Virginia at UNC: How to watch and what to know
No. 14 Virginia at No. 10 North Carolina
When: 8:20 p.m.
Where: Smith Center, Chapel Hill
TV/Radio: ESPN (Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas). Internet live-stream: WatchESPN app. Radio: 106.1-WTKK; SiriusXM channel 145.
Projected starting lineups
North Carolina (22-5, 10-3 ACC)
G Joel Berry 15 ppg, 4 apg
G Theo Pinson 6.9 ppg, 5 rpg
F Justin Jackson 18.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg
F Isaiah Hicks 12.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg
F Kennedy Meeks 12.6 ppg, 9.2 rpg
Virginia (18-7, 8-5)
G London Perrantes 12.6 ppg, 3.8 apg
G Marial Shayok 9.6 ppg, 2.7 rpg
G Devon Hall 8.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg
F Isaiah Wilkins 7.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg
C Jack Salt 3.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg
Storylines
▪ The pace.
This will be a pregame storyline between these two teams for all of eternity – or at least as long as Tony Bennett is at Virginia and Roy Williams at UNC. Here’s all you need to know: The Tar Heels rank 45th nationally in adjusted tempo, according to kenpom.com, and that number doesn’t do justice to how fast Williams likes to play. Virginia, meanwhile, is 350th nationally in tempo – or, in other words, the second-slowest team in the country. It’d be logical to say that whichever team does a better job of forcing its preferred pace will have the advantage but, remember: UNC’s 61-57 victory in the ACC tournament championship game last March came in a game in which the Cavaliers clearly controlled the tempo.
▪ UNC continues to adapt to Theo Pinson as a starter.
Pinson, the junior wing forward, will make his second consecutive start on Saturday in place of Kenny Williams, who has been lost for the season due to a knee injury. Pinson was expected to start entering the season, anyway, before an injury of his own. Even so, the Tar Heels are a different team with him in the lineup – and in many ways are a much more versatile team. N.C. State did not offer any kind of resistance against UNC earlier this week, and so this will be a better gauge of what UNC really looks like with Pinson starting and playing an expanded role.
▪ The Tar Heels seeking better perimeter defense.
The last time UNC played a good shooting team, it did not go well. It allowed 13 3-pointers during the 86-78 loss at Duke. And that was after UNC gave up 13 3s against Pittsburgh, 12 against Boston College, 10 against Syracuse, 11 against Wake Forest and on and on. To put it bluntly: opposing teams have made a living at the 3-point line at times against UNC this season. And now here comes Virginia, which is among the best 3-point shooting teams in the country. The Cavaliers didn’t play like it against Duke, and made only five of their 20 3s, but UNC has a way of healing what ails other teams on the perimeter.
Andrew Carter
This story was originally published February 17, 2017 at 6:28 PM with the headline "Virginia at UNC: How to watch and what to know."