robert willett
RALEIGH
It was a tough basketball game. At times, it was a brutally physical game. Every pass seemed challenging, every basket was hard-earned.
It was NC State and North Carolina, and the No. 7 Tar Heels proved to be the better team Wednesday night, taking a 67-54 victory in the second half at PNC Arena.
Both teams were 3–0 in the ACC. Both wanted to end the night in first place and leave their rivals behind.
Had the Wolfpack (11-4 overall) shot the ball better and not forced as many shots, it could have been a tighter game. But it missed 18 of its 20 3-pointers and shot 27.3% from the field in the game, which was said to be the lowest by the pack against UNC in at least 70 years.
UNC coach Hubert Davis said, “I don’t know if it was a ‘symbolic win’ but it was another great collective effort from our players.” “I told them after the game they were playing not great defense, but elite defense.”
DJ Horn, the Pack’s leading scorer this year, had a sad night. He didn’t get much to do, finishing with six points on 2-of-16 shooting and going 0-3 from 3.
Casey Morsell had 12 points – scoring her 1,000th career point – and DJ Burns had 11 for the Pack, which plays at Louisville on Saturday. But Morsell missed all five of his 3s and Burns had four points in the second half.
“We were affected on the defensive end tonight when our shots didn’t go in,” NCSU coach Kevin Keates said.
The Tar Heels (12-3) did everything they needed to do to win. Ranked in the top 20 nationally in both offensive and defensive efficiency, UNC got 16 points from RJ Davis, and kept the Pack from getting any sustained offensive bounces or easy baskets in transition – UNC had 8 points in the state. Had 18 fast-break points against.
The Heels’ Harrison Ingram, a transfer from Stanford, used his quickness around the basket to grab 19 rebounds as UNC closed with a 49-42 rebounding edge. It was the most rebounds by a Carolina player in the long history of the series.
The Heels led 30–28 at halftime as the Pack used different players on Davis, the ACC’s leading scorer, and limited him to five points, while Armando Bacot was limited to 10 minutes after picking up a technical.
UNC led 48–46 in the second half and then went on a 19–4 run, causing some Pack fans to leave early.
“In the second half we played aggressively at our pace,” Hubert Davis said. “In the first half, they carried us. “In the second half I felt like we were playing at our pace.”
Three takeaways from the game:
a tough, tough game
One thing’s for sure: The last time the Pack and the Heels faced off at 3-0 in the ACC, nearly 50 years ago, it wasn’t as physical a game. not even close.
This was not a game of tricks. It was a game of bodies hitting bodies and elbows finding flesh.
UNC’s Bacot received a technical foul in the first half after hitting Ben Middlebrooks with a forearm, sending Middlebrooks crashing to the court. Kicker: Both players were well behind in the game as the Heels appeared to be running in transition.
It was also Bacot’s second personal foul, ejecting him from the opening half, limiting him to 10 minutes in the half. And when he came to the bench his coach alerted him because Hubert Davis was hot.
Referees Roger Ayers, Pat Driscoll and John Gaffney had their work cut out for them on this night as it was already clear that neither team would shy away from contact and test the whistle.
Bacot and Pax Burns waged internal wars several times. Burns would try to pass the ball back and Bacot would use both hands to attack his back. Burns landed some shots and Bacot dodged a few strikes from behind.
UNC had just two free throws in the opening half while State had 15. The Pack took many of those free throws as players looked to go one-on-one and drive to the basket. Some fouls were called and some drives resulted in turnovers.
cool under pressure
The Tar Heels played a balanced game, which was in part a result of playing at Clemson last weekend.
That was a big game for the Tigers. That was also a physical fight. The home crowd was getting upset.
The Heels won by 10. In the earlier game, the Heels won by 13 in Pittsburgh. Going on the road in the ACC can be challenging, but UNC’s trips to Clemson and Pitt prepared them for Wednesday and a strong crowd at PNC Arena, where the Pack is 8-0 this season.
Hubert Davis said, “Our people have gained strength from living in those conditions.” “I believe the early season experience has given us the confidence to step into this type of environment and be able to perform on both ends.”
For the pack, it’s hard to see (again)
The Pack’s Horn said he probably watched the replay of last year’s game at PNC Arena — a 77-69 Pack win — about 10 times to get a feel for what the atmosphere might be like on Wednesday.
Horn and Pack would not like to see it rerun. Too many bad shots. Lots of unsuccessful plays.
The effort was there. The fight was there. But there was no efficiency.
The Heels won many of the 50/50 balls that the coach emphasizes. He hit the offensive boards. He hit a lot of shots.
Freshman guard Elliot Cadeau will go out on drives to the basket or find the open man. Ingram was on all boards. Seth Trimble gave UNC some solid minutes. Bacot took the lead in the second half, his dunk with six minutes remaining gave UNC a 61–48 lead.
“I think the biggest thing about their team and what makes them different is what roles their players are actually playing,” Keatts said. “You look at Ingram, he had great numbers. He made winning plays.
“I think the parts around Armando and RJ (Davis) are really good. They’re big, they’re strong and they know how to play. And when they needed to, they made shots on time.”
The Pack tried to match the game for the Heels but couldn’t, not in the second half. It often happened that Horn missed a 3 or Burns was trying to show power inside or Taylor was trying to make something happen but came up empty.
This story was originally published January 10, 2024, 10:23 pm.
