Oklahoma and Arkansas have already fallen today which helps but still need squads like Indiana, Texas, Boise State and Ohio State to stumble to someone unexpected.

UNC 92, MIAMI 73
MARCH 1, 2025
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.

UNC Scoring Leader: Ven-Allen Lubin 19
UNC Rebound Leader: Jae’Lyn Withers 10
UNC Assist Leader: Elliot Cadeau, RJ Davis and Withers 4
Team Records: UNC 19-11, 12-6 ACC; Miami 6-23, 2-16 ACC

• Carolina has won five straight games, its longest win streak since an eight-game stretch from February 17-March 15 last season.
• Carolina has won four straight ACC games by 10 or more points since a seven-game run last season.
• Six Tar Heels scored in double figures for the second game in a row. It is the first time six Tar Heels scored in double figures in consecutive games since doing that inn three straight games in 1988-89 vs. Towson State, San Diego State and Pepperdine.
• UNC is 55-23 in regular-season ACC games under Hubert Davis, the second-most wins by any team in the last four seasons.
• Carolina’s offensive efficiency was 131.7 (points per 100 possessions), its fifth consecutive game at 124.0 or better. Today’s 131.7 was Carolina’s fourth-highest in an ACC game; three of those four have come in the last four games.
• Carolina is averaging 90.8 points in the last five games. Prior to the five-game win streak, UNC was averaging 80.0 per game.

• Carolina has scored at least 80 points in five straight ACC games for the first time since February 3-17, 2018.
• Carolina led by double digits at the half for the eighth time this season and fifth time against ACC opponents.
• Carolina has led at halftime in 15 of 18 ACC games (and won 12 of those 15).
• The 92 points were the most by UNC and the 19-point victory was its largest margin vs. Canes since a 94-71 win on 1/25/2020.
• Carolina improved to 9-1 this season and 30-2 under Hubert Davis when its scores 90 or more points.
• Carolina led by as many as 21 points, the fifth-straight game the Tar Heels have led by double digits.

• UNC has led by at least 20 points in nine games this season and three of the last four.
• Carolina shot 58.9% from the floor, its second-highest percentage this season (59.0% vs. American). It was Carolina’s best percentage in an ACC game since shooting 60.9% in a 99-54 victory over Louisville on 2/20/2021.
• Carolina is 10-1 this season and 33-1 under Davis when it shoots 50% from the floor.
• It was the third time in the last four games UNC has shot 50% from the floor (57.4% vs. NC State, 55.2% at Florida State and 58.9% vs. Miami).
• It was the second consecutive game UNC has shot 50% in both halves. The Tar Heels have shot 50% in at least one half in nine of their last 10 games.

• Carolina has shot 50% from the floor in eight of the last nine halves over the last five games.
• Carolina made 17 of 25 field goals in the second half. Its field goal percentage of .680 was its highest in any half this season.
• It was UNC’s highest percentage in a half since shooting 71.4% in the second half against Charleston on 11/11/2022.
• Carolina made 10 of 18 three-pointers. It was the eighth time this season the Tar Heels made 10 or more threes (UNC 7-1).
• Carolina shot 55.6% from three-point range, the second time in three games and third time all season the Tar Heels shot 50% from three (11 of 22 for 50.0% vs. SMU, 9 of 16 for 56.3% vs. Virginia and 55.6% today).
• Carolina has made 40% or better of its three-pointers in five of the last seven games.

• Carolina is 17-4 this season when it makes 30% or better from three, 7-1 when it makes at least 40% and 3-0 when it converts 50% (2-7 when under 30%).
• Carolina scored 46 first-half points and has scored 45 or more in the first half in each of the last four games (first time since 2018-19). Prior to the last four games, Carolina had scored 45 or more points in the first half this season vs. only Elon and Boston College.
• Ven-Allen Lubin scored a season-high 19 points, the fourth straight game he scored in double figures.
• Lubin tied his career high with nine field goals. He made nine field goals once while playing for Notre Dame in 2022-23 and three times while playing for Vanderbilt in 2023-24. Today was the second time in his career he was 9 for 10 from the floor (last season vs. Arkansas).
• Lubin led UNC in scoring for the first time. He became the ninth Tar Heel to lead in scoring this season.
• Jae’Lyn Withers had 11 points and 10 rebounds and tied his career high with four assists. It was his third double-double this season, fifth as a Tar Heel and the 10th of his career. Carolina is 5-0 when he has a double-double.

