I was glad to see the Stanford women's basketball coach overtake Coach K. But then it dawned on me. She is the coach at Stanford. So, that means that the two winningest coaches are both from the ACC.

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Guys, have this nasty feeling we drop this game even being at home. I am going to look deeper so I may see it a bit different but this one scares me, we are ripe for a loss, play has kind of dipped over the last couple games, we are defending pretty well but our scoring is off.

Hunter Salise is a big timer, that is why we recruited him! Efton Reid is 7'0" and 240lbs (wasn't he a 5 star coming out of high school and signed with Memphis where it didn't work out), you know, the kind of guy that gives Bacot a lot of trouble. Aaron Carr is 6'10" 220 and hits the boards hard. They just got eligible this Monsanto kid, 6'6" 225 and can shoot it and the Hildreth kid they better keep an eye on. Wake plays a lot of guys so that helps them deal with our deep bench from a fresh legs stand point.

This may be a worse match up for us than even duke, they have lost some games but they seem to be coming more together, worried about this one more than I did Clemson.

I cannot believe how many threads there has been on Facebook and here where fans are asking what has happened to Bacot because he is no longer the player he once was .

When I read those comments I quickly realize those people saying that HAVE NEVER PLAYED ORGANIZED BASKETBALL for if they did they would know TEAM basketball is more than INDIVIDUAL stats.

I will tell you what has happened to Bacot he has found other ways to help this team grow and win without having to get a double double every night because now he has MORE TALENTED TEAMMATES to help shoulder the load.

Last night was a prime example of what I am saying. I have been following and loving Carolina basketball for 60 plus years and I have never EVER seen so many wide open layups by Carolina guards (Davis and Cadeau) as there was last night by Bacot SEALING off defenders time and time again.

There is absolutely NO EXCUSE for a defense to allow 15 plus layup attempts to undersize guards and that is an exactly what happened all night especially in the second half. Armando sealed off all the back line defenders so his guards many times went untouched on runs to the hole.

Also with Ingram getting a ton of rebounds both offensively and defensively that has taken a lot of burden off Bacot to do all of the dirty work in the paint,

Most importantly Bacot no longer has to force shots down low because he has 7 teammates in the rotation that can all score in double digits on any given night…

So before anyone criticizes Bacot for his numbers being down understand what he understands that he has more weapons around him both offensively and defensively this season unlike last year where is was just Davis. Love and himself that every night had to over perform for the team to stay in games…

Final Rivals250 for 2024 class: https://n.rivals.com/prospect_rankings/rivals250/2024

Top 10 risers in final ranking: https://n.rivals.com/news/rivals-rankings-week-ten-biggest-risers-in-the-rivals250-17

Gorney's thoughts: https://n.rivals.com/news/tuesdays-with-gorney-final-2024-rivals250-released

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Love seeing how he’s doing so many little things to play winning basketball. Setting screens, blocking shots and playing very good individual and team D.

Last year if he wasn’t getting shots I think that impacted his play negatively. This year he’s doing what he need to do each game. Energy has been great!

I took Wake and Over,
Thought it was going to be a high scoring night,
Figured Wake would give as good as they got,
And then the second half - defensive smothering coupled with a scoring blitz occurred.
Wow, just wow.

CAROLINA 85, WAKE FOREST 64
JANUARY 22, 2024
ROY WILLIAMS COURT AT THE DEAN E. SMITH CENTER
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.
UNC Scoring Leader: RJ Davis career-high 36
UNC Rebound Leader: Harrison Ingram 14
UNC Assist Leader: Elliot Cadeau 3
Team Records: UNC 16-3, 8-0 ACC; Wake Forest, 13-6, 5-3 ACC

• Carolina won its ninth straight game, longest win streak since winning 11 in a row (last six in 2016-17 and first five in 2017-18).
• Carolina is 9-0 at home this season and 8-0 in the ACC for the first time since 2015-16.
• It was Carolina’s seventh straight ACC win by double digits, most since winning 10 straight ACC games by 10 or more points in 1992-93.
• Carolina has won nine straight games in the same season by 10 or more points for the first time since 2008-09, when it did so in the first 13 games.
• Carolina has held its last nine opponents to 70 points or fewer. It is the first time Carolina has held nine consecutive opponents to 70 points or fewer since doing so in 10 consecutive games in the 2006-07 season.

