UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Battles the Wolfpack and Takes Control to Win in the Second Half
by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn
The North Carolina basketball team faced off against NC State on Saturday night. The Tar Heels got off to a slow start against the Wolfpack, missing 9 of their first 12 shots. NC State was the more physical and aggressive team on both sides of the floor early on and it led to their 15-2 run. After being down 8 with about 8 minutes left in the first half, UNC stopped settling for jump shots and started to drive the ball to the basket more. The Heels’ aggressiveness in getting downhill allowed them to draw fouls and get to the free-throw line.
Meanwhile, Carolina also started to pick it up defensively and disrupt NC State’s offensive rhythm. North Carolina would get back in the game and take the lead after hitting 12 of their 13 free throws. Despite UNC shooting only 32% from the field while the Wolfpack shot 46 percent from the field, the Heels still were up one going into halftime.
In the second half, the Tar Heels continued to be aggressive offensively getting downhill, and were in the bonus 5 minutes into the second half. Carolina took full advantage and got to the free throw 26 times in the second half, making 24 of them. This would give NC State problems as the Heels took complete control of the game. North Carolina would extend the lead to as much as eleven and had an 8 to 11-point lead the entire second half.
RJ Davis and Armando Bacot led the way and were excellent throughout the game, finishing the game with 26 points and 23 points respectively. Armando Bacot had 23 and 18 rebounds in the game and broke two UNC records in today’s game. He became the all-time leader in rebounds in UNC history and now has the most double-doubles in UNC history with 61. North Carolina was dominant in their ability to draw fouls and make their free throws. The Tar Heels made 36 of their 39 free throws on the night, the most this season as they went on to get their 14th win of the season.
UNC Game Stats
| 1 | 2 | T | |
| NC State 15-5 | 33 | 36 | 69 |
| North Carolina 14-6 | 34 | 46 | 80 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| R. Davis | 26 | 4 | 0 | 5/8 | 2/4 | 14/14 | 2 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| A. Bacot | 23 | 18 | 1 | 8/13 | 0/0 | 7/7 | 3 | 34 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Love | 16 | 5 | 1 | 3/14 | 1/5 | 9/10 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| L. Black | 9 | 4 | 1 | 2/6 | 0/2 | 5/6 | 4 | 26 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| P. Nance | 5 | 8 | 1 | 2/5 | 1/3 | 0/0 | 3 | 36 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| J. Washington | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 1/2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Styles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/3 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Dunn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/4 | 0/3 | 0/0 | 3 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| S. Trimble | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| J. Joiner | 18 | 4 | 3 | 6/18 | 0/6 | 6/6 | 4 | 38 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| D. Burns | 18 | 3 | 0 | 8/13 | 0/0 | 2/2 | 4 | 25 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| T. Smith | 12 | 1 | 1 | 5/15 | 1/4 | 1/1 | 3 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| C. Morsell | 12 | 3 | 0 | 4/8 | 3/5 | 1/1 | 5 | 37 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| G. Gantt | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 3 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| E. Ross | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2/4 | 1/2 | 2/2 | 3 | 19 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| E. Dowuona | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 3 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| B. Pass | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| L. Thomas | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 2 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
UNC Bright Spots
RJ Davis had 26 points and 4 rebounds
Armando Bacot had 23 points, 18 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal.
Caleb Love had 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 assist.
Needs Work
The Tar Heels need to come out with more energy, urgency, and effort to start games. Their lackadaisical play to start games allows their opponents to get too comfortable.
The team must also be better with their shot selection, move the ball more often and take advantage of their mismatches on offense to give them a more balanced offensive attack in the half-court.
Defensively, they have to be better at getting the ball out of the hands of the player on the other team who has the hot hand. Too many times they allow one player to torch them offensively and it gives them huge problems on the defensive side of the floor.
Final Observations
The Tar Heels improve to 14-6 on the season and 6-3 in ACC play. North Carolina has now won 36 of their last 41 matchups against NC State. They also have won 9 out of their 11 games and are moving in the right direction as a team. The Heels have found ways to win even though they have not played their best basketball yet as a team. Caleb Love is still struggling with his confidence in his shot and Pete Nance is not 100% healthy out there on the court. As a result, they have needed contributions from different players to help them pull out these wins. Once Caleb Love and Pete Nance return to peak form and the team can get to 100% while getting great contributions from the bench, we will truly see what this team is capable of. Next up is Syracuse on Tuesday, January 24th at 9:00.