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When it comes from an opposing coach, you know it’s the truth.
Wake Forest’s straight-shooting Steve Forbes called the Tar Heels “a great team, one of the best in the country and (R.J.) Davis is the best player in our league. They’re also an elite defensive team, we just couldn’t get by them. They’re committed to it on both ends, you can tell.”
Davis had a career-high 36 points and the two corner “threes” that ignited the Tar Heels and their home crowd. The undercard remains Carolina’s new-found love of defense. The Heels were the ninth-best defensive team in the ACC last year and started the new season about the same but, since losses to UConn and Kentucky, have been steadfast about playing suffocating D.
They have moved up to sixth and, with the No. 1 offensive team in the ACC, have been good enough to win nine straight games, all by double figures. First-place UNC (8-0) has also gone unbeaten on the road and faces trips to FSU and Georgia Tech before the first Duke game on February 3 here.
“Seth Trimble, (R.J.) Davis, (Cormac) Ryan, those guys can guard,” Forbes added. “We could not run with them, or behind them. In the second half, we missed shots and let them get out and run and get easy baskets, get confidence and the building went crazy. We didn’t get matched up one time, and Cormac Ryan went down there, with nobody guarding him and shot a three.”
It may look like Armando Bacot isn’t playing well, and he is struggling some on offense. Bu instead of going out to get the ball, he is setting high strong screens to free up shots and drives for his teammates. Davis and Elliot Cadeau don’t get to the basket all on their own. Bacot is opening up lanes for them.
Forbes admitted his team should have had an advantage by playing at home Saturday and then bussing to Chapel Hill. And after playing at Boston College and flying home late at night, the Heels did look tired in the first half. But Davis and the rest caught their second wind.
Harrison Ingram, playing inside and on the perimeter, pulled down 14 defensive rebounds to give him 79 total in the last seven games. Cadeau, who played 27 minutes at BC and 28 against Wake, looked fresher because Trimble saw 15 minutes pressuring the Deacon guards, helping hold Kevin “Boopie” Miller to 2-of-12 from the floor, 12 points under his average and just one assist.
“They’re the best team in our league,” Forbes concluded.
Featured image via Todd Melet
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We are playing as well as anyone in the country and are a true top 5 team.