sure that I deliver the right message to these guys, which is we are playing good basketball. … We have to understand that.”
Dai Dai Ames certainly has played well of late, averaging 16.4 points over the past five contests. Isaac McKneely — at a team-high 13.7 points per game this season — has averaged 18.7 over the past three outings for Virginia.
Their defense, always a staple for the Cavaliers, has held opponents to an average of 65.5 points per game this season, which ranks second among ACC teams.
The Tar Heels, meanwhile, are coming off a resounding 97-73 home win Wednesday against North Carolina State, during which North Carolina unleashed a press defense that forced nine first-half turnovers by a Wolfpack team that had averaged fewer than nine per game.
RJ Davis (17.5) leads four North Carolina players who are averaging double figures in scoring, but it’s the Tar Heels’ defense and bench (43 points vs. the Wolfpack) that coach Hubert Davis continues to emphasize as necessary catalysts.
“I thought it was one of our most — if not the most — complete game that we played all season,” he said. “I thought our energy and our effort, our attention to detail on both ends of the floor was really good. The energy from the bench was sustained or even better.”
