with a name like this. I first heard of it and had to look it up. I thought it was a joke.

Montana people somewhat jokingly take credit for Washington being where it is. Why? Because Montana upset Washington in the 2021 season opener, which led to a massive hue and cry against HC Jimmy Lake. Lake had gotten the job because he was known as a great recruiter. And opening with a loss to a 1AA team in his second season meant wise fans saw the issues that likely would only get worse. That led to Lake fired and Kalen DeBoer hired.

Montana HC Bobby Hauck is his team's Special Teams coach, and that is a Grizzlies strength.

Just entered the portal. Does it really matter anymore? I’m so numb to this stuff.

I was meaning to post the Howard Sampson article....he flipped his commitment from TCU to UNC and I had too many windows open.

Hoping the next few days Ryan's ankle and Ingram's wrist completely heal. I know Ryan continued to play but he didn't seem as effective and after a game is when it can really start hurting. Ingram doesn't want to use wrist as an excuse but there has been an obvious difference in his scoring since the injury.

Just lying back after fulfilling a dream more than half a lifetime in the making - getting to the DES Centre for a live game.

Not taking away from what I hope Gary has to say, but here are some game observations:

RJ is in total control. He’s learned his limitations and plays very comfortably within them. He can hit massive shots and set players up. While he’s not a classic point guard, he’s using his experience, natural gifts and developed skills to lead the way for this years team.

Armando seems stuck. He’s not finding easy spots to score from and his high post hand offs are not super effective. TBH all of the Heels high ball screens were not great - loose and soft (if that’s the right description)

EC had a better stat-line than he played. He seemed out of synch in the first half although I pointed out to my son a number of times to look out for how quickly he gets rid of the ball - in a good way. He’s obviously still finding his way but the talent is obvious… hopefully we’ll see him passing to Powell and Captain Jack in 24-25.

Ryan still isn’t shooting brilliantly but his defence when Hubert went to the press was smothering…. full court press and half court traps were super fun to watch… same with a number of forced shot clock violations.

Great to see Hubert going to the bench early and often. Seth looked very good and the mid-key pull-up was money.

After all the discussion it was unreal to see JWash playing at the 4 and doing it well! He had a great run in the first half with Mando at the 5.

Withers also had a solid game and played within his limitations.

The lopsided scoreline gave Hubert the chance to make James Okonkwo’s night. After Wojcik got clobbered for an and-one, Hubert subbed in Okonkwo who hit the free-throw… his first points as a Tar Heel. I guessed this at the game after he turned and made a small fist pump after the shot. He scored again later to bring up biscuits.

I’m sure I’ve missed some stuff -but that’s mostly what I saw….

Only other things: the seats are not the best, the concourse is crowded, the banners are awe-inspiring and the tribute to 00 was very moving.

Bring on ACC play!

UNC went deep on the bench. Washington, Tremble, Wojcik, High and Withers helped keep UNC in a close game. Good defensive effort by the whole team. Important win.

QA112

Amazing there are 3 teams which are 3-0 in the ACC so far this season, Carolina, State and Wake Forest. Have seen all of the ACC teams play numerous time so far this season. The top five teams are all 11-3 going into next week, with Carolina at State and Wake Forest at Florida State, there may only two undefeated teams in conference play, or only possibly one. The conference as a whole only has two teams with losing records, ND and Louisville. Heck ND after a slow start has begun to play some pretty decent basketball, they should have beaten State at home, and gave Duke all they wanted yesterday. Not going to mention Louisville with the injuries they are a complete train wreck going forward. The league this year in my opinion is one of the three top conferences in the country, and we will be just all the other conference's will unfortunately be beating up on each other until league tournament time.
Really surprise with the way Wake Forest has played this year, especially at home, just glad that we only play this once and it will be at home.

The game was one of those Cold Winter Day Games,which it's Cold and rainy here in Louisville Ky. I enjoyed it because I wanted to see how this team would play when the outside shot was not falling. This Team got alot of Dog in them,I love ❤️ this team.

Two top20 teams clash at LittleJohn and it will be the battle of two completely different offensive styles as UNC likes to run and quickly get into their offensive sets while Clemson is more of a half court team.

