Rushed Reactions: #19 North Carolina 71, #3 Virginia 67
Posted by Brad Jenkins on March 13th, 2015
ACC Microsite writers Matt Patton and Brad Jenkins will be reporting live from Greensboro at the 2015 ACC Tournament throughout the week.
Three Key Takeaways from North Carolina’s ACC semifinal win over Virginia.
Justin Jackson led North Carolina to the ACC Tournament finals with 22 points (USA Today Images)
- North Carolina found some toughness. For the second day in a row, the Tar Heels faced an opponent that had previously manhandled them down the stretch. But in Greensboro this week, North Carolina stood up to an aggressive Louisville squad and then followed that up by fighting off a spirited comeback attempt from the top-seeded Cavaliers. Both games were close but the Heels were able to make more big plays down the stretch to prevail. Virginia had all the momentum when Malcolm Brogdon nailed a three-pointer to cut the Tar Heels’ lead to one with just under three minutes left in the game. But North Carolina responded by getting some crucial stops the rest of the way, sealing the game by knocking down its last six free throws to ice the game.
- Malcolm Brogdon has the heart of a champion and the game to match. After a cold shooting first half that saw Brogdon only score three points, Tony Bennett challenged his all-ACC junior to step up and Brogdon responded in a big way. He brought Virginia back from a 13-point second half deficit — scoring 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting after intermission. With Justin Anderson still ineffective in just his second game back in the lineup – zero points in 14 minutes of action, the Cavaliers’ offense seemed out of sync until Brogdon took it upon himself to take over the game. The primary concern is if Anderson doesn’t return to his old form in the NCAA Tournament, Brogdon alone will not be enough to carry the Cavaliers to the Final Four.
- Shooting is no longer a weakness for this North Carolina team. For much of this season, the Tar Heels have been inconsistent with their shooting but it appears they are heating up at just the right time. Against the stout Virginia defense, North Carolina shot 54.8 percent from the field and made half of its threes (7-of-14). That’s the highest field goal percentage allowed by Virginia in over four seasons. It’s not just a one-game occurrence though, as the Heels came in to this contest having made 50 percent of their twos and 42 percent of their threes over the last seven games. With that kind of balance inside and out, this team will be a tough out in the NCAA Tournament. Now, if only they can take care of the ball — 18 turnovers almost ruined tonight’s great shooting performance.
Star of the Game. Justin Jackson, North Carolina. The freshman wing came up with a huge game, scoring 22 points on 8-of-10 field goal shooting. Despite being only a 26 percent three-point shooter coming into this game, Jackson connected on 4-of-5 from deep tonight. Considering the magnitude of the game, and the quality of the opponent, this has to be his best performance of the year.
Quotable.
- “I think he was phenomenal for us, and not just the threes.” – North Carolina’s Roy Williams, on Justin Jackson’s performance.
- “That kind of stings, but we’ll grow from it.” – Virginia coach Tony Bennett, on his disappointment with his team’s defensive play .
- “Teams talk about us being soft and all that kind of stuff, but I liked our toughness down the stretch yesterday and today both.” – North Carolina’s Roy Williams, on how his team competed.
Sights and Sounds. For the first time since 1981, the ACC Tournament semifinals were played on Friday night instead of Saturday afternoon. The change seems to have raised the enthusiasm level of the crowd, after an afternoon of anticipation, and perhaps some cocktails.
- North Carolina advances to the ACC championship game (Saturday – 8:30 PM ET) where it will try to capture its first ACC title since 2008.
- Virginia will have to wait until Sunday’s selection show to see if it can hang on to a #1 seed in the Big Dance.
