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Social media reacts to UNC's massive road upset over Virginia
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- Social media reacts to UNC's massive road upset over Virginia
The North Carolina Tar Heels, riding high from their blowout victory over Notre Dame on Wednesday night, entered Saturday's rivalry clash at Virginia with plenty of confidence.
UNC lost its first three ACC road games – at SMU, Stanford and Cal. Charlottesville, a place North Carolina went 12 years between victories, would be the toughest road challenge this season.
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The Tar Heels looked well on their way to a loss, trailing by 16 at one point in the first half. Thanks to a red-hot second half that include Jarin Stevenson taking over, perimeter defense and shots falling from nearly everywhere, UNC escaped Virginia with a convincing, 85-80 victory.
Stevenson scored all 17 of his points in the second half, starting his run with a layup and ending his barrage with a 3-pointer. A defensive-minded forward who helped neutralize UVA's (16-3, 5-2 ACC) deadly post game, Stevenson proved himself as another clutch scorer for North Carolina (16-4, 4-3 ACC) on Saturday.
The Tar Heels, whom struggle with their perimeter defense , limited Virginia to just 30 percent (8-of-27) from deep. The Cavaliers are second amongst ACC teams in 3-point percentage (37.1%), making Saturday's defensive output for UNC that much more impressive.
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Perimeter shooting kept North Carolina in Saturday's game during the first half, with Luka Bogavac making three trifectas and ending his first half with 11 points. The Tar Heels ended their afternoon an impressive 45% (10-of-22) from deep, with Seth Trimble (2-of-2), Derek Dixon (2-of-3), Henri Veesaar (1-of-3) and Stevenson (2-of-4) all making threes.
As you can imagine, social media is extremely happy about UNC's performance. Take a look at several reactions below:
Why was Saturday's win so crucial?
Best win of the season?
Postgame thoughts – plenty of positives!
Great to hear from you again, General Caleb!
Look at that happy locker room!
Big day for Hubert Davis AND Luka Bogavac!
Great play for a clutch basket late
The win that spurs positive momentum!
You don't need to score to affect a game's outcome!
Second-half defense a major positive
Jarin Stevenson was HUGE in that second half
Caleb Wilson is already an all-time great.
First ACC road win of the year!
Great win with lots of positives for the future!
Physicality helped UNC get back into today's game
To put UNC's second half run into perspective
We are VERY excited!
UNC still has to work on free throws
The clutch basket and taunt...LOVE it!
Will Dylan Mingo commit after today's win?
This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC basketball: Social media reacts to second-half comeback at UVA