Like Carolina, Clemson has upperclassmen who have been in many battles and know how to score. Hall, Girard and Hunter are the big three for the Tigers and they can all shoot the three ball as the team makes about 10 a contest and that includes Hall who is a big man but is very deadly from downtown.

Covering Hall may be the big problem because he is very talented both inside and outside and I do not believe Coach Davis wants Bacot playing outside of the lane. Carolina might consider playing Ingram and Withers straight up on Hall instead of Bacot.

Ryan vs Girard should also be fun to watch because they are seasoned vets who can shoot from way out as well as drive and get fouled. Hunter will probably be matched against Davis except when Trimble is in for Cadeau.

Miami beat Clemson because the Hurricanes like last year played one big and 4 shooters and Clemson has absolutely nobody that could slow down or stop Pack who repeatedly had open mid range shots in the lane. RJ Davis hopefully can do the same thing.

The Tar Heels played well against Pittsburgh’s outside shooting and to keep the game close at Clemson they will have to play strong D on the perimeter yet again…

Ingram has to contribute some points earlier than 5 minutes left in the game and Washington, Trimble and Withers need to bring some energy and points off the bench.

Hall fouled out against Miami so hopefully Bacot can get some looks down in the blocks to either score or get Hall in foul trouble. Armando as of late is not getting many shots at the basket and about half of his points are now coming from his much improved free throw shooting.

I do believe Cadeau could be a game changer by looking for his shot and especially going to the hole hard like Trimble has done the last two games where he could score, get fouled or pass off to Bacot for a flush.

After the win on the road at Pittsburgh Carolina comes in with lots of confidence so the crazy crowd should not be a problem. It should be a very close contest with no prisoners taken either way…

CAROLINA 65, CLEMSON 55
JANUARY 6, 2024
LITTLEJOHN COLISEUM
CLEMSON, S.C.

UNC Scoring Leader: Armando Bacot and RJ Davis 14
UNC Rebound Leader: Bacot 16
UNC Assist Leader: Cormac Ryan 4
Team Records: UNC 11-3, 3-0 ACC; Clemson 11-3, 1-2 ACC

• Carolina is 3-0 in the ACC for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
• Carolina allowed fewer than 60 points in consecutive road games for the first time since beating UNCG, 79-56, and Clemson, 74-50, in the 2014-15 season. The Tar Heels won at Pitt, 70-57, in their previous game on January 2.
• Carolina is 4-2 this season against AP-ranked teams.
• Carolina has its fourth quad 1 win of the season. Entering today, Purdue had won five Q1 games and only Arizona, Houston and Wisconsin had won four.
• Carolina held Clemson to a season-low 55 points. It was the second-lowest total by a Carolina opponent this season (UC Riverside scored 52).

• The 55 points were the fewest by Clemson against Carolina since UNC beat the Tigers, 74-50, on 1/5/2015.
• Carolina allowed the fewest points to an AP-ranked opponent since Michigan scored 51 in Chapel Hill on 12/1/21.
• Carolina was tied at halftime for the first time this season and for the first time since playing Louisville on 2/21/22.
• Carolina held Clemson to 5.6% (1 for 18) from three-point range, the third-lowest three-point percentage by an opponent with a minimum of 10 attempts in UNC history. Arizona shot 4.3% on 1/27/2007 and Texas A&M shot 5.0% on 12/20/2001.
• Carolina made a season-low seven free throws on a season-low 12 attempts. It is the fewest made free throws and free throw attempts since UNC made 7 of 10 against Boston College in the 2023 ACC Tournament.

• The seven free throws were the fewest in a road win since making seven at Georgia Tech in Hubert Davis’ first ACC game in 2021-22.
• Carolina and Clemson combined for zero fastbreak points. It was the first time Carolina did not score a fastbreak point since defeating Virginia on 2/25/23. Clemson is the third opponent Carolina has held to zero fastbreak points this season.
• Carolina shot 58.3% from the free throw line, its lowest percentage since shooting 57.9% against Notre Dame on 1/7/23.
• Armando Bacot and RJ Davis shared scoring honors for the Tar Heels with 14 points. This is the second time this season Bacot and Davis tied for the team lead in scoring (also against Lehigh).
• Bacot passed Charlie Scott for sixth place and Al Wood for fifth on Carolina’s all-time scoring list during the game. Bacot has 2,017 career points, Scott scored 2,007 and Wood scored 2,015.

