UNC Basketball: Keys for Tar Heels against Boston College on the road

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - FEBRUARY 23: The North Carolina Tar Heels bench reacts after a three-point basket against the Florida State Seminoles during the first half of their game at the Dean Smith Center on February 23, 2019 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /

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CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA – FEBRUARY 11: Sterling Manley #21 of the North Carolina Tar Heels reacts during the second half of a game against the Virginia Cavaliers at the Dean Smith Center on February 11, 2019 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Virginia won 69-61. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /

2. Give (some) playing time to Sterling Manley

Despite pregame comments and reports suggesting that sophomore center Sterling Manley was expected to miss his 17th consecutive game due to left knee soreness on Saturday, the 6-foot-11 big wound up seeing his first hardwood minutes since Dec. 29 against Davidson.

Yes, “minutes” is somewhat misleading, as the official boxscore gives him a measly “1” under the minutes column, but nonetheless, a single minute played should still be seen as a big step forward in the reserve’s recovery. It’s good to see Manley take the floor again, no matter how sparingly, especially before UNC is thrust into the throngs of tournament play.

Without Manley, UNC is left with a hodgepodge 6-foot-9-and-under forwards — Luke Maye (6-foot-8), Garrison Brooks (6-foot-9) and Nassir Little (6-foot-6) — to patrol the paint on a regular basis, which is fine for the regular season but isn’t ideal for a team hoping to make a long run through March and April. A small rotation isn’t ideal no matter how you slice it, and although UNC hasn’t been bitten by front-court foul trouble or additional injuries yet, inserting Manley back into the rotation should prove fruitful to their future endeavors. With both the ACC and NCAA tournaments on the horizon, Roy Williams and co. must start planning for an extended run, one that requires as many healthy — and playable — bodies as possible.

Tuesday’s matchup with Boston College presents the Heels with one last chance to ease Manley back into the rotation before the schedule gets daunting — as in, before UNC has to play Duke on Saturday, and before tournament season begins. Although this key is more so included for its future impacts, it’s still pertinent to this game. The Eagles are one of the nation’s poorer rebounding squads, allowing opponents to gain offensive rebounds on 30.1 percent of their possessions (258th in the nation, per KenPom).

Adding a now-useful Manley back to an already-dominant rebounding squad should go a long way in this ACC matchup, making it even harder for the Eagles to get things going on both ends of the floor. For both now and the future, giving Manley some playing time — even 5-10 minutes should suffice — is ideal.

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