Heels travel for the next 3: Pitt, Clemson, State….What would you guys like to see?

For me:

1. Blowout Pitt from the get-go…. No f-n around until the game is pretty much in hand…. Then Hubert should give extended runs to the bench.
2. The return of dominant Mando… big man needs to eat.
3. Backcourt in synch - EC and RJ have given glimpses of how well they can work together.
4. More multiple defences - loved the press and traps the other night.
5. A win at clumpson would be nice… might be difficult.
6. Stomp the wuffies of course.

3-0 isn’t too much to ask for is it?

It was originally scheduled for 1PM, but was moved to noon last month. Tickets also say it starts at 1, but it's at noon and will air on ESPN. Make sure your UNC friends know.

We have all patiently waited for a game like this where Cadeau did not commit some early silly fouls and spearheaded a Carolina offensive attack in the second half and the result was a fairly easy Tar Heel Victory…

I remember watching him last year going to the hole with different speeds while in high school scoring at will and making great passes to teammates for easy layups and dunks and I for one was waiting for him to burst out and tonight he did.

This is the first time all season he looked to score as he drove hard to the hole time after time and even if he had a least 3 shots blocked he did not stop driving. His Magic Johnson bounce pass to Bacot mid way thru the second half should be on ESPN’s top plays of the day.

If the rest of the country saw how he controlled the second half they should be worried and I mean really worried because the light bulb has come on and the fun is just ready to start…

Maybe nobody noticed his extended minutes played last night and his defense on Burns when both Washington and Bacot were on the bench in serious foul trouble in the second half but I sure did.

I can only remember Burns scoring on him once on a nice baseline shake and bake move but other than that Withers was solid and he twice got fouled rebounding off the offensive board.

I mentioned in the game thread that the possibility of him playing some center was actually that a possibility.

Nobody that I can remember this year has given him any praise for his work off the bench but you have to be totally blind not to see what he can contribute to the team when given extended minutes like he did last night.

That just goes to show you don’t have to score a bunch of points or a bushel full of rebounds to help the team. Maybe it was just one game but it may be the first of many for Withers…

to replace Saban? The idiots running UNC almost certainly would spend the entire bank to keep Mack.

I am surprised. I thought that Saban would coach 1 or maybe 2 more years. But as in everything else, Saban is MUCH better to have than Mack as 75 fast approaches.

Will Bama get Kiffin? Dabo? Sarkisian? Schumann?

Moving forward the ACC and Big 12 are done…The only way for either to make the playoffs is to run the table and go unbeaten…Look at the final rankings this past year and tell me what you see….

Because of the two missed free throws in the second half, Triangle area Chick-Fil-As are giving away free sandwiches on Thursday only.

You have to open your app, go to the Rewards tab, and claim it BEFORE MIDNIGHT (20 mins from now).

Tomorrow you’ll see it in your Rewards tab. Hit Redeem and add it to your order.

What a rocket ride up that rating on KenPom. Now our defense is rated better than our offense (#15)

CAROLINA 67, NC STATE 54
JANUARY 10, 2024
PNC ARENA
RALEIGH, N.C.

UNC Scoring Leader: RJ Davis 16
UNC Rebound Leader: Harrison Ingram career-high 19 (most ever by UNC vs. NC State)
UNC Assist Leader: Elliot Cadeau 6
Team Records: UNC 12-3, 4-0 ACC, NC State 11-4, 3-1 ACC

• Carolina is 4-0 in ACC play for the first time since 2015-16 (won its first eight ACC games that season).
• Carolina won its third straight road game holding the opponents under 60 points in all three, the first time it did that since 1998-99 (72-54 win at Florida State on 1/6/99, 59-56 win at NC State on 1/16/99 and 52-40 win at Wake Forest on 1/23/99).
• Harrison Ingram grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds, most ever by a Tar Heel against NC State (in 245 games). Armando Bacot had 18 twice and Billy Cunningham had 18 in 1965.
• Carolina held the Wolfpack to 54 points, lowest by NC State in the series since a 60-52 Tar Heel victory in Raleigh on 1/28/2001.
• NC State shot 26.9% from the floor (18 of 67), lowest by the Pack against the Tar Heels since at least 1954. The previous low in that stretch was 28.3% in the 1998 ACC Tournament quarterfinals, a 73-46 UNC victory (our records don’t include NC State’s shooting percentages for several games from 1952-54).

• It was the fourth-lowest percentage allowed by the Tar Heels in any ACC regular-season or ACC Tournament game. The only lower percentages were by Virginia Tech in 2008 (25.9%), South Carolina in 1959-60 and Duke in 1954.
• It was the lowest field goal percentage by an opponent since UNCA shot 26.5% on 11/23/2021.
• RJ Davis led UNC in scoring for the 11th time in 15 games this season and 30th time overall.
• Davis became the 29th Tar Heel to score at least 1,600 points.
• Cormac Ryan made his 100th collegiate start.

• Elliot Cadeau had 11 points and six assists. It was his third game scoring in double figures and his most assists since he had 10 against Tennessee on November 29.
• Armando Bacot was 3 for 4 from the free throw line and passed Bobby Lewis for fifth in all-time makes by a Tar Heel.
• Carolina won its third straight road game for the first time since winning five in a row late in the 2021-22 season.
• NC State shot 2 for 21 from three for 9.5%. In the previous game Clemson shot 5.6% from three (1 for 18). It’s the first time consecutive opponents made less than 10% from three since Rutgers (7.1%) and Saint Louis (9.1%) in the 2006-07 season.
• It was Carolina’s fifth quad 1 win of the season. Entering tonight’s action only Purdue and Arizona had at least five Q1 wins.
• Carolina has scored 70 (at Pittsburgh), 65 (at Clemson) and 67 (at NC State) in its last three wins. It is the first time since 2002-03 the Tar Heel scored 70 or fewer points in three consecutive wins. (68-66 win vs. Clemson, 68-65 win vs. UConn and after a five-game losing streak a 61-60 win over Florida State. All three of the wins in 2003 were in Chapel Hill).

Carolina-NC State
• Carolina is 165-80 all-time against NC State, including 69-48 on the road (19-6 in PNC Arena).
• Including four NCAA Tournament games, UNC is 23-6 in PNC Arena.
• The Tar Heels have won 37 of the last 43 games in the series.

Next Game: Saturday, January 13, vs. Syracuse in Chapel Hill, Noon, ESPN

I cannot put a finger on it but something has changed in Armando’s game this last two games and I for one like it a lot. Against both Pittsburgh and Clemson who like to play physical and take no prisoners Bacot never once retreated and treating body blows with body blows of his own.

Armando to me played like he had a chip on his shoulder and he was not going to be denied getting his shot off deep in the blocks, cleaning up the boards, keeping his opponents from doing serious damage against his team and even getting some assists.

My guess would be that Bacot now knows that this is his last rodeo in Carolina Blue and he wants all of those couch coaches who could not hold his jock and continue to say he is soft to enjoy eating a monster bowl of crow…

Wednesday he will get DJ Burns who is tremendous down low and has a mid range game and is big enough to battle Bacot straight up so we will how he handles that battle and more importantly lead by example..