Quick Hitters - North Carolina vs. Virginia Tech (ACC Tournament Quarterfinals)

Isaac Schade presents Quick Hitters from North Carolina’s 81-73 win over Virginia Tech on Thursday night in the ACC Tournament Quarterfinals.

Author:
Isaac Schade
Mar 12, 2021 2:48 AM EST

Quick Hitters from North Carolina’s 81-73 win over Virginia Tech on Thursday night in the ACC Tournament Quarterfinals.

Highlights:

Condensed Game:

With the victory, Roy Williams now has 903 wins and is third all-time in Division I victories, surpassing Bobby Knight’s 902. Congrats Coach!
This is not a game Carolina would have won a month or two ago. Virginia Tech was the clear aggressor throughout the first half. The Tar Heels didn’t wilt but kept trying to find their way. Eventually, in the second half, they started stringing plays together and looking more like Carolina Basketball. It wasn’t beautiful, but it was enough to be the 22^nd ranked team in the country by eight points.
RJ Davis really led the way for Carolina offensively and is the only reason Armando Bacot’s second half eruption is relegated to second chair. Davis finished with a career-high 19 points and career-high four made three-pointers. Perhaps his most impressive sequence came in the midst of a 7-0 Tar Heel run that essentially put the game away. Davis hit a three and then had a crafty steal as the Hokies came back up the court. He took the ball himself all the way to the rack and finished, plus the foul (which he made).

Garrison Brooks was back in the starting lineup and totaled 21 minutes. He appeared to hold up well, moving laterally without laboring. Brooks even dove on the floor after a loose ball early in the game. We’ll have to see how his ankle responds after playing tonight.
The coaching staff is doing a nice job of keeping everyone rested. Leaky Black played 30 minutes tonight, but no one else had more than 26.
Caleb Love struggled from the field tonight, finishing with seven points, but taking 12 shots to get there. He recorded as many assists as I did in the game, had two turnovers, and zero steals or blocks. Why is this noteworthy? Love took a shot to the head on a layup attempt (which wasn't called a foul, but I digress), potentially affecting his performance.
Given the circumstances, Virginia Tech held up really well. They were the more aggressive team throughout the first half and appeared capable of winning their first game back from COVID pause. However, given their shallow rotation, the Tar Heel size eventually won out in the second half.
After struggling to establish any sort of rebounding advantage in the first half, the Tar Heels looked much more like themselves in the second half. First half: two offensive rebounds. Second half: 13 offensive rebounds. First half: +1 rebounding margin (16-15). Final margin: +11 (43-32).
For the first time since the “Maui Invitational”, the Tar Heels have gone back-to-back games with an assist percentage of under 50.
Early on, Carolina seemed destined for another 20-turnover game, the fourth in the last five games. 10 minutes into the game, they had already committed five turnovers. However, the Tar Heels buckled down and only had six more over the course of the final 30 minutes.
For the second night in a row, Carolina held their own from the three-point line against a better shooting team. The Tar Heels matched Virginia Tech’s eight threes with eight of their own. Where UNC struggled was in stopping dribble penetration and cuts in the first half. The Hokies found easy shot after easy shot around the rim.
Two of the eight threes belonged to Leaky Black, one of which was essentially a dagger with 90 seconds left in the game. Virginia Tech had just cut the lead to five, and Black’s three must have been deflating. All the more so because on Tech’s next possession, Bacot poked the ball away to Black who found Davis on the wing for another three.
Kerwin Walton only took two three point attempts tonight (making one of them), his fewest since not attempting any at NC State in the first ACC game of the season. Walton did, however, look to be more aggressive driving to the basket. He had a great finish in the lane in the second half.
After being more or less shut down in the first half, Armando Bacot went nuts in the second half. In one stretch, he scored 10 straight of Carolina’s points. The two ACC Tournament games are the first back-to-back double-doubles for Bacot this season. He also recorded a season high four blocks. Shooting 69.2 percent from the field in the last four games (27-39). This is probably news to you, but Armando currently has the 11^th highest single season field goal percentage in Carolina history (minimum 50 field goals).

A night after the Tar Heels dominated around the rim on both sides of the ball, they struggled to establish much of any rhythm. Nearly halfway through the first half Carolina had zero offensive rebounds and zero points in the paint. But things began to open up in the second half. Credit Virginia Tech for their hard work at taking away Carolina’s strength, but the swarm of Brooks, Bacot, Sharpe, and Kessler eventually chipped away and allowed the Tar Heels to do what they needed to.
We can all appreciate a ridiculous basketball play right, even if it's the other team? Ok, good. Because this dunk from Virginia Tech's Justyn Mutts is vicious:

Carolina did not get off to the fast start they’ve enjoyed in the previous two games. They really had to work hard in this one. The start was so lackluster that after the first media timeout Coach Williams replaced four of the five starters.
Anthony Harris had several good plays tonight, but hurt his wrist in a scrum. He did eventually come back in in the final minute of the game. Hopefully he will be all right.
The Hokies enjoyed a six-point lead early in the second half (38-32). Carolina could have easily folded, but they kept fighting. They took their first lead of the second half on a big-time offensive rebound and putback (plus the foul) for Kessler.
The loudest sound I heard all night was Day’Ron Sharpe’s block with 5:00 remaining in the game.

Box Score

Roy Williams postgame press conference

Players postgame press conference

Leaky Black

Armando Bacot

RJ Davis

Remember to check in for Quick Hitters after every North Carolina basketball game. Next up is the Semifinals of the ACC Tournament against Florida State on Friday, March 12. Tip is at 9pm ET on ESPN.

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