Hairston sets career high to push UNC past Cavaliers

Virginia traveled to North Carolina today as one of the ACC’s best teams, thanks mostly to its stodgy defense. But the Tar Heels resembled some of Roy Williams’ vintage squads, lighting up the Cavaliers for a 93-81 victory.

Following a disappointing, yet encouragingly competitive defeat at Duke this past Wednesday, UNC shrugged off a cool start versus UVa and enjoyed one of its finest shooting performances this season. Starting for the second straight game, P.J. Hairston notched a career-high 29 points along with seven rebounds. As a team the Heels shot 13-for-28 on threes, numbers you’d typically expect from the Blue Devils. Despite relying on smaller lineups, the Tar Heels also battered Virginia 32-21 in rebounding.

I’ll have more to say on this game and the club’s future prospects later next week. The bottom line is that Carolina remains on the NCAA Tournament bubble, but today’s victory likely placed them on the right side heading into the regular season’s final six games.

Click here to view the UNC/UVa box score.