CHAPELHILL— North Carolina’s 15-point halftime lead had dwindled to 80-75. There was 3:41 left. Virginia was sensing the kill.

Tar Heel coach Matt Doherty was sensing that someone had to stay calm and take a good shot.

Joe Forte followed his good senses — and took an off-balanced, high-arching, fallaway 12 -footer from the baseline.

Good sense?

“It wasn’t a good shot,” Doherty said.

“It was a bad shot,” Forte would admit later.

But bad turned to good as the jumper over Adam Hall hit nothing but the bottom of the net.

It was the last of Forte’s 13 baskets in a 33-point night and it helped stave off No. 12 Virginia in the Dean E. Smith Center 88-81.

No. 6 North Carolina (16-2, 6-0) won its 13th straight game in front of a nationally-televised audience, which saw the Heels pound the Cavaliers early and make just enough free throws late.

Afterward, Forte’s shot selection was the topic of conversation. In fact, once Doherty and his players gave that fallaway jumper some thought, well, maybe it wasn’t such a bad shot after all.

“Joe’s a scorer,” teammate Jason Capel said. “You can’t tell a scorer not to shoot. He’ll make more bad shots than other players will good shots. It’s strange.”

“Joe was kinda on a roll,” Doherty reasoned. “He’s an All-American. You put the ball in his hands.”

And what did Forte have to say when quizzed about such a shot is such a critical situation?

“It’s one of those things where you’re in the flow of the game,” he said. “I was just feeling it so I put it up.”

While Forte was hitting the toughies, the rest of the Tar Heels couldn’t hit the freebies.

Ronald Curry was fouled late but the quarterback couldn’t complete his throws — free throws, that is. He actually missed four straight in the final minute. Jason Capel, a career 83-percent shooter, even missed.

And once again, it was Forte who bailed out his team, scoring the final three points from the line.

It left Forte wearing a sheepish grin as reporters mobbed him in the locker room.

“It feels great to be in that position,” said Forte, a 6-4 sophomore. “When games are close, I love that.”

It wasn’t close at all in the first half as North Carolina was hitting on all cylinders. Inside monsters Brendan Haywood and Kris Lang combined to go 7-of-8, the Heels shot 58 percent and it was a seemingly comfortable 50-35 advantage at halftime.

“I liked what we did in the first half,” Doherty said. “Joe shot 14 times but they were shots I liked.”

UNC began pulling away with an 8-0 run that made it 25-15 at the 10-minute mark. Four different Heels — Forte, Max Owens, Haywood and Brian Morrison — marked.

Virginia is a scoring machine, however, and three straight bombs from 3-point land pulled the Cavs within 39-32 but North Carolina finished the half on an 11-3 burst.

Virginia suffered in the first half. Donald Hand was 0-for-6, including a missed dunk. Chris Williams and Travis Watson were a combined 4-of-13 in a woeful 32-percent shooting disaster.

Then, the second half began and the sellout crowd held their breath throughout the final 20 minutes. The Heels made turnovers, the Cavs made threes. In just four minutes, Virginia was within 54-51.

“A 15-point lead doesn’t last long when you’re kicking the ball around,” said Doherty.

Forte’s first rescue attempt came with UNCup 56-53. He drove for two and then completed a 3-point play. The Heels’ precarious lead remained around six the rest of the way, even when Curry began missing at the line. Curry was 0-for-5.

“Everybody has an off night,” Curry shrugged. “Ifigured they’d foul me and I went up there thinking I’d hit them.”

“He hasn’t been in that situation,” Doherty said, defending his point guard. “I’m confident that in a similar situation, he’ll make them.”

Gillen said Virginia (13-4, 2-4) lost it in the first half.

“You have to play well for 40 minutes and we got beat because we didn’t play well the first 20 minutes,” he said.

Gillen is also a big fan of Forte.

“Forte is an unbelievable player. He’s one of the best 2-guards I’ve seen in a long time.

“He certainly was marvelous tonight,” Gillen praised.

And as Forte proved Wednesday night, to be mah-ve-lous, it’s better that a shot look good than to feel good about it.

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NOTES: Haywood grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked four shots but managed just nine points. “If they’re going to give Joe and my teammates good shots, I’ll take that,” the 7-footer said. ... UNC shot 56 percent from the field (33-of-58). ... Virginia placed six in double figures. ... UNC plays on Super Sunday at N.C. State.