CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- A tremendous top-10 matchup lived up to the hype on Monday, as No. 4 Virginia went into No. 8 North Carolina's house and came out with what could prove to be a pivotal road victory come Selection Sunday. UVA 69, UNC 61. The game was closer than that throughout much of the night -- UNC took the lead in the second half and was threatening to win, leading by seven points with 8:58 to go -- but Virginia made stops and big shots down the stretch. Kyle Guy's 3-point shot, that gave Virginia a 67-61 lead with 70 seconds to go, clinched a big-time win for the Cavaliers (21-2, 9-2 ACC). Kyle Guy and De'Andre Hunter each had 20 points for Virginia, which remains undefeated this season against teams not named Duke. For UNC, the game may have been different had freshman Coby White's 3-pointer gotten off in time. Had this bucket gone in, the Tar Heels would have led 62-59. As a result White finished with a team-high 17 points instead of 20, but more importantly, North Carolina (19-5, 9-2 ACC) finished with 61 points. The win keeps Virginia on the No. 1 line in CBS Sports' Bracketology. North Carolina is now 19-5, while Virginia moves to 21-2. If you are having trouble seeing the updates, please click here.<doc-sep>Kansas State makes a move and Kentucky is up to No. 4 in Andy Katz's Power 36 Kansas State makes a move and Kentucky is up to No. 4 in Andy Katz's Power 36 No. 4 Virginia is back in the win column after defeating No. 8 North Carolina 69-61 Monday night in Chapel Hill, thanks to a couple clutch 3s off the hands of Kyle Guy. In a game with four second half lead changes and three ties, Guy's back-to-back 3-pointers in the final two minutes of regulation gave the Cavaliers all the cushion they needed to avoid their first losing streak of the season. The Cavaliers had only lost twice heading into the top-10 ACC matchup against the Tar Heels, with both defeats coming against No. 2 Duke. On Saturday, the Blue Devils handled UVA 81-71. For brief moments in Monday's second half against the Heels, the Cavs looked like they might be in danger of a second straight loss, but, as they've done so many times this season, Virginia pulled out the win to remain tied for second in the conference standings. HOOS TOP THE HEELS! 💪 No. 4 Virginia gets back in win column by taking down No. 8 North Carolina in the Dean Dome! pic.twitter.com/ajeEEimata — NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) February 12, 2019 An 10-0 run eight minutes into the first half put Virginia in control early in the game and helped UVA to a seven-point advantage at the end of the first half. But UNC wasted little time mounting a comeback out of the break. TOP 16 REVEAL: Breaking down the teams | Potential bracket | Official release Carolina came out firing in the second half behind Coby White (team-high 17 points) and Cam Johnson (16). A 15-7 run to start the frame put the Heels ahead by one at the 14:13 mark, and they would cling on to a lead until some back and forth action in the final six minutes of regulation. That's when Virginia started to deliver its final blow. Jay Huff's layup with 3:12 remaining gave the Cavs a two-point lead, which was followed by back-to-back 3s from Guy to essentially ice the game. UVA finished the game on a 12-2 run. Kyle Guy dropped the dagger on UNC for @UVAMensHoops ❄️pic.twitter.com/Lk1p5BT5YO — NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) February 12, 2019 Guy and Hunter led both teams in scoring with 20 apiece. Ty Jerome notched the only double-double between the two teams with 15 points and 11 assists. The Cavs won’t have to return to North Carolina until the ACC tournament in Charlotte on March 12. In the meantime, they'll take on Notre Dame at home and Virginia Tech in Blacksburg over the course of the next seven days. North Carolina will play Wake Forest on the road before taking on the Blue Devils, the neighboring team that delivered two losses to the Cavs team that just walked away from Chapel Hill with a W. Virginia proved why it deserves the higher ranking as the Cavs delivered UNC its first loss since Jan. 12. The Tar Heels will look to rebound in Winston-Salem on Saturday and won't have to worry about the Cavaliers again until March.<doc-sep>Opening Statement “Congratulate Tony (Bennett) and his club for a really nice win. I thought in the second half there was a time period in there where it was a big-time basketball game. Guy made two big baskets, two big threes, at crucial times for them. At the same time, we were getting a little stagnant and taking a bad shot or turning it over on the offensive end. I said earlier in the week their one, two and three - Guy, Jerome and Hunter - are as good as anybody in the country and they got 55 of their 69 (points). It’s hard to think, but we shoot 35 percent to their 53, and we had some chances to win the game, but they made the plays down the stretch and we didn’t. I think their defense was better than our offense. Their offense was better than our defense. We had a great run for eight minutes, 10 minutes, whatever it is, and things were going our way, and then after that it got a lot more difficult and you have to give them credit for making it a lot more difficult. Like to have some of those possessions over, but bottom line is they had more points on the scoreboard than we did.” What changed between your team’s 17-3 run and their 21-6 run to end the game? “I think their defense got stronger. We took a couple of rushed shots, didn’t make shots. I don’t think we turned the ball over what eight times, but I think we had two turnovers during that stretch. They made some shots. One time we thought we had almost a shot-clock violation and (Jay) Huff comes across the lane and gets it and lays it up and gets fouled. I think that in the course of the basketball games there’s a lot of runs. You make a run, they make a run, you make a run, they make a run and what you try to do is hold theirs off and cut it to a minimum and keep yours going longer, but we didn’t do that. They missed some shots during that time period. Down the stretch, what’d you say? 22-6? 