CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Virginia's halftime lead was gone. North Carolina was pushing further ahead. And the Cavaliers were committing so many turnovers that Coach Tony Bennett's frustration bubbled over in the huddle.
Yet Kyle Guy, Ty Jerome and the rest of the fourth-ranked Cavaliers handled everything -- dwindling clock, angry coach, powerful opponent and hostile crowd -- with veteran poise.
Guy's back-to-back three-pointers in the final two minutes helped the Cavaliers beat the eighth-ranked Tar Heels 69-61 on Monday night, and Virginia remained near the top of the Atlantic Coast Conference standings after a weekend loss to No. 2 Duke.
Guy and De'Andre Hunter each scored 20 points for the Cavaliers (21-2, 9-2), who had less than 48 hours to regroup from the loss to the Blue Devils before visiting a UNC team that hadn't lost in nearly a month.
"Our guys knew what they had to do," Bennett said. "They responded. It wasn't perfect. I told them, 'This isn't about winning or losing.' I said, 'This is an important game to get back to what we need to do.'"
The Cavs certainly looked like themselves: efficient on both ends of the floor. The offense hummed along by shooting 53 percent, including 11 of 20 on three-pointers, and Virginia didn't turn it over in the final 12 minutes.
The defense, aside from surrendering one fearsome second-half flurry, made the Tar Heels (19-5, 9-2) work for just about everything while keeping them out of transition. After allowing Duke to shoot 58 percent and make 13 of 21 three-pointers Saturday, Virginia held UNC to 35-percent shooting and just 9 of 30 (30 percent) from three-point range.
It all helped Virginia rally from seven down in the final eight minutes and avoid its first losing streak of any kind in two years.
"There's no excuses," said Jerome, who had 15 points and 11 assists. "I told the team before the game, 'I don't care if we played Duke Saturday, I don't care if we're on the road today.' Every game we come out and we expect to win, no matter where we are and who we're playing against."
Coby White scored 17 points to lead the Tar Heels, who were off to their best start in league play under 16th-year Coach Roy Williams. North Carolina managed a 17-3 second-half run to turn an eight-point deficit into a 49-43 lead, which ultimately reached 53-46 near the nine-minute mark.
But UNC, which has one of the nation's best offenses, missed 16 of 20 shots to close the game as Virginia's defense tightened.
"Their defense was better than our offense," Williams said. "Their offense was better than our defense. We had a great run ... and after that, it got a lot more difficult. And you have to give them credit for making it a lot more difficult."
Sports on 02/12/2019