UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Validate Who They Are With a Dominate Second Half Against the Yellow Jackets

by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn

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The North Carolina basketball team played their first game of ACC play against Georgia Tech on Sunday afternoon. The Tar Heels got off to a quick start and led 12-4 early on in the game. Georgia Tech would then go on a 19-2 run and led by as much as 9 points in the first half.

The Heels got away from what got them the lead early in the game with undisciplined defense, bad shot selection, and several turnovers. However, once Carolina settled down and made adjustments offensively and defensively, they went on a run and tied the game 31-31 going into halftime.

In the second half, the Tar Heels played like a completely different team and took control of the game. UNC started to get after it on the defensive end and got whatever they wanted offensively. Carolina would go on a 22-4 run, which broke the game wide open and they led by as many as 19 points in the second half.

The Tar Heels played unselfish basketball on the offensive end getting the ball inside often to their bigs and getting the ball to the open man on the perimeter for open shots. They also played suffocating defense, which just disrupted Georgia Tech’s whole rhythm offensively. The Heels shot 56% from the field and 58% from three, and had 21 assists on 31 made baskets.

Leaky Black and Anthony Harris did an outstanding job defending Georgia Tech’s best player Michael Devoe, the nation’s leading scorer, and held him to just 13 points. The Tar Heels had four players in double figures including RJ Davis, Caleb Love, Armando Bacot, and Brady Manek and completely dominated Georgia Tech in the second half, which led to 79-62 victory.

UNC Game Stats

               1st     2nd     TOT

North Carolina 31      48      79

Georgia Tech   31      31      62

North Carolina

STARTERS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
D. Garcia F	—	0-1	0-0	2-2	1	0	1	1	0	0	1	2	2
A. Bacot F	—	7-11	0-0	1-2	3	10	13	4	2	1	5	3	15
R.J. Davis G	—	8-11	4-6	3-3	0	5	5	5	1	0	3	3	23
C. Love G	—	7-18	3-5	0-0	1	5	6	5	3	0	1	0	17
L. Black G	—	2-2	0-0	1-1	0	2	2	1	1	0	1	2	5
BENCH	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
B. Manek F	—	6-10	3-6	0-0	1	4	5	4	1	1	3	0	15
A. Harris G	—	1-2	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	2
K. Walton G	—	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
TEAM		31-55	10-17	7-8	7	26	33	21	8	2	14	13	79
		56.4%	58.8%	87.5%

Ga. Tech

STARTERS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
K. Moore F	—	5-8	2-3	1-2	0	3	3	1	3	1	1	1	13
R. Howard C	—	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	2	2	0	0	1	2	4	0
J. Usher G	—	4-10	0-1	0-0	1	2	3	1	1	0	1	2	8
K. Sturdivant G	—	4-7	0-1	3-3	0	1	1	1	1	0	1	2	11
M. Devoe G	—	5-12	1-5	2-2	0	4	4	1	3	0	3	2	13
BENCH	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
S. Gigiberia C	—	0-0	0-0	0-0	1	1	2	0	0	0	1	2	0
M. Kelly G	—	0-4	0-2	0-0	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	2	0
D. Coleman G	—	5-7	3-4	0-0	0	1	1	0	2	0	0	1	13
D. Smith G	—	2-6	0-0	0-0	1	1	2	4	0	1	3	0	4
TEAM		25-54	6-16	6-7	4	17	21	8	10	3	13	16	62
		46.3%	37.5%	85.7%

UNC Bright Spots

RJ Davis had 23 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds, and 1 steal.

Caleb Love had 17 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals.

Armando Bacot had 15 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block.

Brady Manek had 15 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block.

Needs Work

The Tar Heels need to do a better job of taking care of the ball and cutting down on their turnovers. They had 14 in this game.

Final Observations

The Tar Heels move to 6-2 on the season and are 1-0 in ACC play. The Tar Heels have now had two impressive wins in a row and are looking like they have found their identity as a team. The offense is flowing very well with multiple guys contributing every night and the defense is much better than it was earlier in the season as they look more connected on that end of the floor.

After the last two disappointing seasons, UNC looks like they are finally getting back to playing Carolina basketball again, which has been sorely missed. Even though the Tar Heels have played well over the last two games, they can get even better. Guys like Kerwin Walton, Justin McCoy, and Dawson Garcia haven’t consistently played up to their ability yet this season and they are still playing well. This team has the potential to be very special and this is just the beginning of a team that we expect to do some damage late in March. Next up is Elon on Saturday, December 11 at 7:00.