Virginia stakes claim to ACC supremacy hammers North Carolina
De'Andre Hunter
Virginia’s De’Andre  Hunter  did his part in the second half in front of an announced crowd of 14 401  including collecting a loose ball near the baseline  spinning and elevating for a one-handed dunk over Joel Berry II  last season’s Final Four most outstanding player.
Once  Hunter  landed  the redshirt freshman flexed and then bellowed in celebration as the Cavaliers (14-1  3-0 ACC) took a 45-36 lead with 12:41 remaining. No. 12 North Carolina got within five points moments later  but Virginia bumped the margin to 10 when Kyle Guy came off a screen for a three-pointer  and  Hunter  and Nigel Johnson both made free throws.
 Hunter  finished with 10 points in  his  second straight game playing as a stretch-four in Coach Tony Bennett’s four-guard lineup.  He  was among six Virginia players who dunked and had the Cavaliers looking far more athletic than North Carolina (12-4  1-2)  which lost a second straight game for the first time since February 2016.
“I tracked down the rebound  and I saw the baseline open  and I saw Joel Berry  and I really wanted him to jump ”  Hunter  said of  his  highlight reel jam. “Once I got the ball  I knew I was going to dunk it  so I was hoping he jumped.
The moxie to do so against an accomplished player underscores  Hunter ’s considerable confidence that  according to both  he  and Bennett  comes in part from sitting out last season.
That wasn’t the plan when  Hunter  arrived in Charlottesville  but a high ankle sprain compelled Bennett to eventually decide redshirting would allow the 6-foot-7 wing player to focus on getting stronger.  Hunter  spent countless hours in the weight room  and this season the results have been translating onto the court.
“It was a hard decision because we thought  he  possibly could have helped us in certain ways ” Bennett said  “but we thought for  his  physical maturity and development of  his  game   his  ball skills   his  shooting  just going to work like all of our redshirts  we thought it might be the best  maybe not short term for us  but long term for  him  and for us  we thought it was the right decision.”
 Hunter  has scored in double figures in three of  his  past four games  including 14 in Wednesday night’s 78-52 rout of Virginia Tech  which was the largest margin of victory for the Cavaliers in the series since 1955.
 He  added seven rebounds against North Carolina  which committed 19 turnovers that led to 25 points. The Tar Heels scored just three points off turnovers  a disparity  Williams  lamented along with blaming  himself  for not having  his  team ready for the Cavaliers’ vaunted defense.
“Their defense was a million times stronger than our offense ”  Williams  said. “We didn’t have very good movement. We sort of tried to go one-on-one way too many times  didn’t get as much as we needed to taking the ball to the basket. Their defense was really good. I told Tony it’s about as good a defensive game as I’ve had anybody play against us  maybe ever but definitely in a long time.”
Virginia’s De’Andre  Hunter  did his part in the second half in front of an announced crowd of 14 401  including collecting a loose ball near the baseline  spinning and elevating for a one-handed dunk over Joel Berry II  last season’s Final Four most outstanding player.
Once  Hunter  landed  the redshirt freshman flexed and then bellowed in celebration as the Cavaliers (14-1  3-0 ACC) took a 45-36 lead with 12:41 remaining. No. 12 North Carolina got within five points moments later  but Virginia bumped the margin to 10 when Kyle Guy came off a screen for a three-pointer  and  Hunter  and Nigel Johnson both made free throws.
 Hunter  finished with 10 points in  his  second straight game playing as a stretch-four in Coach Tony Bennett’s four-guard lineup.  He  was among six Virginia players who dunked and had the Cavaliers looking far more athletic than North Carolina (12-4  1-2)  which lost a second straight game for the first time since February 2016.
“I tracked down the rebound  and I saw the baseline open  and I saw Joel Berry  and I really wanted him to jump ”  Hunter  said of  his  highlight reel jam. “Once I got the ball  I knew I was going to dunk it  so I was hoping he jumped.
The moxie to do so against an accomplished player underscores  Hunter ’s considerable confidence that  according to both  he  and Bennett  comes in part from sitting out last season.
That wasn’t the plan when  Hunter  arrived in Charlottesville  but a high ankle sprain compelled Bennett to eventually decide redshirting would allow the 6-foot-7 wing player to focus on getting stronger.  Hunter  spent countless hours in the weight room  and this season the results have been translating onto the court.
“It was a hard decision because we thought  he  possibly could have helped us in certain ways ” Bennett said  “but we thought for  his  physical maturity and development of  his  game   his  ball skills   his  shooting  just going to work like all of our redshirts  we thought it might be the best  maybe not short term for us  but long term for  him  and for us  we thought it was the right decision.”
 Hunter  has scored in double figures in three of  his  past four games  including 14 in Wednesday night’s 78-52 rout of Virginia Tech  which was the largest margin of victory for the Cavaliers in the series since 1955.
 He  added seven rebounds against North Carolina  which committed 19 turnovers that led to 25 points. The Tar Heels scored just three points off turnovers  a disparity  Williams  lamented along with blaming  himself  for not having  his  team ready for the Cavaliers’ vaunted defense.
“Their defense was a million times stronger than our offense ”  Williams  said. “We didn’t have very good movement. We sort of tried to go one-on-one way too many times  didn’t get as much as we needed to taking the ball to the basket. Their defense was really good. I told Tony it’s about as good a defensive game as I’ve had anybody play against us  maybe ever but definitely in a long time.”