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The North Carolina Tar Heels went to Dayton, Ohio, and took on San Diego State with an opportunity to travel to Milwaukee and face off with No. 6-seed Ole Miss in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. This game lasted approximately 10 minutes before UNC held a 20-point lead, finishing with a 95-68 win.
When everything was said and done, they finished 30-of-57 from the field and 14-for-24 from behind the arc.
Typically a team that is averaging 40% from the field and 30% from three ended with 53% from the field and 58% from three. If you can believe it, the defense might have been better than the offense.
Let's look at five quick things that were on display tonight.
The Tar Heels came out firing early and often, and it paid off. The team was shooting greater than 50% from behind the arc in the first half as it took a tight game to a 20+ point game after going on a 20-2 run in the middle of the first 20 minutes.
It wasn't just one player either, Jae'Lyn Withers had two, Drake Powell and Elliot Cadeau both had one, Ian Jackson had three, and RJ Davis went a perfect 6-for-6.
On top of shooting lights out, the combined defense of Seth Trimble, Davis, and Cadeau wouldn't let the combo of Nick Boyd and Miles Byrd get anything going. The return of Magoon Gwath proved irrelevant as well, with Withers, Ven-Allen Lubin, and Jalen Washington providing high-level interior defense.
The strong defense is what led to the high-flying offense.
Far too often this season, we have seen North Carolina taking big leads followed by allowing teams to break back down the lead and come back.
For one of the first times in a big game this season, Hubert Davis brought the team to a 20+ point lead and grew it to over 40 points in the middle of the second half. They out-rebounded SDSU by 11 rebounds and finished with just five turnovers in the final 35 minutes of the game.
For the last 48 hours, all UNC coaches, players, and fans alike have been hearing from opposing fans and national analysts that the Tar Heels don't belong.
They even called out Bubba Cunningham being on the selection committee. However, if tonight proved anything, it made believers out of non-believers, and it silenced the skeptics. North Carolina provided a clinic on toughness and the power of honing in negative noise, allowing it to provide fuel.
This team isn't particularly young, but one of the major pieces missing from last year for North Carolina was the "ACC Player of the Year" caliber play from RJ Davis. There have been glimpses of the old Davis throughout the season, but this game was a complete showing of who Davis actually is and how good he can play.
Davis finished with a game-high 26 points on 8-of-12 shooting and was a perfect 6-for-6 from behind the arc.
Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.
This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: Instant analysis on UNC basketball blowing past the Aztecs
Continue reading...
When everything was said and done, they finished 30-of-57 from the field and 14-for-24 from behind the arc.
Typically a team that is averaging 40% from the field and 30% from three ended with 53% from the field and 58% from three. If you can believe it, the defense might have been better than the offense.
Let's look at five quick things that were on display tonight.
North Carolina couldn't miss
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The Tar Heels came out firing early and often, and it paid off. The team was shooting greater than 50% from behind the arc in the first half as it took a tight game to a 20+ point game after going on a 20-2 run in the middle of the first 20 minutes.
It wasn't just one player either, Jae'Lyn Withers had two, Drake Powell and Elliot Cadeau both had one, Ian Jackson had three, and RJ Davis went a perfect 6-for-6.
The Tar Heels defense was suffocating
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On top of shooting lights out, the combined defense of Seth Trimble, Davis, and Cadeau wouldn't let the combo of Nick Boyd and Miles Byrd get anything going. The return of Magoon Gwath proved irrelevant as well, with Withers, Ven-Allen Lubin, and Jalen Washington providing high-level interior defense.
The strong defense is what led to the high-flying offense.
Hubert Davis didn't take his foot off the gas
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Far too often this season, we have seen North Carolina taking big leads followed by allowing teams to break back down the lead and come back.
For one of the first times in a big game this season, Hubert Davis brought the team to a 20+ point lead and grew it to over 40 points in the middle of the second half. They out-rebounded SDSU by 11 rebounds and finished with just five turnovers in the final 35 minutes of the game.
UNC proved the nation wrong, honed in the noise
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For the last 48 hours, all UNC coaches, players, and fans alike have been hearing from opposing fans and national analysts that the Tar Heels don't belong.
They even called out Bubba Cunningham being on the selection committee. However, if tonight proved anything, it made believers out of non-believers, and it silenced the skeptics. North Carolina provided a clinic on toughness and the power of honing in negative noise, allowing it to provide fuel.
RJ Davis look like the former ACC Player of the Year
You must be registered for see images
This team isn't particularly young, but one of the major pieces missing from last year for North Carolina was the "ACC Player of the Year" caliber play from RJ Davis. There have been glimpses of the old Davis throughout the season, but this game was a complete showing of who Davis actually is and how good he can play.
Davis finished with a game-high 26 points on 8-of-12 shooting and was a perfect 6-for-6 from behind the arc.
Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.
This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: Instant analysis on UNC basketball blowing past the Aztecs
Continue reading...
