GREENSBORO, N.C. — North Carolina's already shaky NCAA tournament hopes were dealt a damaging blow Thursday night in a 68-59 loss to No.
13 Virginia in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament quarterfinals Thursday night. Jayden Gardner had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Reece Beekman added 15 points, 5 assists and 5 steals for the second-seeded Cavaliers (24-6), who finally wrestled away control of the game with a 9-0 run in the final two minutes after the Tar Heels had cut a 10-point deficit to 57-55.
Much of that production came at the foul line, where the Cavaliers made 9 of 10 as UNC finally ran out of gas. R.J. Davis scored 24 points to lead the Tar Heels (20-13), who shot just 35.8% to lose for the second time in three meetings with the Cavaliers.
UNC also continued a season-long trend of struggling to hit outside shots, making 8 of 27 3-point attempts. Tar Heels big man Armando Bacot (four points, three rebounds) sat the final 10-plus minutes because of an ankle injury suffered in Wednesday's second-round win against Boston College.