Quick Hitters - North Carolina at NC State

Isaac Schade presents Quick Hitters from North Carolina’s 84-74 road win over NC State on Saturday afternoon.

Author:
Isaac Schade
Feb 27, 2022 1:03 AM EST

Quick Hitters from North Carolina’s 84-74 road win over NC State on Saturday afternoon.

Highlights:

Condensed Game:

North Carolina played (and won) their third straight “can’t lose” game, in terms of making the NCAA Tournament, setting up one more “can’t lose” game on Monday night against Syracuse.
UNC led this odd game from wire-to-wire. The Tar Heels would push out to a big lead, NC State would narrow it down, and then Carolina would push it right back out. It was a game UNC ultimately won by 10 that felt like a game they won by 20. Here’s the progression of the swings up and down:

UNC 10-point lead – 15:35 left in first half
Up to 19 – 12:18
Down to 11 – 9:36
Up to 16 – 5:56
Down to 9 – 3:35
Up to 17 – halftime
Down to 11 – 18:25 left in second half
Up to 22 – 15:15
Down to 13 – 10:47
Up to 25 – 7:19
Down to 14 – 4:18
Up to 19 – 2:19
Down to 10 – Final

Because of these wild swings, the Tar Heels missed a golden opportunity to get the starters some rest heading into Monday. For example, Caleb Love played literally all 40 minutes (for the second straight game) and has now played 58:28 out of a possible 60:00 in the last three games.
With the win, Carolina has won eight of their last nine against State, and eight of their last nine at State.
By virtue of the win (and tiebreaker over Virginia) Carolina has guaranteed themselves a top-five seed in the ACC Tournament. The magic number is one (one Carolina win or Wake loss) for the Tar Heels to clinch a top-four seed (and double-bye).
Also by virtue of this ACC road win, Hubert Davis has guaranteed that he will finish his first season with a winning conference road record. The Heels sit at 6-3 right now with just one road game left.
When the regular season ends Carolina will have played three teams on their senior night. They’ve already spoiled the first two (at Virginia Tech, at NC State). Boy, would it be nice to ruin a third (& a retirement party) next Saturday.
Armando Bacot and Brady Manek were a combined 17-22, but it felt like they didn’t get enough attempts. State went to zone for a large part of the second half and that seduced Caleb Love and RJ Davis into settling for threes and jumpers rather than getting the ball to the big fellas. As a side note, that doesn’t bode well for Monday night.
It’s hard to believe there’s more to add to Bacot’s lore this year, but there is. He fell one bucket and two rebounds shy of having a 30-point, 20-rebound, five-block game. Were it not for picking up a fourth foul with 6:28 to go he likely would have gotten to 30 and 20. All the same, it was the first 25/15/5 game in Carolina history. Those numbers also mean Bacot recorded his 22^nd double-double of the season and 40^th of his career. He’s now one shy of tying Brice Johnson’s single-season Carolina record.

You might recall that in the first match-up with NC State, the Heels limited Dereon Seabron to two points; his only game not scoring in double-figures this season. Were it not for scoring eight meaningless points in the final 4:18, Carolina would have held him to single digits once again.
A big factor in limiting Seabron was Leaky Black. Unfortunately, Black landed awkwardly after contesting a shot with 4:31 left in the first half. He crumpled to the court holding his right knee, which is never a good sign from a non-contact injury. Immediately one’s brain goes to the ACL. Thankfully there was no structural damage to the knee and it was found to be a hyperextension. All indicators are that Black will be able to play on his Senior Night on Monday.
If my count is correct, this is the third straight Quick Hitters where I’ve said, “Where would Carolina be without Brady Manek?” The grad transfer was one of three Tar Heels to score 16 points, and did so on 6-9 shooting, 2-5 from three, 2-2 on free throws, plus six rebounds, and perhaps most importantly led the team with five assists.
I’ve been paying a lot of attention to the bench contributions lately. That specific area of focus came into bold relief on Saturday due to Leaky Black’s absence. The “bench” rose to the occasion if we define “bench” as “Puff Johnson”. The sophomore picked a perfect time to have his best game as a Tar Heel. The combination of the other three bench players who saw minutes (Dontrez Styles, D’Marco Dunn, Kerwin Walton) combined for zero points on 0-2 shooting, zero three-point or free throw attempts, four rebounds, one assist, three turnovers, and zero steals or blocks. Johnson, on the other hand, scored 16 points on 4-9 shooting, 2-4 on threes, 6-7 on free throws, five rebounds, one assist, one turnover, and one steal.
Johnson started in Black’s place in the second half. If for some reason Black can’t go on Monday, either Styles or Johnson will likely start in his spot. I’ll give the edge to Johnson.
Of continuing concern: Carolina has averaged 14.3 turnovers a game over the past six games after averaging just 9.3 in the prior six.
Carolina had their second-highest offensive rebounding percentage of the season at 46.4%, falling just behind the 48.1% mark they set against UNC-Asheville.
The Heels have been absolutely on fire from the free throw line in the last three games: 13-15 at Virginia Tech, 11-13 vs. Louisville, and 21-23 at NC State. In those games combined UNC is shooting 88.2% (45-51).
In fact, if the season ended today, the team would have recorded the second-highest free throw percentage in program history. The Heels are shooting 76.5% (407-532), behind only 1983-84’s 78.3% (551-704).
Getting off to a hot start on the road is always important. Carolina certainly did that today, jumping out to a 20-3 lead, including a 16-0 run. What’s even more impressive is that all five starters scored in those first 20 points (made even more remarkable considering that Bacot scored eight of the first 11).
Can anyone tell me why NC State head coach Kevin Keatts thinks he can just meander out onto the court? He spends entirely way too much time on the court and out of the coach’s box. He was warned at least once to go back.
This isn’t specific to Carolina, but is worth mentioning: All of the top six AP teams in college basketball lost on Saturday, the first time that’s ever happened.

Box Score

Hubert Davis postgame press conference

Players postgame press conference

Puff Johnson

Armando Bacot

Remember to check in for Quick Hitters after every North Carolina basketball game. Next up is a home game against Syracuse on Monday, February 28. Tip is at 7:00pm ET on ESPN.

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