North Carolina returns to the Finals of the ACC Tournament thanks to a 71-67 victory over Top-seeded Virginia last night. North Carolina built up a 13 point lead in the second half and held on.
I said before the game that it is much easier to hold a double digit lead over Virginia than it is to come back from a double digit deficit against their defense. The Tarheels ballhandling left a lot to be desired as they ended up with 18 turnovers in the game and the 'Heels defense was shredded in the last ten minutes as Virginia repeatedly drove to the basket and they ended up with with either layups or trips to the foul line.
Freshman Justin Jackson finally had the "breakout" game that all Tarheel fans had been expecting all season long with 22 points with four three-pointers in five attempts. This helped the Tarheels shoot almost 55% in the game, a season high for opponents against Virginia.
I don't believe any of the so called experts expected the North Carolina Tarheels to make it to the ACC Finals. The experts point to so called missing or injured players from both Louisville and Virginia but UNC has not been at full squad strength in about two months. The Tarheels are doing what they have to do and that is win one game at a time.
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