Nobody likes a quick turnaround but both teams played on Saturday so it is anybody’s guess who will be feeling the best…

Wake in the ACC comes into the contest 5-2 and they are tied for second and they just got back one of their better players Damari Monsanto.

The Demon Deacons presently have 5 players who score in double digits and as a team they shoot 39 per cent from downtown. Hunter Sallis leads the team in scoring and he is surrounded by a bunch of shooters and bigs.

Both teams are averaging 80 points plus a contest but I do not think that this will be a shootout because these are two tough Tobacco Road teams that come in with pride and lots of talent..

I feel and think the loud home crowd will help the Tar Heels pull out a close one like 80-75…

Discussion
UNC faced another dreadful opponent in Louisville Wednesday night, and came away with a nice 16-point win.

The biggest positive about the team was the offensive play. UNC scored well with 1.06 pts/pos and good outside shooting. Most notable was the prolific number of assists; 0.66 assists per field goal made. It marks the 3rd time the team has been above 0.60, and brings the season average up to 0.50. This is a very, very positive sign for the road ahead.

What wasn't so hot was the defense, allowing 0.92 pts/poss. Louisville showed up tonight, and didn't look like a team ranked just better than #200. UNC's defense forced 17% loss of ball, which is a little above the program's 29-year average.

Louisville played well on offense. The 1/17 version of Louisville on Wednesday night would have beaten the NCSU, Syracuse, or Clemson teams that UNC faced.

UNC's defense has gotten much praise this month, but was probably more the effect of some poorly-shooting opponents. UNC wasn't any more lockdown against Louisville than it was against NCSU, Syracuse, or Clemson. Those teams were just terrible on those nights. NCSU, actually, is 5/46 (11%) from 3 on midweek nights this month. Is that because Notre Dame and Wake Forest also imposed their will on the Pack? Probably not.

This was likely a biscuit game, and with UNC scoring 1.06 pts/possession, that likelihood was extremely high. What prevented the good biscuit deal was the very slow tempo of this game. There were 157 total possessions, making it the 2nd-slowest game of the season thus far.

This was a game that UNC won in the 1st quarter. That Louisville cut the lead to 5 is probably good for getting this team's attention. Their response to it was certainly reassuring moving forward.

Okay, Chelsea, Trey, and I are on press row and Kevin is shooting.

ODDS
-9.5 UNC
Over/Under 155.5

Adjusted odds


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Wake Forest Demon Deacons​

13-5, 5-2 CONF

ESPN
1/22
7:00 PM

4

North Carolina Tar Heels​

15-3, 7-0 CONF



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...about the pirouette reverse dribble at the Point.

I mentioned earlier that I suspected it was by design (given that set plays ensue from it), and I just got confirmation on that.

It is indeed a signal to the rest of the guys to transfer from Secondary action into certain on-the-fly play calls

On Dec. 29, UNC was ranked No. 159 in the nation in rebound margin at plus-2.5. Since then, the Tar Heels have climbed all the way to No. 27 at plus-7.1.

The per-game margin in that span is plus-14.3 which would rank the Tar Heels at No. 1 in the nation.

The ladies just beat Louisville, great win for them they led almost. The whole game

...and we showed character and got past a bit of a stench (more on that below).

This had the makings of a "trap" game --- cold afternoon start on the road, opponent who plays slow bumper-pool offense, etc.. and they got some help in their approach --- so... glad we closed it out. Here's some stuff, bad and good:

- It was apparent as to their tactic of pounding on RJ and Mando, especially denying RJ's 3 looks. Cormac had ample ops to compensate for that but got off to a very cold shooting start.

- That, and other misfires (e.g., blown 2-on-1 by a bad pass from Ingram) kept us from ever getting a working lead. Well, those and calls (or lack thereof).

- We too often got caught in the up/down switch mismatches we've been avoiding recently (adjusted some in the second half), and after some early solid team D, I was really disappointed in our missed defensive rotations in the second half. Too many of their guys got to the rim on sound forces but no help arriving

- Phantom foul trouble got us using 11 guys today, and it sure is nice to have that luxury, with mostly solid contributions off the bench. Seth's floater and Withers offensive board were big in closing out the game. And good on Oko for comporting himself well in a "physical' game

- Cormac overcame a non-confident start and RJ fought thru BC;s attempted smothering, but the zebras would never let Mando get started. Good work on the boards again by Ingram, but GOT to finish thru contact!

- Moments --- Late first half, EC snaps a no-look 3/4 dime and just when they moved the camera, Cormac comes into view running a post pattern. Folks, THAT is what happens when you run the floor expecting the pass. And oh, that SlCK last-second ankle-breaker-and-oop to end the first half? THAT is case-in-point why EC needs to have the rock in those situations.

- Finally, there was pregame chatter on the interwebs concerning the surprisingly low point spread for this one. While there were some legit reasons (that I mentioned in the intro), I gotta say I didn't like the "smell" of some things I saw today --- in particular from one Jerry Heater --- and I'll leave it at that. With that said, kudos to our guys for stepping up and making enough plays to get us to a scrappy 10-pt margin.

Anyway, so... we survived a trap of our own making Weds, and a genuine road trap today. That's the mark of a championship team, after all. And make no mistake --- Monday will be an important showdown. Wake has gotten way better than they started the season, and wouldntyaknow, the guy who lit us up last season (Monsanto) is coming back for this one. Time to refocus and protect Dean's house with guns-a-blazing!...