Notes on Virginia-UNC

Virginia beat the North Carolina Tar Heels at their own game Monday night.

The ACC leading Cavaliers (20-1 overall, 8-1 in conference) rallied from a six-point deficit to win the road game 75-64.

Third-ranked Virginia was coming off its first loss, to No. 4 Duke before taking on the No. 12 Tar Heels. A rugged stretch of schedule will continue for UVa Saturday against No. 9 Louisville.

UNC (17-6, 7-3) had broken away from a defensive struggle where neither team scored in the first 2 minutes by beating the Cavaliers’ zone and getting the ball inside.

When Joel Jones scored for a 16-10 lead, North Carolina already had scored 10 points in the paint.

By halftime, which Kennedy Meeks ended with a tip-in to put the Tar Heels back in the lead at 33-32, they had scored 18 points inside.

North Carolina scored 16 more points in the paint in the second half, but Virginia put in 24 from short range. Those earned the Cavaliers a 40-34 advantage for the game.

“The defense tightened up,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett told ESPN’s Allison Williams. “Our guys played the way we need to play, and that’s blue-collar play.”

UVa’s three starting guards were the leading scorers, but Anthony Gill came off the bench to help up front with 13 points and a team-high 7 rebounds.

Malcolm Brogdon scored 17 points. Justin Anderson’s 16 included three 3-pointers, and London Parrantes added 15 points.

Marcus Paige led UNC with 15, but 10 of those came after Virginia had built an 18-point lead at 66-48. Playing inside, Brice Johnson had 14 points and 8 rebounds, and Meeks added 11 and 7.

Meeks was playing after waking up with a 101-degree fever. J.P. Tokoto struggled, missing all three field goal attempts and scoring one point in 30 minutes.

The Tar Heels will visit unranked Boston College Saturday.