UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Dominates the Cavaliers at Home
by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn
The North Carolina basketball team looked to bounce back against Virginia on Saturday afternoon after their loss to Notre Dame. Early in the first half, it was a close back and forth game. But once Carolina took the lead 6 minutes into the game, they led for the remainder of the first half.
Caleb Love and Armando Bacot did a nice job of establishing themselves early in the game offensively, and both scored in double figures in the first half. However, Virginia was able to stick around and keep the game within single digits because of UNC’s defensive breakdowns due to lack of communication on the defensive end of the floor.
In the second half, the Tar Heels were much better defensively in all facets with their communication and overall intensity and effort, and it changed the landscape of the game. Their defense fueled their offense in the second half and allowed them to get out in transition and score some easy baskets. With their offense clicking and improved defense in the second half, the Tar Heels were able to extend their lead to as much as 25.
The Heels had 19 assists on 28 made field goals and made 11 threes. Armando Bacot was dominant throughout the game and was the player of the game with his 29 points and a career-high 21 rebounds. Caleb Love and Brady Manek were also excellent in the game with 16 and 19 points respectively. The difference in this game was the defense in the second half and the excellent ball movement and player movement, which led to their 74-58 win over the Cavaliers.
UNC Game Stats
1st 2nd TOT
North Carolina 31 43 74
Virginia 25 33 58
North Carolina
| STARTERS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | ||||||||
| A. Bacot F | 38 | 12-18 | 0-0 | 5-7 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 29 | ||||||||
| B. Manek F | 32 | 7-13 | 5-9 | 0-0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 19 | ||||||||
| R.J. Davis G | 38 | 0-10 | 0-5 | 2-2 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||
| C. Love G | 38 | 6-13 | 4-9 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 16 | ||||||||
| L. Black G | 24 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| BENCH | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | ||||||||
| J. McKoy F | 8 | 1-2 | 1-1 | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | ||||||||
| R. McAdoo F | 2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| D. Dunn G | 2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| D. Styles G | 2 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| A. Harris G | 16 | 2-2 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||||||||
| TEAM | 28-59 | 11-25 | 7-11 | 11 | 25 | 36 | 19 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 74 | |||||||||
| 47.5% | 44.0% | 63.6% | |||||||||||||||||||
Virginia
| STARTERS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| K. Shedrick F | 17 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Gardner F | 34 | 5-10 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| R. Beekman G | 37 | 6-12 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 13 |
| A. Franklin G | 29 | 5-10 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 12 |
| K. Clark G | 35 | 3-11 | 2-4 | 1-2 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 9 |
| STARTERS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| K. Shedrick F | 17 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Gardner F | 34 | 5-10 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| R. Beekman G | 37 | 6-12 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 13 |
| A. Franklin G | 29 | 5-10 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 12 |
| K. Clark G | 35 | 3-11 | 2-4 | 1-2 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 9 |
| BENCH | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| F. Caffaro C | 19 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| I. Milicic Jr. G | 1 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| T. Murray G | 6 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| C. McCorkle G | 3 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| K. Stattmann G | 19 | 2-6 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| TEAM | 25-56 | 6-12 | 2-4 | 7 | 20 | 27 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 14 | 58 | |
| 44.6% | 50.0% | 50.0% |
UNC Bright Spots
Armando Bacot had career-high 29 points, 21 rebounds, and 2 assists.
Brady Manek had 19 points 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 block.
Caleb Love had 16 points, 5 assists, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals.
Needs Work
The Tar Heels need to do a better job of communicating on defense. Too many times they lose their man on defense and leave the opponents wide open for threes or easy layups.
Also, the coaches need to spell minutes for R.J. Davis and Leaky Black when they are ineffective for stretches at times during the game.
Final Observations
The Tar Heels pick up their 11th win of the season and break their 7-game losing streak against Virginia. The Heels played well today, and they have shown flashes of how good they can be when they play their game. However, they fail to play this way every game. If they can find any type of consistency and play with a high sense of energy, intensity, and effort each game they can become a really dangerous team. Next up is Georgia Tech on Saturday.