1. Carolina took care of business with a 92-73 home win over Miami.
2. The Tar Heels controlled virtually every statistical category. They shot nearly 60 percent from the field, hit 55.6 percent of their three-point attempts, had a solid rebounding edge, controlled points in the paint…it was what you expected them to do and what they needed to do against a team like Miami. Carolina now has the team’s first five-game winning streak of the season and the longest since the Tar Heels won eight in a row from February 17-March 15 last season.
3. We haven’t seen that type of explosion very often, but a heated Hubert Davis used his first half timeout to express frustration with Carolina’s defensive effort. At that juncture, the Hurricanes trailed just 31-27 with 7:15 remaining in the period. Over the rest of the half, the Canes shot 2-11 from the field with a pair of turnovers as the Tar Heels upped their defensive intensity significantly.
4. Ven-Allen Lubin continues to be extremely efficient. Lubin made nine of his ten shots and finished with a season-high 19 points.
5. RJ Davis has now played in 168 career games for the Tar Heels. His next outing will tie the ACC record of 169, set by Armando Bacot last year. Davis had 13 points and four assists. Elliot Cadeau and Davis combined for eight assists–solid point guard play.
6. Remember when this team was having trouble scoring? The Heels now have 80+ points against five straight ACC opponents for the first time since February of 2018. The Heels are averaging 90.8 points over those five games.
7. The contributions of Jae’Lyn Withers in the scoring column have been obvious. What’s been equally as welcome is his higher effort level. With 90 seconds left in the first half, Withers chased down a loose defensive rebound near midcourt and took it the rest of the way. He missed the shot on the other end, but Cade Tyson’s hustle created an offensive rebound and free throw opportunities. That’s a play Withers wouldn’t have made a month ago. He also had a very heady second half play when he passed up an open three-pointer to feed Lubin for an even easier basket. Withers had some quality insight on his recent play in yesterday’s Carolina Insider podcast. Withers posted his third double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds, crossing the double-double threshold in style with a follow dunk with six minutes to play. It’s the first time he has scored in double figures three straight games in his UNC career.
8. Withers was part of a rebounding effort that outboarded the Canes 38-26. Carolina is now +59 on the glass in the last four games.
9. Drake Powell remains quietly effective. The freshman had 16 points and six rebounds and was +22. He’d come into the game a team-high +56 over the last four games.
10. You have to give credit where credit is due: fun game from official Roger Ayers. In the first half, he made a young Carolina fan’s game by throwing the game ball to a fan in the fourth row and letting her hold it. Then, when the officiating crew reviewed a second half foul, he used the in-house Smith Center microphone to announce, “Upon review, we got one right.” Ayers is consistently one of the league’s best, both on and off the court.
11. ESPN College Gameday announced today that they will be in Chapel Hill next Saturday for the home game against Duke. If the Tar Heels take care of business in Blacksburg on Tuesday, that will be a big one for the Heels.
12. The beauty of the noon game is that now the Tar Heels can sit back and watch the rest of the league beat up on each other. The Tar Heels are still in play for a variety of ACC Tournament seeds, with the most likely scenarios falling between number four and six. The real key for Carolina even more than seeding, of course, is which opponent they might match up with in Charlotte. The Heels need opportunities against quality opponents–and then need to take advantage of those opportunities.
13. A long-awaited return for the Blues Brothers on Saturday afternoon. They used to be a staple of Tar Heel home games; after a long hiatus, they returned–and completed the act-concluding dunk!–at the under-4:00 timeout of the first half.
