“John Henson was off the charts defensively,” Williams said Monday during the Roy Williams Live Radio Show at Top of the Hill restaurant.

“The way we grade, he had 44 good defensive plays, and that’s just off the charts. Most of the time the guy that wins the defensive player of the game, we have him in the 20’s or high 20’s.”

Much of Monday night’s discussion centered around the UNC defense. Williams said he was impressed by his team’s guarding and rebounding in the second half against the Hokies — a half he called UNC’s best of the season.

But Williams also addressed his defense’s future after losing Dexter Strickland to an ACL tear.

The junior shooting guard, widely thought to be the team’s best defender, will miss the rest of the season and will undergo surgery in two or three weeks, Williams said.

Sophomore Reggie Bullock will start in Strickland’s place, giving the Tar Heels a different look defensively.

“They’re different kinds of defensive players,” Williams said. “They have strengths, and (if you put) both of them together, you have an unbelievable defender.

“Dexter would rather just guard the guy. And he didn’t care what was going on the other side of the court, which could sometimes be a big, big negative. And Reggie would get off and try to see what was going on … and he doesn’t put quite as much pressure on the ball.”

Williams said, though, that he was more concerned with the other hole Strickland’s absence will leave: the back-up point guard position.

As of now, freshman Stilman White is the last line of defense on the depth chart.

“He’s really been doing a nice job. He’s just a freshman point guard,” Williams said. “It’s just overwhelming sometimes, and that’s what it’s been a little bit for him.

“But we’re going to put his feet into the fire here in the next couple of weeks, and we’ll see how he reacts.”

UNC will next see action on Thursday against rival N.C. State, where defense may once again be paramount for the Tar Heels. The Wolfpack boasts several potent scoring threats.

“It’s the kind of team that’s difficult to guard,” Williams said. “You can’t cheat and leave somebody to cover somebody else … It’s a lot more involved defensively.”