Roy Williams will face a daunting task today when North Carolina plays Virginia at the Smith Center.
He'll have to bring his team back from despair after Wednesday's draining 85-84 loss to Duke, a game in which North Carolina failed to hold a 10-point lead in the final 2:36 and made many mistakes.
Williams was among those hit hard by the loss. He needed about 20 seconds at the start of his post-game media conference to compose himself and make an opening statement, and his disappointment was evident.
But once he got going, Williams left no doubt about what he expects from his team today against Virginia, one of the ACC's most improved programs. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. (WFMY Ch. 9).
"The only good you can take from it is to become more determined," Williams said. "My team better, by God, come back and decide they're going to be better."
North Carolina (20-4, 7-2 ACC) is tied for first place in the conference with Duke and Florida State. Virginia (19-4, 6-3) is in reach of its first 20-win season since 2006-07.
Already hampered by injuries, the Tar Heels will be without freshman P.J. Hairston, a shooting guard from Greensboro. Hairston has a sore left foot and is wearing a protective boot. He wasn't scheduled to practice Friday.
Hairston has played in all 24 of the Tar Heels' games, is averaging 6.6 points and is No. 3 on the team with 30 3-point baskets. He played 10 minutes against the Blue Devils and didn't score.
North Carolina is already without guard Dexter Strickland, who suffered a season-ending knee injury Jan. 19 at Virginia Tech and had reconstructive surgery Thursday, and guard Leslie McDonald, who is redshirting after injuring a knee in summer play.
Mike Scott, a 6-foot-8 senior forward, has played a key role in the Cavaliers' success. He is No. 4 in the ACC in scoring (17 ppg) and No. 6 in rebounding (8.3 rpg) and leads the conference in field-goal accuracy (60.3 percent).
North Carolina will have to be prepared to grind out a victory. Virginia averages 64 points and prefers to combine patience with tough defense. North Carolina averages 84 points a game and wants to run on every possession.
As Williams has noted, slowing down a game is easier for a team than speeding up. Today, however, he won't tolerate any excuses.
"If we start laying around and feeling sorry, 'Oh my ankle's hurting, my knee's hurting, my hip's hurting,' get your butt out of the locker room because by God we're going to come back and go to work," he said.
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