UNC Basketball: 3 takeaways from shootout victory over Tennessee Vols

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - NOVEMBER 29: Harrison Ingram #55 and Elliot Cadeau #2 of the North Carolina Tar Heels react during the first half against the Tennessee Volunteers at the Dean E. Smith Center on November 29, 2023 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /

3 of 4

Harrison Ingram #55 of the North Carolina Tar Heels (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /

2) The transfer portal has done wonders for Carolina

We wrote yesterday about how the winner of the transfer battle would likely win the game. Though it wouldn’t be fair to say Carolina won that battle, thanks to the superhuman efforts of Dalton Knecht, the Heels were somehow able to keep it close thanks to the combined excellence of Harrison Ingram and Cormac Ryan.

We first need to give Knecht his laurels. The former Northern Colorado Bear must have felt at home at another UNC, as he matched the record for points by a visiting player at the Dean Dome with 37, and he would have broken it had he not badly sprained his ankle with a few minutes to go. With all due respect to Armando Bacot, to whom ESPN awarded its Player of the Game award, whoever made the decision not to bestow it upon Knecht in defeat should be first on the chopping block the next time the Worldwide Leader makes budget cuts.

Knecht played like an unholy chimera of Tayshaun Prince and Jimmy Chitwood all night, displaying shooting range, a soft finishing touch with both hands, and the length to finish in the paint over anyone Carolina threw at him. UNC fans were having PTSD flashbacks to Randolph Childress, Harold Arceneaux, and Malik Monk, but fortunately for them, Knecht’s otherworldly game still wasn’t enough to overcome the well-oiled Carolina offensive machine.

Back to Ingram and Ryan. Ingram scored 20 points while again flaunting his improved stroke from the perimeter, and he matched RJ Davis for the team lead in minutes played with 38. He’s every bit as important to this team as the incumbent Davis and Bacot, and though he failed to record an assist for the first time this season, his post-up game still bent the opposing defense in a way that Carolina just wasn’t capable of last season.

Ryan surprised everyone when he was declared active for the game after suffering a nasty-looking ankle injury at the end of the Arkansas game on Friday, but not only was he active, he was vital to the Carolina blitzkrieg, scoring 15 points while going perfect from the line.

Hubert Davis has an arsenal of players that are better suited to his needs this year, and Ingram and Ryan, with their ability to shoot and D up, are clearly already two of his favorite weapons.

Home/North Carolina Tar Heels