The game preview for the Tar Heels almost writes itself by now as Roy Williams always has the same plan.  StLouHoo set the following as his three keys:

1) Defend the glass.

2) Stop their transition O.

3) Get to the rim.

If you beat the Tar Heels, you are almost guaranteed to have defended the glass and stopped their transition O, because those are their strengths and you’re not going to beat them if they are successful in both places.  Given that the Hoos thrashed Carolina 56-47, how did we do on the keys?

1) Defend the glass.

The Tar Heels came into the game rebounding almost 40% of their misses, and given their terrible shooting, that success was crucial to their chances to win.  With UVA also being a terrible shooting team, offensive rebounding can be an important source of points for the Hoos, too. And in this game, not only did the Hoos “defend the glass,” they won the glass outright.  In raw terms, Virginia outrebounded Carolina 37-32 and 11-8 on offensive rebounds. For the Hoos, that translates to 30.6% of missed shots, which is pretty close to average. The Heels were able to grab a mere 23.5% of their misses, which is not bad for the average team, but well below Carolina’s expectations or needs.  The second chance points battle was pretty even, with the Heels coming up with a 10-9 edge. Virginia’s rebounding helped with key 2.

Grade: A

2) Stop their transition O.

Carolina had a whopping 2 fast break points.  They had to play against Virginia’s halfcourt defense all day long, and they suffered for it.

Grade: A

3) Get to the rim.

Virginia had 16 points in the paint, with Francisco Caffaro being particularly effective. The Hoos were able to drive into the lane, but they didn’t get to the rim often.  Instead, they found open shooters, and these opportunities resulted in a veritable explosion of average three-point shooting as Virginia drilled 6 threes on the game, for 35% shooting.

Grade: C