North Carolina and Virginia Keep Winning
North Carolina and Virginia each did their part in maintaining their placement in the polls last night, as both were able to win. The #16 Cavaliers defended their home court in a 65-61 victory of Clemson. The #5 Tar Heels handled Wake Forest on the road, 68-53.
The ugly game of the night across the nation was Illinois’ victory over Michigan State by a score of 42-41. That is a score reminiscent of the 1940’s. As usual, however, the abysmal shooting in that game will be rationalized as a product of “good defense.”
Well, their must have been some good defense in the North Carolina-Wake Forest game too, as the two teams shot 31.0% and 29.6% from the field. Nevertheless, both teams were able to avoid scores in the low 40’s, in part because both teams were competent at the free throw line. The rebounding numbers were pretty impressive too–with North Carolina edging Wake 50-36. That’s a lot of boards. In fact, Tyler Zeller had 18 of them, while Josh Henson added 12. Terrell McKie led the Demon Deacons with 13 rebounds. From a scoring standpoint, the Tar Heels only had 6 players score, but 4 of them were in double-figures, led by Zeller’s 18. CJ Harris led Wake Forest with 19 points. With the loss, Wake Forest drops to 11-11. North Carolina improves to 19-3.
Up in Charlottesville, the Cavaliers narrowly defeated Clemson in a typically slow tempo game. In comparison to the rebound-fest described above, Virginia and Clemson combined for only 48 rebounds–with Virginia having an impressive 31-17 edge in that regard. But the game was a nail biter for Virginia as Clemson maintained a lead into the early part of the second-half before Virginia pulled away. The Tigers made it close down the stretch, forcing Virginia to win it at the free throw line. Devin Booker led the Tigers, who dropped to 11-10, with 14 points. As usual, Mike Scott led Virginia with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Virginia improves to 18-3 and maintains its 4th place position in the conference standings.
The Confidential 