• Withers has scored in double figures in three straight games and four of the last five games. Prior to doing so against Syracuse, Withers had scored in double figures three times prior this season. Withers’ double-figure scoring streak is his longest as a Tar Heel and equals the second-longest of his career (had a four-game stretch for Louisville in 2022-23).
• Withers has made a three in six straight games and multiple threes in four of the last five games.
• Withers has scored 65 points in the last five games. Prior to the Syracuse game he had scored 64 points in the previous 18 games.
• Drake Powell was UNC’s second-leading scorer with 16 points, the most he scored since she had 17 vs. SMU.

• RJ Davis played in his 168th game, one shy of tying Armando Bacot’s UNC- and ACC-record 169 games. Both Davis and Bacot played a fifth season due to the pandemic.
• Davis made three 3FGs and passed Scott Wood (NC State) for sixth in ACC history with 377 career three-pointers.
• Davis surpassd the 2,600-point mark. Third all-time in ACC scoring, Davis has 2,605 career points.
• Seth Trimble made two 3FGs for the second game in a row. He had combined to make four threes in the previous 10 games.

UNC-Miami
• The Tar Heels are 29-10 all-time against Miami, including 14-5 against the Canes in Chapel Hill/the Smith Center.

Next Game: at Virginia Tech, Tuesday, March 4, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)

...and there's still some fixin' to do.
Look, we all know this was a TCB game, and we did that, but watching this one raised some concerns that we'd better fix pretty quick, so sorry, but that's what this is mostly gonna be about:

- our 3-pt shooting was certainly big --- 10/18 --- carried a big part of this one, especially when 3s would once again bail us out of some otherwise bad possessions.

- the more sustainable good news was scoring in the paint, which contributed mightily to a 59% shooting day. There were too many forces for my blood, but we mostly attacked like we meant it (at least once we got the ball in the paint) --- and that matters.

- what we DID NOT do like we meant it has also become a MAJOR sore spot with me from an ol' coach's perspective --- CUTTING. Fact is, this bunch is a lazy cutting team. Moment: Early 2nd half on a called action, and Lubin just lolligags to the rim. Somehow EC nonetheless threaded a key-hole dime for the score, but this unfortunately exemplifies a chronic issue.

- continuing on that note, as I mentioned I've watched several classic UNC games over the past couple of weeks, and the difference in cutting is PALPABLE. Moreover, too many of our guys don't know WHEN to cut to the rack in Freelance situations. There were at least three times today I found myself yelling "CUT!" when there was an obvious unused opportunity. I'm sure some of that is a byproduct of our weakened Secondary scheme, but some is just old-fashiioned basketball IQ. Hell, I just watched Auburn basically run uk outta their own gym --- go watch them cut outta Pearl's old school Flex actions... it ain't that hard!

- Ok... with that rant outta the way, one more concern is FTs. Can't afford to be shootoing 67% going down the home stretch.

- Defensive intensity was not nearly what we've seen in recent games, and Hubert let the guys have it following a needed timeout. I mean, Cleveland (who of course didn't play vs dook) and their other big guy lit us up, and we didn't offer much resistance on them.

Again, sorry to start so much on the negative side, but these things still need fixing. Let's turn back to some more positives:

- Once again, REBOUNDING! Outboarded them by 12, and most of their offensive ones were of the long bounce variety. Again, the Big lineup pays dividends here.

- Speaking of BIgs, WIthers continues to thrive offensively with the increased minutes. His defensive footwork still makes my damn head hurt, but I'll take that double-double from the 4 position. Lubin did do a great job of cleaning up around the rim, but the defense today was well, yikes. Wash had some solid defensive possessions, but son, CUT AND POST UP LIKE YOU MEAN IT!

- Since I mentioned the low-IQ aspect of our off-ball movement, I do want to acknowledge one on the other side of that. Moment: RJ pulls up outside the arc in transition and looked like he was gonna fire up a rushed 3, but instead he hesitated and glanced over to wait for the Trailer to get in rebounding position before letting it go. Nice senior play.

- And finally, even though he was the target of one of my "CUT!" harangues, Drake continues to show more flashes of that huge upside as his confidence grows. He's about a summer of footwork away from becoming a "plus" defender, and a summer of weight-room away from being an offensive force. Hope we get to see him for one more season...

Anyway, TCB is the deal, and we did what we needed to do to make it convincing (on the scoreboard at least) to serve notice (oh, and once again, Lunardi can GFH). That said, we'd better not go into Blacksburg with that initial intensity level...