Tyler Zeller scored 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds to help No. 5 North Carolina beat No. 19 Virginia 70-52.
With UNC guard P.J. Hairston out with a sore left foot, the Tar Heels turned to their bench a bit more in the win.
Forward James Michael McAdoo finished with nine points and seven rebounds in 18 minutes while Justin Watts and Stilman White both added some solid production of their own.
The Tar Heels started off slow in the game but really turned it on in the second half, outscoring the Cavaliers 35-20 after halftime.
“I think to hit a wall of adversity on Wednesday night and hit it again in the first half today and still find a way to win, that says a lot about our team,” UNC point guard Kendall Marshall said.
Harrison Barnes and John Henson both finished the game with double-doubles, despite shooting a combined 8-for-26 from the floor. Zeller finished one rebound shy of a double-double, but he made a big impact on the offensive glass grabbing five offensive boards.
The Tar Heels outrebounded Virginia 52-32. UNC grabbed 23 offensive rebounds, just one shy of Virginia’s total defensive boards.
“Both teams would have liked to have shot it better, but today the rebounding was the biggest key and it was a big plus in our favor,” Williams said.
