UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Bounce Back Against the Pack

by Derrick Clyburn

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The Tar Heels basketball team finally sealed the deal to win a close game. They made plays finishing at the basket and hit their free throws. Garrison Brooks led the way going 14-16 from the free-throw line and led all scoring with 30 points and 9 rebounds.

Cole Anthony had a more balanced game scoring 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. UNC got a spark off the bench from Christian Keeling scoring a career-high 16 points and 7 rebounds.

When North Carolina sees that Red NC State jersey they take their game up a notch. They made the season sweep tonight to end their 7-game losing streak.

UNC Game Stats

               1  2  T
North Carolina 40 45 85
NC State       37 42 79

North Carolina
          Pts FG  3FG  FT REB A TO Min +/-
1 BLACK    8  4-9  0-1 0-1 4  0 2  31  0
2 ANTHONY 19  7-12 1-4 4-7 5  5 5  37  4
4 ROBINSON 3  1-4  0-3 1-1 0  0 0  20 -13
5 BACOT    3  1-5  0-0 1-2 3  0 3  13 -18
15 BROOKS 30  8-15 0-0 14-16 9 1 2 37  1
3 PLATEK   3  1-2  0-1 1-2 1  1 0  6  4
22 MILLER  0  0-0  0-0 0-0 0  0 0  1  3
32 PIERCE  3  1-5  0-3 1-2 5  2 2  28 25
55 KEELING 16 7-9  2-4 0-0 7  1 0  27 24

TOTALS 85 30-61 3-16 22-31 38 10 15 200
          49.2% 18.8% 71.0%

NC State
             Pts FG  3FG FT REB A TO Min +/-
0 FUNDERBURK 18 8-11 0-0 2-3 9  1  1 33 5
11 JOHNSON   21 7-16 2-7 5-6 5  10 3 35 1
13 BRYCE     13 5-13 1-6 2-2 5  1  4 40 -7
15 BATES      4 2-3 0-0 0-0  5  0  1 14 11
24 DANIELS   10 3-7 2-3 2-2  2  4  3 23 6
4 HELLEMS     8 3-7 2-5 0-0  2  0  2 24 -23
10 BEVERLY    5 2-4 1-3 0-0  1  2  0 22 -18
21 DIXON      0 0-0 0-0 0-0  0  0  0 5 -7
31 ANDREE     0 0-1 0-1 0-0  0  0  0 4 2

TOTALS 79 30-62 8-25 11-13 30 18 14 200
          48.4% 32.0% 84.6%

UNC Bright Spots

Garrison Brooks had 30 points, 9 rebounds, and 1 assist.

Cole Anthony had 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists.

Christian Keeling had 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 1 assist.

Needs Work

UNC needs to move without the ball, fight through screens and play better help-side defense. They need to attack the basket more aggressively and cut down on the turnovers.

Final Observations

A win is a win! North Carolina will take it any way they can get it at this point in the season. UNC has played well at times in most games but hadn’t sealed the deal but tonight they found a way to close it out by making their free throws and hit some tough shots.

The Tar Heels are better than their record. They just need to continue to improve and stay healthy to finish out the season. UNC keeps fighting and has a chance to be a spoiler to a lot of teams. No one will want to see them in the ACC Tournament if they can stay healthy.