No. 8 UNC remains unbeaten in ACC. Three takeaways from Heels’ win over No. 16 Clemson
No. 8 UNC (11-3, 3-0 ACC) defeated No. 16 Clemson (11-3, 1-2 ACC), 65-55, on the road Saturday afternoon, remaining atop the ACC.
The teams’ defenses dominated and the offenses had a hard time staying in their systems, but the Heels pulled it off. Senior RJ Davis and graduate student Armando Bacot led the team with 14 points each. Bacot added 16 rebounds.
UNC held Clemson to 1-of-18 shootingfrom 3-point range. Coming into the game, the Tigers ranked 13th nationally in 3-point field goal percentage.
Carolina leads the all-time series, 136-23, and has won three straight against the Tigers. It was the first time since the 2014-15 season that UNC held a road opponent to fewer than 60 points.
Here are three takeaways from the game.
Unexpected contributors
UNC’s start looked wildly different Saturday than it did earlier in the week. The Tar Heels started 5-of-9 from the field and made four consecutive shots, a far cry from the 10 misses to start the Pitt contest. The offense cooled down significantly, thanks in part to Clemson’s defense, but its contributions came from unlikely players.
Graduate student Cormac Ryan buoyed the Tar Heels’ offense in the first half, scoring 10 points and going 2-for-4 from the perimeter. He added two rebounds and assisted on three other buckets.
Bacot praised Ryan earlier this week for his ability to create scoring opportunities and the pressure it takes off of him.
“It’s just been amazing, because it’s not like in past years where teams try to take me away, and we kind of just fall flat and don’t have offense,” Bacot said.
The transfer left the game with fewer than three minutes to play in the first half after appearing to tweak his previously-injured ankle on a defensive play against Clemson’s Joseph Girard III, but he returned to the game about a minute later.
Every Tar Heel who earned minutes contributed at least two points, and Seth Trimble and grad student Paxson Wojcik added clutch 3s in the second half to keep Carolina on top.
The Heels finished with 14 bench points.
Defense stops Clemson’s Hall, Girard
Even though the Carolina offense recorded a lower offensive output than usual, the Heels’ defense held the Tigers far below their scoring average.
UNC specifically stopped PJ Hall and Girard, Clemson’s top two scorers. Hall, who fouled out with 1:26 left in the game, recorded just 10 points and five rebounds. He came into the game averaging 20.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.
Bacot knew Hall would be a key factor in the game, citing his playmaking ability.
“I think in his four years he’s always kind of fell under the radar,” Bacot said. “I think everything he’s been doing this year, people are finally starting to notice how good he really is.”
Bacot said after the game he watched a lot of film and knew he couldn’t allow Hall to get into his typical spots.
“It’s tough when you’re playing against somebody, specifically in the post, because we don’t double the post. We play one-on-one,” Bacot said. “It was one of those things where when we’re playing a guy like that, you gotta be extra ready. I knew coming into this game, I had to have an aggressive approach.”
Girard, who averages 15 points per game, also finished with five points on 1 of 10 shooting.
In another game where the shots aren’t falling — UNC hit 31.7% in the second half — effective defense picks up those wins.
Harrison Ingram has second off game
Junior Harrison Ingram struggled on offense again, but he didn’t make up for it on defense with 15 rebounds like he did at Pitt. Instead, Ingram looked off on both ends.
The Stanford transfer finished with nine points and hit a couple of 3s, but the Clemson bigs outworked him inside and forced him to take several bad shots. That hurt the Heels, who had a hard time shaking the Tigers until late in the fourth quarter.
The teams traded points for virtually the entire game, recording seven ties and 11 lead changes.
Ingram said Tuesday he sustained a wrist injury against Kentucky and is “playing catchup.” Based on his performance Saturday, it appears Ingram remains impacted by the fall he took against the Wildcats.
“I don’t wanna make any excuses,” Ingram said after the game. “I feel like I just gotta get my touches back, but it does play into it.”
This story was originally published January 6, 2024 at 2:24 PM.