• Bacot recorded his seventh double-double of the season and 75th of his career. Carolina is 6-1 this season and 54-21 overall when Bacot has a double-double.
• Bacot is one of three players in ACC history with 75 or more double-doubles with Tim Duncan and Ralph Sampson.
• Bacot’s 16 rebounds led Carolina in rebounds for the eighth time this season and 108th time in his career. This was the third time this season and 25th time as a Tar Heel he had 15 or more rebounds.
• Davis passed Caleb Love for eighth all-time in three-pointers by a Tar Heel. Davis has 201, one more than Love.
• Cormac Ryan led Carolina in assists with a season-high four. It is the second time Ryan has led Carolina in assists this season.

• Paxson Wojcik gave Carolina the lead for good with a three-pointer from the left wing with 8:44 to play, which broke a 45-all tie. It was Wojcik’s third 3FG of the season and first since the win over Arkansas on November 24.
• Carolina made eight threes, which was a season-high seven more threes than its opponent. Previous largest margin on 3’s was against UNI, when Carolina made 12 and UNI made six.
• Carolina held the Tigers to 36.2% from the floor in the second half. It was the third straight game UNC held the opponents under 40% shooting in the second half.
• The Tar Heel bench out-scored the Tigers’ bench, 14-2. UNC is 9-0 this season when its bench outscores the opponent bench.
• Carolina is 4-3 this season when only three Tar Heels score in double figures.
• UNC won for the sixth straight time when it has more rebounds. UNC out-rebounded the Tigers, 44-33.
• The Tar Heels are plus 42 on the glass in the last three games.

Carolina-Clemson
• Carolina is 136-23 all-time vs. the Tigers with wins in the last three games under head coach Hubert Davis.
• The Tar Heels are 42-18 in Clemson, including 31-15 in Littlejohn Coliseum.
• UNC is 17-3 vs. Clemson when both teams are ranked in the AP poll.

Next Game: at NC State, Wednesday, January 10 (8 p.m., ESPN)

Incredible stat here: UNC’s opponents went 82:31 of game time between converting second-chance field goals.

Oklahoma did with 10:18 left in the first half, Pitt didn’t at all, and Clemson’s first today was with 7:11 left before halftime. That’s a span of 82:31.

Pitt’s FT after an OR was the only second-chance point UNC allowed in that stretch, too.

Discussion
UNC went into a ranked Clemson's house in what was to be one of the more compelling matchups of the ACC regular season. What we got was a massive clunker of a performance from both teams. There were only 146 total possessions, making it the 70th slowest game we've played in the last 1004 games.

UNC scored 0.87 points per possession on a terrible interior shooting performance. With its 46% 2-point shooting, it was a 25th percentile kind of shooting day. Thankfully Clemson was atrocious from behind the arc, shooting 6%. It was the 3rd-worst shooting we've seen from an opponent in the last 1004 games. That was pretty much all it took to explain Clemson's 0.77 pts' per possession day. Because Clemson took 31% of their shots from behind the arc, it was a real black eye on their performance; just ask Dabo Swinney.

This was a game UNC would have lost had it been facing a well-playing opponent. Harrison Ingram's shooting has been abysmal of late, and the contribution Cadeau is making on both ends of the floor is a long, long way from what this team needs. Cadeau played 19 minutes and garnered 1 assist along with 3 fouls.

Ingram was 3-10 from the floor overall, but just 1-5 from inside the arc. His play as a PF is far too soft, given that he has the body to jump up and ram it into the cup. It almost feels like Roy Williams frowned upon dunking, and the culture of being angry at the rim is completely gone from this program.

Basically it all starts with the PG play. We need to push tempo, get points in transition, and force turnovers. This team has a lot of work to do and it starts at the 1 position.

Anyone watching this? I may DVR it to cure insomnia some night.

This Lousiville team is one for the ages!