UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Gets a Roaring Start and Cruise Past the Wolfpack
by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn
The North Carolina basketball team traveled to Raleigh to face off against NC State on Saturday afternoon. After an early 4-3 lead, the Tar Heels scored 16 unanswered points to put them up 17 points. The Heels did a great job of getting out in transition early in the game and made a constant effort to score in the paint. UNC led by as much as 19 in the first half and was dominating the Wolfpack on both ends of the floor.
Carolina shot 60% from the field and held NC State to only 29 points and under 30% from the field in the first half. Armando Bacot was extremely dominant and had a double-double in the first half alone with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Brady Manek was also huge with his 14 first-half points and the Tar Heels led by 17 going into halftime.
In the second half, the Tar Heels continued to dominate NC State. UNC extended their lead to as much as 25 and was in control of the game from start to finish. Leaky Black got hurt in the first half with a knee injury and never returned to the game.
However, Puff Johnson stepped up in a huge way in Leaky’s absence as he had 16 points and 5 rebounds. Armando Bacot also had a monster performance and was the player of the game with 28 points and 18 rebounds, and five blocks. Armando Bacot became the first player in UNC basketball history with 20 pts, 15 rebounds, and 5 blocks in a game. North Carolina has swept NC State on the season and continued its dominance over the Wolfpack with winning 35 of the last 40 matchups.
UNC Game Stats
1st 2nd TOT
North Carolina 46 38 84
NC State 29 45 74
North Carolina
| STARTERS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | |||||||
| A. Bacot F | — | 11-13 | 0-0 | 6-7 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 28 | |||||||
| B. Manek F | — | 6-9 | 2-5 | 2-2 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 16 | |||||||
| R.J. Davis G | — | 3-8 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | |||||||
| C. Love G | — | 4-14 | 1-7 | 7-7 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 16 | |||||||
| L. Black G | — | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |||||||
| BENCH | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | |||||||
| P. Johnson G | — | 4-9 | 2-4 | 6-7 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 16 | |||||||
| D. Dunn G | — | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| D. Styles G | — | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |||||||
| K. Walton G | — | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| TEAM | 29-56 | 5-19 | 21-23 | 13 | 33 | 46 | 13 | 5 | 5 | 16 | 16 | 84 | ||||||||
| 51.8% | 26.3% | 91.3% | ||||||||||||||||||
NC State
| STARTERS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| E. Dowuona F | — | 1-1 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| J. Hellems F | — | 3-12 | 2-8 | 3-4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
| T. Smith G | — | 7-22 | 3-11 | 3-3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 20 |
| D. Seabron G | — | 5-12 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 |
| C. Morsell G | — | 1-5 | 0-3 | 2-2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| BENCH | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| J. Gibson F | — | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| C. Hayes G | — | 5-11 | 4-5 | 2-2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 16 |
| B. Pass G | — | 1-1 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| TEAM | 25-66 | 9-27 | 15-17 | 10 | 14 | 24 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 17 | 74 | |
| 37.9% | 33.3% | 88.2% |
UNC Bright Spots
Armando Bacot had 28 points, 18 rebounds, 5 blocks, 2 steals, and 1 assist.
Brady Manek had 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists.
Puff Johnson had a career-high 16 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal.
Caleb Love had 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists
Needs Work
The Tar Heels need to cut down on their turnovers. They had 16 in this game. They need to learn how to play sound basketball down the stretch of games even when they have a big lead. The guards got entirely too sloppy at the end of the game and allowed NC State to make the game closer than it was.
Final Observations
The Tar Heels extended their win streak to 3 today and are now 21-8 on the season, 13-5 in the ACC. UNC took care of business today and swept their season series against NC State. The Heels are playing good basketball right now and have realized over the last couple of games that they are at their best when Armando Bacot dominates in the paint and when they let their defense set the tone for the game.
North Carolina has two games left on the season and needs to make sure they continue to play their best basketball going into the ACC tournament and NCAA tournament. Puff Johnson was huge today in their win and has continued to step up when his number is called. This bodes well for the Heels going forward because it gives them another player they can trust in their remaining games of the season.
Kerwin Walton and Dontrez Styles will also need to step up to give Carolina the depth they need off the bench come tournament time. Leaky Black did leave the game with a knee injury but is not expected to miss any significant time. Next up is Syracuse on Monday at 7 pm.