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If the Virginia game was weird, this one was other-worldly.
Armando Bacot hit a single free throw to keep him from going scoreless for the first time since the second game of his freshman year in 2019. Bacot picked up two quick fouls before the first TV timeout and played a total of 21 minutes despite never being in serious foul trouble.
Leaky Black tied Deon Thompson for playing in the most UNC games ever (152), and this one may have been his best, with 18 points on 6 of 8 from the field, 3 of 4 from the arc and 3 of 4 from the foul line. And his driving, rim-rattling dunk might have saved UNC’s possible NCAA Tournament bid.
The worst 3-point shooting team in the ACC made double-digit triples as it had against Virginia, this time 10 in the first half and 4 in the second, one short of Carolina’s ACC season-high 15 against Clemson on February 11.
R.J. Davis and Caleb Love controlled the first half with 27 points and six 3-pointers between them to help build an 18-point halftime lead that was sliced to four with 2:03 left before Black’s jamburger sealed the deal.
Pete Nance played another impact game, especially with Bacot’s benching, posting a 15 and 10 double-double that helped build the big lead and protect it with 9 points in the second half. If Nance had been nursing a sore back for a month, he looks fully recovered at just the right time.
Nance, Black, Davis and Love each made three 3-pointers, a first in Tar Heel hoops history. Black was spotting up for a chance to make his fourth when someone finally came out to guard him. So he pumped-faked for takeoff.
BOOM!!!! His high-slamma-jamma bumped the lead back to six points and the Heels held on to win. By the way, the game was at Florida State against one of the worst teams in coach Leonard Hamilton’s 37-year career.
The TV talking heads said 18 pro scouts were in the building, some to see Leaky, who at this point may be the Tar Heels’ best bet to get drafted by an NBA team. His dynamic dunk wasn’t quite as important, but it reminded old-timers of Dudley Bradley’s two-handed hammer over Duke center Mike Gminski in the 1979 ACC championship game. Bradley was known as the Secretary of Defense and was the 13th pick in the first round by Indiana.
Black should now be known as “under secretary” for also holding Darin Green, FSU’s most dangerous 3-pointer shooter, to 1-for-7 from the arc and 1-for-11 from the floor. In this game, at least, your mates didn’t need Mondo.
If the Heels’ big lead caused them to peak ahead to Saturday and lose their concentration, the blinders can now come off.
Featured image via ESPN
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