No. 8 UNC starts ACC 3-0 for first time since 2015-16, and it felt like a postseason game
North Carolina entered somewhat new territory with its 65-55 win over Clemson on Saturday: a 3-0 start in the ACC.
That hasn’t happened since 2015-16, when it made the Final Four and had Marcus Paige on the roster. It also picked up its fourth Quad 1 win of the season.
It’s still early and anything can happen — graduate student Armando Bacot said Carolina has to “keep our footing on everybody’s neck” — but it’s not an achievement to ignore.
UNC head coach Hubert Davis said he’s only ever known the ACC and it’s not easy. Every game is a tough game, but the non-conference schedule helped a lot. The Heels already saw just about everything they’ll face in the coming months.
“I just feel like it’s the best conference in college basketball. At home or on the road, it is just always a battle,” Davis said. “The level and the variety of teams we played in a non-conference, I think, has helped us in situations like this — on true road games — to be in tight situations.”
Carolina can attribute its strong start to its ability to finish games as well. The Tigers (11-3, 1-2 ACC) led by two with 13:20 remaining and tied the game at the 8:59 mark.
Graduate student Paxson Wojcik hit his third 3-pointer of the season with 8:44 left and the team never looked back.
The Tar Heels said they’ve embraced Davis’ mantra of battling in the trenches. That’s not recording the “pretty pass,” making an easy dunk or even hitting the timely triple.
It’s about setting a hard screen, hard cut and making the 50/50 plays. It’s about energy and mindset, even when things don’t go well.
“It’s not easy to win on the road, but we were able to make up on the defense advantage,” RJ Davis said. “Do the little things: get loose balls, close out with a sense of urgency, and that really changed the whole flow of the game.”
“I think that we’ve got a bunch of guys that are willing to make those plays,” Wojcik added. “When you’ve got a group that’s all willing to do that, it’s just pretty special and pretty hard to beat.”
The Tar Heels finished with a 44-33 rebounding advantage and held the Tigers scoreless for the final five minutes. UNC also stopped Clemson’s primary scorers and limited its ability to create ball movement.
This was the third straight game where Carolina out-rebounded its opponent and played stronger defense.
Basically, things looked positive. Even though shots didn’t fall and the game felt like a grind, the Heels managed to pull off the victory in a raucous Littlejohn Coliseum. Those qualities bode well for UNC and its hope for a return to the NCAA Tournament.
“I think momentum is on our side and having this good start, especially to start off on the road and playing the opponents that we played before ACC even started prepared us for March to come,” senior RJ Davis said. “It’s gotten us to a good position so far to be successful as a team and to face these tough scenes that we’re going to be facing in March. I’m glad the way we battled, the way we fought, and as coach would say, battled in the trenches.”
This story was originally published January 6, 2024 at 5:00 PM.