21-6. “They didn’t miss many shots. I think that, again, 53 percent for them and 35 for us is a big part of the tale, too.” Do you have an update on Nassir Little? “No, sprained ankle. That’s all I got.” What’s the word on Cameron Johnson? “I have no idea. He came back and Doug (Halverson) said he could play, and he came back. So, he’s alright.” What can you say about how Coby White has played the past few games? “Guys, I’m not going to brag. I love him, but 6-for-19. If you think I’m going to praise someone for that, you’re not watching the same game I’m playing, but I love him. He’s tough as he can be. The game of basketball is all kinds of little plays. One second in the first half at the end of the half. If it’s one second difference, he picks the ball up and he lays it up at the end of the half. That’s two points. One tenth of a second, two tenths of a second, whatever, his sling that he shot up there it would’ve gone in and that would’ve been three for us. There’s a lot of little things. I was mad. We shouldn’t have been in that situation. We had a player standing there and watch the ball come and bounce. You’ve got to go after the freaking rebound. You have to compete on every possession. No, I don’t think he played very well. I don’t know of anybody on our team that played as well as we want to play, so I praise him as much as I can praise him when you deserve it, but guys they shot 53 and we shot 35, so I’m not bragging on anybody, including the head coach.” What are your thoughts on why Luke Maye struggled to get into a rhythm tonight? “It’s hard. I mean, they’re very good defensively. We’re asking Luke to play a position and do some things that are hard to do. 2-for-10. When one of your best players goes 2-for-10 it’s hard. He’s done some great things for us and he’ll continue to do some great things for us, but they guard you. Their size with (Jack) Salt, with (Jay) Huff, is big in there. (Mamadi) Diakite, what’d he have three or four or five blocked shots? It’s hard, but needed the ball to go in the basket a few more times for Luke, for everybody. Again, 35 percent.” What was the message to the team after the game tonight? “We’ve got to get better. I told them, and I believe this, I’ve got to do a better job of coaching late game situations. We worked more times this week than we have at any time all season. We didn’t execute. Saturday, I called four set plays and every one of them worked. Every one of the times the shot went in the basket. They didn’t work today. So, I told them we’ve got to get better. Seriously, when (Coby) slung…when that ball goes in, if it’s another split second, that would’ve been a pretty big play in the game, and a split second picking it up a little bit earlier at half-time would’ve been a big play in the game, but bottom line is you have to congratulate them. Kyle Guy made two huge baskets. We had a defensive breakdown on the first one. Kenny (Williams) got there on the second one, but he was so close that he fouled him, but Guy still made the basket, so you’ve got to give them a lot of credit. Tony (Bennett)’s one of my favorite coaches in the world. His dad was a great, great guy and he’s coached his buns off for a lot times. We’ve had some battles. We’ve had some good battles and we’ve had some that we’ve lost. It was strange. The last eight times we’ve played them it’s only been two times it’s been in this building and our crowd was really good tonight. They helped us a great deal in the second half, but didn’t get it done.”<doc-sep>
UNC lost Nassir Little to an ankle injury, lost Cam Johnson briefly with a leg injury, and ultimately came up short against the fourth-ranked team in the country Monday night. The Tar Heels shot 35% from the field to Virginia’s 53%, which makes it all the more surprising that Carolina was able to storm back to take a lead down the stretch. Unfortunately, they couldn’t hold on. Both teams found success from distance with UNC converting on nine of their attempts and Virginia sinking 11 of their’s. It gets a little ugly when you consider that UNC made 30 attempts from beyond the arc, good enough for a 30% mark, but on many nights that’ll be enough. It wasn’t tonight. The Cavaliers made UNC play their style of basketball for the entire first half, to UNC’s detriment. Cameron Johnson was the leading scorer for UNC with just nine points when they headed to the locker room. Coby White finished the game as the Heels’ leading scorer with 17 points, with ten of those coming after halftime. Garrison Brooks and Johnson joined White as the only Heels in double figures. Luke Maye finished the game with 11 rebounds but just four points. UNC out-rebounded UVA 38-27, and turned it over fewer times (eight to UVA’s 10). Carolina was much better at getting second-chance points (15-2) but none of it mattered in the end. They couldn’t stop Virginia’s shooters from distance, and Kyle Guy and DeAndre Hunter made them pay for it. Each scored 20 points to lead the way for the Cavs. Add in Ty Jerome and the three combined for 55 of Virginia’s 69 points. The most frustrating thing is that UNC held a seven-point lead with 8:58 left. Virginia went on a 12-2 run and UNC missed their last eight field goals to seal the defeat. They had them right where they wanted them, playing Carolina’s style of ball, and just couldn’t close the deal. Another big loss for the Heels is Little. His ankle injury kept him out of the remainder of the game and could do the same for several games going forward if it is as bad as we fear. Hopefully the best case scenario plays out and he’s fine, but UNC just lost Leaky Black indefinitely to a similar issue. It’s a tough break for the freshman star playing on his birthday. In the long list of shots that will be forgotten to time, White launched a ball from 40 feet with the shot clock expiring that somehow found nothing but net. It would have put the Heels in a much better position, but the shot was called off for a shot clock violation. We’re talking the difference of milliseconds. It was a crazy acrobatic shot that probably had no business finding the basket the way it did, but it did and the fact that it didn’t count was incredibly unfortunate. The Heels were victims of the shot clock twice this evening with another coming on a fast break after a Virginia turnover. It was ruled that White did not touch the ball in time before Virginia’s 30 seconds expired, and thus the basket on the other end did not count. It’s a tough five-point swing that didn’t go the Heels’ way, but I guess basketball is cruel like that sometimes. UNC will look to bounce back from the loss at Wake Forest on Saturday. The Heels are perfect on the road in conference play this season and they’ll look to continue that streak at LJVM.