UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Ride Manek’s Hot First-Half and Cruise to a Quarter-Finals Victory Over the Cavaliers

by Derrick Clyburn

The North Carolina basketball team arrived in Brooklyn coming off an emotional victory over their arch-rival Duke on Saturday. They came out with aggressive defense and snuffed out the Cavalier’s offense for an ACC Tournament low 13 first-half points.

Brady Manek came out hot, hitting three 3 pointers and leading the team with 19 first-half points. He was the offense for the Tar Heels. Virginia made a concerted effort to stop Armando Bacot which left Brady Manek open for easy looks.

The defense was the story of the game for North Carolina. They guarded the ball at a high level and the help-side defense was excellent all night. UNC held Virginia to 43 points for the game. The Tar Heels moved the ball well and handed out 17 assists on 25 field goals and cruised to a 20 point victory.

UNC Game Stats

1st     2nd     TOT

#25 North Carolina     33      30      63

Virginia               13      30      43

North Carolina

STARTERS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
A. Bacot F	—	5-12	0-1	0-0	2	9	11	0	3	2	1	2	10
B. Manek F	—	8-15	3-7	2-2	1	6	7	3	1	0	1	0	21
R.J. Davis G	—	4-13	0-4	0-0	3	5	8	6	1	1	2	1	8
C. Love G	—	2-10	2-6	4-5	0	3	3	5	0	0	1	0	10
L. Black G	—	3-6	0-3	0-0	1	3	4	3	3	0	1	0	6
BENCH	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
J. McKoy F	—	2-4	1-2	0-0	0	5	5	0	0	0	0	3	5
P. Johnson G	—	1-2	0-0	0-0	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	2
D. Dunn G	—	0-2	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
D. Styles G	—	0-1	0-0	1-2	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
K. Walton G	—	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
TEAM		25-65	6-23	7-9	11	35	46	17	8	3	7	8	63
		38.5%	26.1%	77.8%

Virginia

STARTERS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
J. Gardner F	—	8-16	0-2	1-1	0	2	2	1	0	0	1	2	17
F. Caffaro C	—	0-1	0-0	0-0	1	5	6	0	0	1	1	1	0
R. Beekman G	—	1-8	1-2	0-2	0	4	4	5	3	2	2	1	3
A. Franklin G	—	1-7	0-2	3-4	0	4	4	3	1	1	1	1	5
K. Clark G	—	3-9	1-2	0-0	0	4	4	4	0	1	3	2	7
BENCH	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
K. Shedrick F	—	4-6	0-0	0-2	1	4	5	0	1	1	1	3	8
I. Milicic Jr. G	—	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
M. Poindexter G	—	1-1	1-1	0-0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	3
T. Murray G	—	0-1	0-1	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
C. McCorkle G	—	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
K. Stattmann G	—	0-2	0-1	0-0	0	5	5	0	0	0	2	0	0
TEAM		18-52	3-11	4-9	2	30	32	14	5	6	11	11	43
		34.6%	27.3%	44.4%

UNC Bright Spots

Brady Manek had 21 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal.

Armando Bacot now is the UNC All-Time Double-Double leader for a season with 24 and counting. He had 10 points, 11 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks.

Caleb Love had 10 points, 3 rebounds, and 5 assists.

Needs Work

The Tar Heels guards need to stay aggressive on offense to keep the pressure on their opponents.

Final Observations

North Carolina took care of business in the Quarter-Finals of the ACC Tournament with a 20 point victory. The Tar Heels are showing maturity in learning how to win in many styles and tempos.

This will bode well down the line in the NCAA Tournament. They will need to know how to adjust to different looks and schemes. Virginia was a great test in playing slow-down possession basketball.

UNC needs to stay focused and play with great intensity taking it one game at a time. Next up is Va. Tech at 9:30 pm