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Carolina is back in the national conversation with a new tag.
Jay Bilas summed up the Tar Heels’ 25-point blowout of Florida State on yet another ESPN broadcast. “They are an elite program with a blue-collar mentality,” said Bilas, the face and voice of college basketball.
With R.J. Davis’ 42 points against Miami, the ACC-clinching win at Duke and Thursday’s dismantling of the long and athletic Seminoles – all on the ESPN networks – UNC hoops is back in the eras of Dean and Ol’ Roy.
They have that “we’re Carolina confidence” and are playing at a physical level that matches the toughest teams of those two Hall of Famers.
Despite FSU’s impressive win over Virginia Tech on Wednesday, the Noles were denied all aspects of their game late in the first half by a 12-0 UNC run for a 16-point deficit at the break.
Bilas said the Heels “came out looking to take a swing at somebody, and FSU is on the canvas. They are not playing good defense, but great defense.”
All of Hubert Davis’ players were engaged as nine contributed, especially on the glass where the Heels just missed a school record with a rebounding advantage of 48-22. The Noles had 8 at the half and didn’t get to double figures until three minutes into the second half of a game that featured more than 70 missed shots.
Elliot Cadeau had 8 spectacular points with 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and a block. He also had the unofficial stat for floor burns from going after loose balls that tore his white tights and drew blood.
“I’ve never played on a team like this,” said the uber-active Cadeau. “Everyone knows his role, and we really want to win this tournament.”
All the Tar Heels played so hard, so smart, so fast and so together – from Bacot rolling to the rim, to Cadeau on the floor and in the lane, to Ingram doing it all, to Ryan staying hot, to R.J. un-guardable, to Trimble playing both ends, to Washington’s important time on the court, to Withers’ stats per minute, to Wojcik always hustling.
Bilas concluded the broadcast by calling the Seminoles “shell-shocked.”
And one advantage of being the first seed is the Tar Heels had about 29 hours to rest and get ready for the first semi-final Friday night against punk-like Pitt that played its own brand of defense in surviving Wake Forest.
The Panthers will test Carolina’s manhood far more than the subdued Seminoles. The Tar Heels played at Pitt in January and won; if they advance to the championship game Saturday night, they could face Virginia, which they also beat in Charlottesville in their only meeting so far this season.
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.
I don’t know why I even bother to read the other Tar Heel sports pundits. Nothing really matters about the analysis of the Tar Heels until Chansky chants. Can you please work in another analogy to Sisyphus?
He was a devious tyrant who killed visitors to show off his power.
All this time, I thought he was a reference to one of my English teachers at UNC (Sissy Puss)