UNC basketball snaps out of its losing skid, earns 75-59 ACC win over Georgia Tech
It was, perhaps, the best single possession of North Carolina’s season and it perfectly summed up its 75-59 win over Georgia Tech on Saturday in its ACC home opener.
It had all involved saying, “That’s Carolina basketball” as the Tar Heels (6-4, 1-1 ACC) snapped a four-game losing streak.
R.J. Davis passed up an open 3-pointer from the top of the key to lob a pass to Armando Bacot inside. Before even coming down with the ball, Bacot passed the ball out to Pete Nance, who was open for 3 in the left corner. But Nance swung the ball to Davis, who had a cleaner look.
Davis instead pump faked the shot to send a defender flying past and took a dribble inside the arc. As Georgia Tech’s Kyle Sturdivant left Nance to contest the dribble, Davis passed it back to Nance in the corner.
Nance knocked down just their second 3-pointer of the half and it boosted the Heels lead to double digits that they never relinquished.
“That play where R.J. had a wide open three — and we talked about making the extra pass — and hit Pete in the corner,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “I came in at halftime, that’s the first thing that I said to the coaching staff. That’s the first time I looked at it I go, ‘Man, this looks like Carolina basketball.’ It was great.”
For all the consternation about the Heels’ offense, they showed why they were not panicking. Carolina entered the game with an assist rate of just 40.1 percent, which ranked 350 out of 363 Division I teams, according to Ken Pomeroy.
The ball moved. There was no over dribbling. There were far fewer bad shots. Even when the Yellow Jackets resorted to a 1-3-1 zone, Carolina was deliberate in its attack in finding good shots. UNC finished with 15 assists on 27 made baskets.
“That just shows how unselfish we really are and building trust around each other going from good to a great shot, that’s Carolina basketball right there,” said R.J. Davis, who had his second double-double of the season with a game-high 22 points and 10 rebounds. “That’s a prime example of how we need to play for the rest of the season.”
Aside from looking better in halfcourt sets, Carolina got back to running. In losses at Indiana and Virginia Tech, UNC combined for 17 fast-break points. The Heels outscored the Yellow Jackets 17-3 in fast-break points, which was their biggest margin this season.
Hubert Davis said transition was an emphasis in practice leading into the game. He wanted Bacot or whoever was in the lineup at the 5 spot to sprint down the floor and post up under the basket for deep post catches. That strategy opened things up for everyone else.
“We have to be inside-out plain and simple, period, the end,” Davis said. “We can’t be outside-in. We have Armando, we have Pete (Nance) and we got to use them. We got to throw the ball down low on the block and let them use their gifts and talents to be able, not only to score, but to open up shots for our guards out on the perimeter.”
It not only looked like Carolina basketball, it was what a high-level play looks like this season. Davis said in some ways the Heels have tried to attach themselves to last season’s Final Four run instead of staying focused on what will make this season’s version play good.
“It’s been hard — not just for them but from the outside noise — to cut the cord from last year, and I feel like today was a step forward,” Davis said. “It’ll always be a battle throughout the entire year. But my hope is we’ll continue to get better and focus on this year’s team and seeing how good we can become.”
Bacot, who missed Sunday’s loss at Virginia Tech with a right shoulder injury, showed no signs of being slowed by his injury. He was back in the starting lineup, although he had a small scare in the first half.
Georgia Tech’s Rodney Howard fouled Bacot as he completed a dunk and it sent him tumbling to the floor. He got up from the floor grabbing his shoulder and rotating his right arm as if to stretch it out.
“It’s something I’m going to have to deal with and learn to play through,” said Bacot, of his shoulder injury. “I’ll be good though. I just have to trust it a little more. I thought around the basket for some of those stick backs I wasn’t fully extending my arm and I was finishing short and missing a lot of bunnies. But I got a few more days to keep preparing myself.”
Bacot didn’t show any lingering effects from the play, as he went on to score 21 points with 13 rebounds. In doing so, Bacot tied Billy Cunningham for the most games in program history with 10 or more rebounds at 61.
Bacot added that sitting out against the Hokies allowed him to see the game from a different perspective that helped against the Jackets.
“I got a chance to see a lot of opportunities of where I can be more aggressive,” Bacot said. “Whether that’s driving from the top of the key, that was something I did a really good job of last year, but also in transition just posting up right in front of the rim. Going into this game I was really trying to press the issue and be as aggressive as possible offensively because I know that’s something that we need.”
This story was originally published December 10, 2022 at 5:18 PM.