UNC Basketball Moments After – UNC vs. Boston College 76-66 Win
UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Scraps and Claws Past Boston College to Win Their Seventh Straight ACC Game
by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn
The North Carolina basketball team faced off against Boston College on Saturday afternoon. It was a very ugly first half of basketball for both teams. Both teams were sloppy offensively and defensively. They were aggressive and physical trying to make each other uncomfortable. Boston College came into this game knowing that the only way they could really compete with the Tar Heels was to play very physically and make Carolina play an uncharacteristic style of basketball. Early on, Boston College had some success with just that and had a 5-point lead into the first few minutes of the game. The Tar Heels were settling for too many threes and had some unforced turnovers. About halfway through the first half, North Carolina started to settle in and adjust to Boston College’s style of play. RJ Davis started to make shots and helped propel the Heels to a 3-point lead going into halftime.
In the second half, the Tar Heels came out with the mentality that they would no longer let Boston College dictate the pace of the game. North Carolina picked up their pace offensively and got out in transition where they are at their best. UNC got back to sharing the ball offensively and held Boston College to under 35% from the field. However, Boston College would not go away. The Eagles were a feisty, pesky, physical team all game long and kept the game close throughout.
It didn’t help that fouls were called basically every time down the floor for a 6–7-minute stretch in the second half, which completely slowed the game down. Boston College shot 29 free throws in the game and made 26 of them and it was a major reason they hung around as long as they did. North Carolina made enough shots down the stretch to keep the Eagles at bay and their lead never got below four during the second half. Four Tar Heels including RJ Davis, Armando Bacot, Harrison Ingram, and Cormac Ryan, finished in double figures and key contributions from Jaelyn Withers and Seth Trimble off the bench were critical for the Heels. UNC wins their eighth straight game and stays undefeated in ACC play after closing out Boston College 76-66.
UNC Game Stats
| 1 | 2 | T | |
| 4 North Carolina 15-3 | 34 | 42 | 76 |
| Boston College 11-7 | 31 | 35 | 66 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| R. Davis | 16 | 6 | 4 | 5/14 | 2/7 | 4/5 | 2 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| C. Ryan | 14 | 3 | 1 | 4/11 | 0/4 | 6/6 | 4 | 32 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| H. Ingram | 11 | 13 | 2 | 4/9 | 1/3 | 2/3 | 2 | 31 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| A. Bacot | 10 | 9 | 1 | 3/6 | 0/0 | 4/4 | 4 | 27 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| E. Cadeau | 8 | 2 | 5 | 3/7 | 0/0 | 2/4 | 3 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| J. Withers | 9 | 3 | 1 | 3/4 | 1/1 | 2/2 | 3 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| S. Trimble | 6 | 4 | 1 | 2/3 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 2 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Okonkwo | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| J. Washington | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Z. High | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| P. Wojcik | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Farris | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| R. Landry | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| C. Lebo | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 76 | 43 | 15 | 25/56 | 5/17 | 21/26 | 26 | – | 3 | 5 | 11 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| Q. Post | 19 | 10 | 2 | 5/13 | 1/3 | 8/9 | 4 | 34 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| P. Aligbe | 14 | 6 | 0 | 6/12 | 1/3 | 1/2 | 1 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| J. Zackery | 8 | 4 | 4 | 1/6 | 1/2 | 5/6 | 3 | 35 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| D. McGlockton | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2/2 | 0/0 | 2/2 | 5 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| C. Harris Jr. | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1/11 | 0/5 | 3/3 | 0 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| C. Kelley III | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2/3 | 0/1 | 3/4 | 3 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| M. Madsen | 7 | 0 | 1 | 2/6 | 0/2 | 3/3 | 2 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Hand Jr. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/2 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| A. Mighty | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| E. Strong | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| F. Payne | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| J. Hastings | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| A. Jackson | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| J. Di Donna | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| E. Soares | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| A. Atiyeh | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 66 | 27 | 9 | 19/55 | 3/17 | 25/29 | 20 | – | 4 | 1 | 4 |
UNC Bright Spots
RJ Davis had 16 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists
Cormac Ryan had 14 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 block
Harrison Ingram had 11 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 block
Armando Bacot had 10 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 assist, and 1 steal.
Needs Work
The Tar Heels need to make sure they are playing solid defense without fouling.
UNC needs to make sure they continue to move the ball offensively and not have stretches when they’re stagnant and overdribbling, which leads to bad shots. They’re at their best when sharing the ball and are in constant motion offensively.
Final Observations
The Tar Heels improved to 15-3 on the season and are now 7-0 in ACC play. The Heels have won eight straight games and are finding different ways to win each game. The players have completely bought into Coach Hubert Davis’s system and are only getting better. The depth that Carolina has this year is really showing up and paying huge dividends this year. The biggest reason for their success this season is their ability to defend and shut down teams and the variety of ways they can score the ball offensively. They are not relying on one or two guys to carry them offensively like the past couple of seasons and as a result are playing their best offensive basketball in years, averaging over 80 points a game. Next up is Wake Forest on Monday at 7:00 P.M. on ESPN.