The sprained ankle that kept point guard Joel Berry out of UNC’s 83-74 victory over the Davidson Wildcats at the Smith Center on Wednesday meant plenty of eyes were focused on the Tar Heel backcourt.

Nate Britt and freshman Seventh Woods struggled to fill Berry’s shoes, however, leaving unlikely hero Luke Maye and forward Justin Jackson to do most of the heavy lifting.

Jackson carried the team down the stretch with his superb shooting from deep, as he finished with 27 points and a career-high seven three-pointers. His shots consistently bailed out a Tar Heel team that looked completely out of sync offensively without Berry guiding the ship.

After Davidson jumped out to a 10-3 lead at the first media timeout, head coach Roy Williams decided to take a leap of faith.

Justin Jackson nailed a career-high seven three-pointers on his way to 27 points against Davidson. (Todd Melet)

Justin Jackson nailed a career-high seven three-pointers on his way to 27 points against Davidson. (Todd Melet)

He inserted the sophomore, Maye, alongside little-used senior guard Stilman White and the team’s three major freshman contributors.

Ignited by eight of Maye’s 10 points in the game, the freshly re-energized Tar Heels took off on a 10-0 run that gave them a lead they would never relinquish—despite coming close on a few occasions.

“Kennedy [Meeks] and Isaiah [Hicks] did absolutely nothing,” Williams said of his starting big man tandem. “Kenny Williams fouled a guy 85 feet from the basket and Nate [Britt] threw it away. So I had to get somebody in there.

“Justin and those five subs kept us in the game early.”

Nate Britt got the start in Berry’s point guard spot, but finished with just two points on 0-for-8 shooting while turning the ball over three times. Freshman Seventh Woods also struggled in his limited playing time, making a careless turnover when he tried to split two defenders off the dribble.

This caused Williams to leave White out there for 15 turnover-free minutes—by far the most playing time the walk-on has seen this season.

The guards weren’t the only ones having problems taking care of the ball, however.

Jackson and fellow forward Kennedy Meeks each had three turnovers as they ran into trouble passing out of Davidson’s double teams.

It was just a sloppy night in every way for the Tar Heels, who looked every bit like a team ready for a holiday break.

“I’ve given them some time off and made practices shorter so we could get a lot of studying done and some work done for exams,” a visibly frustrated Williams told reporters. “That’s no excuse, because now we’re gonna get all A’s.

“We certainly didn’t do much preparation for the game, so I’m excited about what our grade point average is gonna be.”

Besides Jackson and Maye, Isaiah Hicks—with 13—was the only other Tar Heel to score in double figures. Old issues came back to haunt the senior, though, as he accomplished the feat in just 17 minutes thanks to foul trouble that kept him glued to the bench early on.

He and Meeks did grab some clutch rebounds in the final minutes as Davidson cut the UNC lead to just five points, but it was Jackson that the Tar Heels went to whenever they needed a bucket.

Head coach Roy Williams received 15 solid minutes from walk-on guard Stilman White, much to the surprise of the UNC faithful. (Todd Melet)

Head coach Roy Williams received 15 solid minutes from walk-on guard Stilman White, much to the surprise of the UNC faithful. (Todd Melet)

The junior’s shooting stroke looked as pure as it ever has–giving fans hope that at least one player would be up to the challenge of replacing Berry’s production.

“For me, coming into the game I knew that I would have to step up even more because he was out,” Jackson said. “That’s a big chunk of our offense, defense, everything.

“But I feel like some guys just didn’t come out to play,” he continued. “I made my mistakes for sure, but some guys just kind of came out, lollygagged and went through the motions.”

Davidson kept the game close thanks to the efforts of its star tandem of guard Jack Gibbs and forward Peyton Aldridge. Already the highest-scoring duo in America, Gibbs poured in a clean 30 points against UNC while Aldridge added 22 despite being limited to just six minutes in the first half due to foul trouble.

The Wildcats also held the Tar Heels to just 38 percent shooting.

Maye’s first-half energy boost and Jackson’s lights-out performance ultimately provided the only difference in what was otherwise a lackluster outing for UNC.

“It’s been a lot of fun watching this basketball team at certain times this year,” Williams said. “It was not fun tonight. It was as frustrating as I can ever remember to be honest with you.

“But,” he continued, with a long pause in between. “We won.”

Up Next:

UNC will complete its three-game homestand with a game against Tennessee at the Smith Center this Sunday at 5 p.m.

Game Notes:

  • Jackson’s seven three-pointers are the most by a Tar Heel since Marcus Paige made seven in an overtime win at NC State on Feb. 26, 2014.
  • Stilman White scored a career-high six points. He finished 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.
  • The 38.7 percent shooting mark was UNC’s worst of the season.
  • UNC’s 10 three-pointers as a team were also a season-high.

 

FULL BOX SCORE