• Carolina limited Wake Forest to 26.7% shooting in the second half, which is the sixth time this season Carolina has held an opponent below 30% shooting in a half. The Tar Heels are 5-0 (both halves at NC State) when holding opponents below 30% shooting in at least one half.
• Wake Forest shot 35.6% from the floor, including 26.7% in the second half. The Tar Heels have held the opponents under 40% in 23 of 38 halves and 10 of 19 games (UNC is 9-1 when the opponents shoot under 40% in a game).
• Carolina trailed at halftime for the sixth time this season and first time since Kentucky on December 16. The Tar Heels are 3-3 when trailing at halftime this season.
• Carolina has outrebounded eight straight opponents and is plus 113 on the boards in those eight games.
• Carolina scored 15 fastbreak points and held the Deacons to one. The opponents have scored one fastbreak point in the last three games (0 by Louisville and Boston College).

• RJ Davis scored a career-high 36 points, the most by a Tar Heel since Brice Johnson had 39 at Florida State on 1/4/2016.
• Davis’ 36 points are the third-most ever by a Tar Heel against Wake Forest. Bobby Lewis scored 37 on 2/3/1966 and Charlie Scott scored 43 on 1/17/1970.
• Davis scored 23 points in the second half. Last year, he scored 22 of his season-high 27 points in the second half in the home win against Wake Forest.
• The 36 points are the most by an ACC player since Miami’s Isaiah Wong scored 26 vs. Cornell on 12/7/2022. They are the most in an ACC game since Syracuse’s Cole Swider had 36 in the Smith Center vs. UNC on 2/28/2022.
• Davis scored the most points by a Tar Heel in the Smith Center since Tyler Hansbrough scored 39 against Clemson on 2/10/2008.

• Davis is the first Tar Heel to score 30 or more points and have zero turnovers since Justin Jackson against Kentucky on 12/17/2016 (34 and 0).
• Davis is the first Tar Heel to have at least three career 30-point games since Luke Maye had five and Coby White had three at the conclusion of the 2018-19 season.
• Davis is the first Tar Heel with multiple 30-point games in a season since Garrison Brooks had two in 2019-20.
• Davis is the first Tar Heel to score 30 or more points in the Smith Center since Brooks scored 30 against NC State on 2/25/2020.

• Davis made a career-high 14 field goals, the most by a Tar Heel since Luke Maye made 15 at NC State on 2/10/18.
• Davis hit four three pointers, marking 16 consecutive games with multiple three pointers, setting the program record for most consecutive games with two or more three pointers. Justin Jackson held the record at 15 straight games in 2016-17 .
• Davis led Carolina in scoring for the 15th time this season and 34th time in his career. The Tar Heels are 12-3 this season and 23-11 overall when Davis leads UNC in scoring.
• It was Davis’ 100th career start as a Tar Heel.

• Harrison Ingram grabbed 14 rebounds, the fifth time in the last seven games he had 10 or more rebounds and the seventh time this season he had 10 or more. Carolina is 7-0 when Ingram has 10 or more rebounds.
• Ingram has 79 rebounds in the last seven games.
• Elliot Cadeau made a season-high seven field goals and scored 14 points, his ACC season high. It was the fourth game this season he scored in double figures.
• Armando Bacot played in his 151st career game, tying Nate Britt and Isaiah Hicks for the third-most career games in UNC history. Deon Thompson is second with 152 games and Leaky Black is first with 155.

Carolina-Wake Forest
• Carolina is 165-69 against Wake Forest, which equals the most wins by UNC against an opponent (also vs. NC State).
• The Tar Heels are 81-18 in Chapel Hill, including 26-5 in the Smith Center.
• Carolina has won the last nine games in Chapel Hill from 2011-2024.

Next Game: Saturday, January 27 at Florida State (2 p.m., ESPN)