Charlottesville, VA (My Sportsbook) - The once seemingly invincible North Carolina Tar Heels continue their quest for that elusive first ACC win of the year as they pull into Charlottesville for tonight's pivotal league clash with the Virginia Cavaliers.

Roy Williams' Tar Heels had run roughshod through the first 13 games of the season, and appeared virtually unbeatable as they stood at the top of the college basketball mountain. Then came the start of conference play, and the opener against Boston College, in Chapel Hill no less, resulted in the team's first loss of the campaign. Next up for UNC was a home date with the College of Charleston which resulted in a 108-70 triumph, setting the stage for Sunday's showdown at No. 4 Wake Forest. Unfortunately for Carolina, that clash ended in defeat (92-89), and the Heels are now 0-2 in conference for the first time since the 1996-97 season.

Virginia is a game over .500 on the year at 7-6, and even in ACC action at 1-1. The Cavs opened conference play with an 88-84 OT win at Georgia Tech on December 28th, but has since dropped two of three, including a 78-75 decision to Virginia Tech last Saturday. UVA is 6-3 at home this season.

North Carolina owns a commanding 122-48 lead in the all-time series with Virginia, and is 41-31 in Charlottesville. The Tar Heels, who topped the Cavaliers at John Paul Jones Arena last February (75-74), haven't won consecutive games in Charlottesville since 1998-99. Williams is 9-3 against UVA in his career, including a 7-2 ledger while at UNC.

The Tar Heels managed to stand toe-to-toe with Wake Forest through the first 20 minutes of Sunday's road tilt, going into the break tied at 44-44. Unfortunately, a dreadful 28.2 percent shooting effort in the second half, coupled with 18 total turnovers and only nine assists spelled disaster for North Carolina as it fell for the second time in three games. All-American Tyler Hansbrough had his worst shooting performance in recent memory, going a mere 3-of-12 from the field. He was able to convert 11-of-13 free throws however, in finishing with 17 points. UNC easily won the battle on the boards, 51-37, with Hansbrough collecting a game-high 11 rebounds. Danny Green led the Heels with 22 points, while Wayne Ellington added 17 points despite a poor 4- of-13 showing from the field. The Tar Heels missed 17 of their 23 three-point attempts on the night. Through 16 games, North Carolina is averaging an eye- popping 94.2 ppg on the strength of 49.6 percent shooting from the floor, which includes a 37.2 percent effort from long range. Defensively, the Heels are yielding 71.0 ppg on 40.3 percent field goal efficiency while coming up with more than 18 turnovers per outing and laying claim to a +9.1 rpg advantage.

The Cavaliers boast three double-digit scorers, led by freshman sensation Sylven Landesberg and his 18.5 ppg. Landesberg, who has already won the ACC Rookie of the Week award four times, has paced the club in nine of the 13 games played thus far and has hit for at least 20 points seven times. He is a 48.7 percent shooter who is also converting 82.4 percent of his free throws while grabbing 6.0 rpg and handing out a couple of assists per outing. Mike Scott, who has logged five double-doubles this season and Sammy Zeglinski, another talented freshman, average 11.7 and 11.4 ppg, respectively, with the Scott leading Virginia's rebounding effort with 9.0 caroms per contest, the team winning the battle on the boards by nearly five per outing. The Cavs are knocking down 43.6 percent of their field goal attempts in putting up 75.9 ppg, while defensively yielding 71.2 ppg on 42.1 percent shooting. Landesberg nailed 7-of-11 shots from the field and all six of his foul shots to finish with 20 points in the recent loss to Virginia Tech. He also came up with eight rebounds and dished out five assists. Farrakhan Mustapha added a career-high 17 points in just 12 minutes of action off the bench, doing so by hitting all four of his three-point tries, while Scott chipped in with 16 points in going 7-of-12 from the floor. Virginia shot 52.7 percent from the field in the game, but the Hokies outscored the Cavs at the charity stripe, 17-10, and took advantage of 17 UVA turnovers.