CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- The celebration began Saturday night in Chapel Hill with former Tar Heels Marcus Paige and Brice Johnson having their jerseys raised among the rows of the honored.

Justin Jackson might one day join Paige and Johnson with the season he's having for North Carolina.

Jackson picked apart No. 14 Virginia's vaunted defense to the tune of 18 points in the first half Saturday, giving the No. 10 Tar Heels an insurmountable lead as they cruised to a 65-41 victory.

Virginia has finished in the top 10 in adjusted defense in each of the past three seasons. The Cavaliers are currently second in that category, according to Ken Pomeroy, but Jackson solved them for a half.

"Justin was our whole offense in the first half," UNC coach Roy Williams said. Or as Virginia coach Tony Bennett put it, "Jackson went nuts."

He got finger rolls to drop and made conventional 3-point plays. He left Virginia's Devon Hall exasperated and open palmed -- as if to ask "What more could I do?" -- after Jackson drilled his fourth and final 3-pointer over him despite it being well-contested.

Jackson, who finished with 20 points, has had many stretches like that this season.

Just this week, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski was praising one of his players for being able to hold Jackson to 21 points when the teams met in Cameron Indoor Stadium on Feb. 9.

He has been the Tar Heels' most consistent player, and the junior has mastered little things that he had trouble with before.

In past meetings with the Cavaliers, Jackson said their post players did a good job of hedging when he tried to curl off a screen.

And in the past, he would try to rush past them.

"Tonight it felt a little better because I was able to pause and let the big man try to run back to the big, and then I was able to attack," said Jackson, whose 19.6 scoring average in ACC play ranks second. "Before I would have probably tried to run in there, and it would have been a turnover. Little things like that, it feels a little bit slower and a little more comfortable."

Carolina can't get too comfortable as it finishes with the toughest stretch -- for any team, at any time this season -- according to the College Basketball Power Index. The Heels began a final eight games against six ranked opponents with a win over Notre Dame on Feb. 5. Two games against both Virginia and Duke are crammed into this span.

The Heels are 3-1 through the first half of it.

They have No. 8 Louisville on Wednesday and return trips to both Pittsburgh and Virginia before closing out with Duke at home for senior night.

It might very well be Jackson's final home game, too. With the season he has had, it might be hard for him to resist the lure of the NBA.

Before making that decision, though, he has a chance to finish with a legacy-type season.

"I'm so happy for him because he put in the work this summer to have the type of season he's having," junior wing Theo Pinson said. "He wanted to come back and have a better season he had the previous two seasons and try to get a national championship because we came so close."

With Baylor losing twice since the NCAA gave a sneak peek of its seeding, a No. 1 seed is up for grabs. Conventional wisdom figures it will be claimed by the team that emerges from the ACC regular season or tournament crucible.

In the latest Bracketology, Joe Lunardi has Carolina replacing the Bears as a No. 1 seed, and the Tar Heels maintained a slim one-game lead over Louisville and Duke in the ACC standings after Saturday's win.

"You don't want to act like we don't care because it [seeding] helps," Pinson said. "We did it last year, we understand that we're the only team in the ACC that controls its own destiny right now. Everybody else has to watch us to see if we lose."

The way Jackson is playing, Carolina won't be losing many.

As long as that continues, he just might join his former teammates Paige and Johnson among the program greats in the rafters, a thought he says has crossed his mind a time or two.

Among the criteria for joining one of 43 honored jerseys is being named first- or second-team All-American or ACC Player of the Year. Jackson has had the kind of season where he's in the running for either.

"It's human nature, but I have to focus and try to make sure that I stay in the moment and continue to work," Jackson said. "I don't want to settle and feel like I've had a good season so far, I'm good, I don't need to keep working. For me I want to continue to get better each and every day, and hopefully I can do some big things."

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