Art Chansky’s Sports Notebook is presented by The Casual Pint. YOUR place for delicious pub food paired with local beer. Choose among 35 rotating taps and 200+ beers in the cooler.
It’s too early in the season to have a game as big as Alabama.
The Tar Heels and Crimson Tide met in the Sweet Sixteen of the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Going into this year’s ACC-SEC Challenge, the ACC is the underdog in 13 of the 16 games.
Carolina is all over the rankings – from 16 in the latest CBS Sports poll to 20 in the ESPN and AP rankings to 26 in the D1Ticker poll, which includes a lot more data that a 4-3 record would not impress.
Alabama, 6-2 on the season, is No. 12, 10 and 13 in those same polls, and it should be a hell of a game Wednesday night at 7:15 in the Smith Center on the ESPN mothership. The Heels remember having a lead in the regional semifinals in Los Angeles before giving up a late run to the Tide and ending a great season with the 89-87 loss.
Both teams are hurting coming into this rematch, figuratively and literally.
UNC lost its last two games in the Maui Invitational following the close defeat at top-ranked Kansas the week before. Bama is bummed out with a controversial defeat at the Las Vegas holiday tournament after losing starting guard Latrell Whitesell to a serious foot injury against Oregon and then the championship game to the Ducks on what appeared to be a bad goal-tending call on a block by Jarin Stevenson, the Pittsboro big who reclassified and went to Tuscaloosa for various reasons that we can all offer a guess. The Tide has also lost to Purdue.
The most anxious Tar Heel may be R.J. Davis, who has started like he ended last season by missing all nine of his 3-point shots against Alabama. R.J. had a 30-point game in the win over Dayton in the Maui opener but is still shooting under 30 percent from the arc. He wants to get back in the groove, obviously.
And the Tar Heels need him to shoot better and Elliot Cadeau to make better decisions with his floor game that looks a bit like Caleb Love when the shot clock is winding down. Cadeau still leads the team in assists (41) and steals (13) but also has a team-high 19 turnovers. Seth Trimble has been lights out this season, which forced Hubert Davis to start him in a three-guard lineup. No. 7 is shooting 51 percent overall, 52 percent from outside and 83 percent from the foul line. The 6-3 junior also has 6 blocks and 10 steals.
Coach Davis said after the overtime loss to Michigan State in Maui that he will look at tweaking and pivoting some things, which might mean a lineup change to get more productivity from the front court of Jalen Washington and Jae’Lyn Withers, who are already losing minutes to talented freshmen scoring wings Ian Jackson and Drake Powell, who are part of Carolina’s four-guard lineup that could be too small to roll the taller Tide.
Featured image via Todd Melet
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
Comments on Chapelboro are moderated according to our Community Guidelines