CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – DECEMBER 07: Francisco Caffaro #22 of the Virginia Cavaliers shoots between Brandon Huffman #42 and Garrison Brooks #15 of the North Carolina Tar Heels. (Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (VirginiaSports.com) – No. 5 Virginia (8-1, 2-0 ACC) had 25 points off the bench in its 56-47 victory over No. 7 North Carolina (6-3, 1-1 ACC) on Sunday evening at John Paul Jones Arena.
Mamadi Diakite (Conakry, Guinea, Africa) led UVA with 12 points. Tomas Woldetensae (Bologna, Italy) had a career-high 11 points, going 3-for-4 from beyond the arc. Francisco Caffaro (Santa Fe, Argentina) had a career-high 10 points with a team-high seven rebounds.
Virginia shot 33 percent from the field and 35 percent from 3-point range. North Carolina shot 37 percent from the floor and seven percent beyond the arc. The Cavaliers outrebounded the Tar Heels, 37-32.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – DECEMBER 07: Jay Huff #30 of the Virginia Cavaliers shoots over Armando Bacot #5 of the North Carolina Tar Heels. (Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images)
HOW IT HAPPENED
UVA took the lead early when Diakite hit three free throws and Casey Morsell (Ft. Washington, Md.) hit a jumper. The Cavaliers extended their lead with a 7-0 run that include threes from Morsell and Woldetensae. North Carolina made a run to cut it to 17-16, but Caffaro hit a layup and Woldetensae had another three to make it 22-16. Kody Stattmann (Bentley Park, Queensland) hit a three at the half to give UVA a 24-18 lead at the break.
Woldetensae hit another three early in the second half to keep UVA in the lead. North Carolina cut it to two several times, but Virginia used a 14-4 run to go up 39-35. UVA led by as many as 16 in the contest. North Carolina closed the game on a 7-0 run to make it 56-47.
THE GAME BALL GOES TO
Caffaro was 4-for-5 from the field, scoring a career-high 10 points and adding a career-best seven rebounds with one block.
NOTES
• UVA is 7-0 when limiting opponents to fewer than 50 points.
• UVA’s five-game winning streak vs. North Carolina is its longest in the series since a five-game winning from 2018-20
• Justin McCoy had season high in rebounds (5) and minutes (17)
•Kihei Clark matched a career best with three steals
UP NEXT
UVA will have a week off for exams before returning to action against Stony Brook on Wednesday, Dec. 18 at 6:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network.
