Chapel Hill, NC – The last time we saw the Tar Heels was an abysmal outing against Kentucky in the CBS Sports Classic. UNC had an opportunity to bounce back from the embarrassing loss Tuesday night against Appalachian State, and that they did – defeating the Mountaineers and 70-50 at the Dean Dome.
Energy, effort and toughness were a focus of the Heels heading into Tuesday night’s matchup and will be a theme for the team going forward.
“For them to be the best they can be it is nonnegotiable…you have to be clothed with energy, effort and toughness,” head coach Hubert Davis said after the game. “At the end of the day you have to bring that whether is practice, shoot around, pick-up and obviously in a game. That’s something that just has to be present. There are going to be times when we don’t shoot the ball very well. There are going to be times when we turn the ball over or we don’t execute, but something that can’t happen -and it’s happened twice this year- is where the energy, effort and toughness is not present. That can’t happen. That’s unacceptable.”
The Tar Heels shot 55.2% in the second half – the sixth straight time UNC has shot 50 percent or better in the second half. It was the eighth time in 12 games UNC has shot 50% or better in the second half this season. Armando Bacot led Carolina with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
It’s all league play from here on. UNC will be back at the Dean Dome to take on Virginia Tech Wednesday, December 29th at 7pm.
Game Notes:
- Carolina is 7-0 at home this season.
- Carolina is 2-1 after losses this season.
- Carolina had 17 assists on 29 field goals. UNC had 10 assists in the first half, one more than it had in the previous game vs. Kentucky.
- Five different Tar Heels had multiple assists led by five from Caleb Love.
- Armando Bacot and Brady Manek both had double-doubles, the second time this season UNC had two double-doubles in a game (also Furman).
- Bacot had his eighth double-double in 12 games this season and 26th of his career with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
- Manek had his ninth career double-double and first as a Tar Heel with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
- Kerwin Walton hit two three-pointers, his first since the fourth game of the season against Purdue.
- It was the 20th time in 41 college games Walton made multiple threes in a game.
- Manek passed the 1,600-point mark. He has 1,607 points in 134 college games.
- Bacot passed the 600 career rebound mark. He has 608 rebounds in 73 games as a Tar Heel.
- Leaky Black had five rebounds tonight and 404 in his career.
- RJ Davis scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half. It was the seventh time this season he scored in double figures.
- Manek was a UNC-best and season-best plus 23. His previous best as a Tar Heel was plus 20 vs. Loyola.
- Anthony Harris was a season-best plus 21. His previous high this season was plus 5 at Georgia Tech.
- Walton also was a season-best plus 10.
- Carolina allowed 50 points, the seventh time this season UNC held the opposition under 70 points and the sixth time in the last seven starts the opposition scored 63 or fewer.
- Carolina improves to 176-18 all-time against in-state non-ACC teams.
- UNC is 218-18 all-time in the Smith Center against non-conference teams.
- Carolina is 7-0 against App State, including 5-0 in Chapel Hill.
Slow Starts Continue to Plague Tar Heels