UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Stiff Arm the Peacocks and Cruise to the Final Four
by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn
In the Elite 8 of the NCAA tournament, the North Carolina basketball team faced off against Saint Peter’s on Sunday night. With the Final Four on the line, the Tar Heels got off to a great start, leading 9-0 in the early minutes. The Heels came out with a lot of energy and intensity to start the game and set the tone on both ends of the floor. UNC was very aggressive attacking the paint on offense and was excellent on the defense side of the floor, making everything difficult for Saint Peter’s offensively.
North Carolina held Saint Peter’s to just 19 points in the first half on 26% from the field and were just completely dominating them in the paint. The Tar Heels led as much as 21 in the first half and put the game out of reach in the first half.
In the second half, UNC did not let up. They came out and pushed their lead up to 27 points, imposing their will on the game. The game was essentially over at this point and UNC’s defensive intensity just made Saint Peter’s uncomfortable all game long. North Carolina made sure Saint Peter’s never got into a rhythm and just methodically controlled the game on both sides of the floor from start to finish.
It wasn’t the best offensive game for the Tar Heels, but the defense is what won them this game. Armando Bacot completely dominated Saint Peter’s on the inside with 20 points and 22 rebounds. Caleb Love and Brady Manek also made great offensive contributions with 14 and 19 points respectively. This game was never in doubt for the Tar Heels from the first few minutes of the game and they are now heading to their 21st Final Four, which is an NCAA record.
UNC Game Stats
1st 2nd TOT
North Carolina 38 31 69
Saint Peter’s 19 30 49
North Carolina
| STARTERS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | ||||||||
| A. Bacot F | 35 | 8-15 | 0-0 | 4-9 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 20 | ||||||||
| B. Manek F | 39 | 7-11 | 4-6 | 1-2 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 19 | ||||||||
| R.J. Davis G | 39 | 2-11 | 0-4 | 5-5 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 9 | ||||||||
| C. Love G | 39 | 6-17 | 2-10 | 0-1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 14 | ||||||||
| L. Black G | 33 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 3-4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||||||||
| BENCH | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | ||||||||
| J. McKoy F | 1 | 0-2 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| D. Styles G | 1 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| P. Johnson G | 11 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||
| D. Dunn G | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| K. Walton G | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| TEAM | 25-61 | 6-22 | 13-21 | 14 | 35 | 49 | 15 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 12 | 69 | |||||||||
| 41.0% | 27.3% | 61.9% | |||||||||||||||||||
St. Peter’s
| STARTERS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| C. Rupert F | 11 | 1-3 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| H. Drame F | 19 | 3-7 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| K. Ndefo F | 33 | 5-13 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 10 |
| M. Lee G | 27 | 0-6 | 0-2 | 2-2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| D. Banks III G | 32 | 2-8 | 1-3 | 2-2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| BENCH | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| O. Diahame F | 1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| F. Drame F | 23 | 4-8 | 1-2 | 3-4 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 12 |
| L. Reid G | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| M. Silvera G | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| I. Dasher G | 18 | 2-5 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| J. Murray G | 13 | 1-4 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| D. Edert G | 21 | 0-5 | 0-3 | 2-2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| TEAM | 18-60 | 4-16 | 9-10 | 7 | 26 | 33 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 18 | 49 | |
| 30.0% | 25.0% | 90.0% |
UNC Bright Spots
Armando Bacot had 20 points, 22 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 1 assist.
Brady Manek had 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 1 assist.
Caleb Love had 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists.
Needs Work
The Tar Heels need to make sure when their perimeter shots are not falling to continue to be more aggressive attacking the basket on offense. This will keep the defense from packing the paint, which will make the offense flow much smoother. In the second half, the offense got stagnant and they settled for too many jump shots.
Final Observations
The Tar Heels are heading to the Final Four. This is their 21st appearance in the Final Four, which is the most in NCAA history. They also now have the most NCAA tournament wins with 130. This team has come a long way from the beginning of the season. They are a completely different team and it is a testament to the hard work and resiliency of the team and coaching staff that they are in this position.
Nobody expected them to make it this far but you cannot say enough about how great a job Hubert Davis has done with this team. For him to take this team to the Final Four in his first year as a head coach is just incredible. UNC is thriving right now, everyone is buying in and having fun playing Carolina basketball, but the job is not finished yet. Next up is Duke in the Final Four next Saturday, April 2 at 8:49 P.M.