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Off the cuff: Before I get into the game itself, I would be remiss if I didn't mention how idiotic Corey Alexander sounded when he and TV play-by-play announcer Dave O'Brien were talking about all the black coaches coaching in the ACC now, complete with graphics. I suppose the conversation was planned because it's still Black History Month. But Alexander actually said, "The more we don't talk about it, the closer we get to MLK's Dream." Let that sink in. These two announcers must be doing a dissertation about black history or something as they've talked about it other games. We don't need a reminder each game that Hubert Davis is black but that's where we are these days. Ok, the game. North Carolina shot its lowest field goal percentage of the year and scored its fewest points of the season - AND won by double digits. That's the way it is against Virginia. To hold the Cavs to 44 points is impressive though as Virginia shot just 27 percent. Coach Davis credits the week off for giving the Heels time to work on shoring up their defense. It certainly took a great defense and some great shooting from Cormac Ryan, who controlled the first half with 15 of Carolina's 26 points. He credited his teammates with penetrating the lane and Bacot being a force down low. "They had to collapse their defense," Ryan said. "My teammates took a lot of attention and opened it up for me outside." It may take Ryan to have more shooting performances like that for Carolina to close out the season well. Coach Davis likes to say that the team needs to take care of the ball, get to the free throw line and attack the offensive glass. Sure that's the emphasis but some hot shooting will help - and the tighten-the-screws defense.
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