UNC Basketball: Tar Heels get back to winning ways with NC State victory

While UNC Basketball has struggled with injuries and offense this year, they managed to get some gritty performances to beat a familiar foe in the NC State Wolfpack.

Coming off the worst losing streak they have ever had in the ACC, UNC Basketball got exactly what they needed:  a victory over the bottom-dwelling Hurricanes in their largest offensive explosion of the season and a match up with the Wolfpack, who they have beaten 30 of the previous 34 times they faced.

Make it 31 out of 35 and seven straight road wins in Raleigh since 2013.  UNC got double-doubles from their two starting big men, including a huge 25-pt, 11-reb, 3-ast, performance from Garrison Brooks who has continued his stellar run of play over the last seven games.  They also got 11-11-3 from star freshman Armando Bacot who has had an up and down season but followed up his strong performance against Miami with another solid outing.

Brandon Robinson, who has been the only perimeter threat at times with injuries to Cole Anthony and Anthony Harris, took a few trips back and forth to the locker room but managed to chip in 11 points and 6 rebounds while Leaky Black added 11 points and seven rebounds of his own.  More importantly, he had only two turnovers after being thrust into point guard position the last few games due to the previously mentioned injuries.

NC State was in this game and looking to take advantage of the down season for the Heels.  This has been a year of exacting some revenge on North Carolina and State was primed for a rare win.  Both teams traded buckets in the first half before UNC pulled ahead by four at the break.  The Wolfpack kept it close but a five minute stretch without a field goal that was finally broken with 1:34 left on the clock sealed their fate as they fell behind and couldn’t get buckets to catch back up.

Some untimely misses from the free throw line towards the end of the game didn’t help either as the second game in a row from CJ Bryce without any points, he averages 13.9 on the season, negated double-digit games from the other four starters.  NC State was led by the 18 points and eight rebounds of DJ Funderburk but was outscored by twelve points from the free throw line and outrebounded by eight.

Ultimately, State had no answer for the inside play of the Heels and UNC was committed to exploiting their advantage with Brooks and Bacot going to the line 16 times.  North Carolina also played some impressive defense holding the Wolfpack to 42% shooting overall and only 20% from three with four makes.

The commitment to defense, running clock and feeding the post may be the new recipe for success this year as the Tar Heels have struggled to find an identity after missing over sixty games from injured players.  The search for a winning formula becomes increasingly important as UNC faces a tough remaining schedule with five games against the likes of Duke (twice), FSU, Louisville and Syracuse in their remaining eleven with four of those on the road.

While Heels’ fans know help is on the way next year in the form of the third-ranked recruiting class, they would love to see a strong finish to the season.  If they can’t make the NCAA tournament, at least they can play spoiler and would love nothing more than springing an upset or two in their remaining games with Duke being a prime target.