Virginia vs. North Carolina: By the numbers

Before we fully turn our focus to Virginia’s big game tonight at Florida State, let’s take a moment to to look back at Saturday night’s win over North Carolina. The Hoos got off to a hot start and cruised to an easy (by ACC standards) 60-48 win thanks to 18 points from Jay Huff and 17 points from Sam Hauser.

The Virginia defense has started to click over the past few games, and the Hoos are currently projected to be a 3-seed in the upcoming NCAA tournament. Virginia improved to 11-1 in conference play with the win, keeping them atop the ACC standings.

Let’s take a look at some of the numbers that stick out after Saturday’s win.

1,458 (and counting) - We are two days shy of the four-year anniversary of the last time Virginia lost to North Carolina in either football or basketball. The Hoos have won four-straight on the gridiron and seven-straight on the hardwood. According to David Teel of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the last time that any team had seven consecutive victories over the Tar Heels in basketball was when NC State won eight straight starting in 1972.

Streaking the Lawn alum Matt Trogdon summed up Virginia’s domination nicely:

1966 - According to UNC’s postgame notes, the Tar Heels haven’t had a game without a player hitting double-digits in scoring in 55 years. The last time? The 1966 ACC Tournament, when North Carolina lost to Duke 21-20. Freshman Walker Kessler led the Tar Heels with nine points, and Kerwin Walton added eight.

10 (and hopefully counting) - With the win over North Carolina, Virginia won its 11th ACC game of the season, meaning they would have a winning conference record no matter what happened the rest of the way (and if all the postponements got played). That marks the 10th consecutive season that Virginia has had a winning record under Tony Bennett, even more impressive when you consider he’s been in Charlottesville for 12 seasons so far. Here’s how his record looks in ACC play:

2010: 5-11
2011: 7-9
2012: 9-7
2013: 11-7
2014: 16-2
2015: 16-2
2016: 13-5
2017: 11-7
2018: 17-1
2019: 18-2
2020: 15-5
2021: 11-1 (so far)

So, how common is this? Not very. Bennett is now just the third coach in ACC men’s basketball history to achieve the feat. The other two? Dean Smith (UNC) and Mike Krzyzewski (Duke). Not too shabby.

39.9 - Last year, Virginia was 311th in the country in three point shooting percentage, making just 30.3% of their attempts. This year? The Hoos are sixth nationally, converting 39.9% of their shots from downtown. Four different players — Jay Huff, Sam Hauser, Trey Murphy, and Tomas Woldetensae — are all shooting 42% or better from beyond the arc this season, led by Murphy’s 49%. Virginia made 10-of-22 (45%) attempts against the Tar Heels, the eighth time this season that the Hoos have hit 40% of their threes or more.