Takeaways from No. 17 UNC’s 100-92 win vs. No. 10 Tennessee in ACC/SEC Challenge
No. 17 North Carolina (6-1), buoyed by a lights-out first half, defeated No. 10 Tennessee (4-3), 100-92, in the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge on Wednesday night.
It felt like March, with the game coming down to just three possessions toward the end, and each team aiming for heroics.
UNC was led by guard RJ Davis. The graduate student scored 27 points on 8-of-17 shooting and hit five shots from deep.
Dalton Knecht led the Vols with a career-high 37 points, six rebounds and three assists.
Here are three takeaways from the game:
Hot start for the Heels
The Tar Heels finished the 2022-23 season with four games where they scored fewer than 60 points. They surpassed that by halftime on Wednesday night, scoring 61 points.
That total didn’t surpass the team’s record for most points scored in a half; that took place in 1994 when UNC scored 77 against VMI. The Tar Heels still controlled the game, going on an early 13-0 run and securing a 20-point lead in 12 minutes of play.
Four players topped double figures before going into the break, with Armando Bacot and Harrison Ingram leading the way with 15 points each.
The Heels’ first-period performance wasn’t just a barrage of shots, either. Carolina forced nine Tennessee turnovers and outrebounded the Vols 16-11. At roughly the 8-minute mark, Tennessee’s Knecht had pulled down all three of his squad’s boards.
Cormac Ryan returns
UNC guard Cormac Ryan hit a wide-open 3-pointer from the corner with 13:28 to play in the first half, putting the team up by six and completely shifting momentum.
Ryan left the team’s 83-81 overtime loss to Villanova in the Battle 4 Atlantis with an ankle injury. It was unclear if he’d be available for Wednesday’s matchup.
“He’s going to try to practice today,” Tar Heels coach Hubert Davis said on Tuesday. “He’s getting better each day, but it’s still uncertain whether he’ll be good enough to play tomorrow night or not.”
Ryan not only participated in the Heels’ blowout win against Tennessee but played a key role in the victory.
His perimeter bucket started the Heels’ 13-0 run and represented the final time Tennessee was within two possessions.
The graduate student finished with 15 points and two rebounds, scoring 12 before the half. Ryan ultimately fouled out with 3:58 left in the game.
Learning to finish
Advanced analytics play a big role in the current college basketball landscape, with coaches — and fans, for that matter — tracking every metric.
When it comes down to it, though, the titles aren’t predicated on that. They’re based on wins, and those only have to come by a single point.
The offense looked like a national contender as the defense did during various stretches. Thankfully for UNC, it did just enough to weather a 6:56 scoring drought down the stretch, forcing the Vols to take contested buckets and making its own free throws.
The law of averages indicated Carolina likely wouldn’t score 60 points in the second half, but a little more consistency late in the game could have avoided the late-game stress. That’s something the Heels will want to work on going forward.
This story was originally published November 29, 2023 at 10:22 PM.
