East Carolina, literally and figuratively, is not in the Tar Heels’ league.
The closest it came was by joining the AAC, not the ACC, and sometimes that was confusing. Thankfully the American Athletic has been shortened to the American Conference.
The Pirates walked the plank of UNC’s most performative victory that gave the joyful crowd a prelude to Christmas with the 99-51 win. The only shortfall was not scoring 100 points at home that comes with Bojangles biscuits. That, and the Crumbl Cookies promotion, kept the fans extra engaged.
As expected, the campus collision was not close, but it came with so many homecourt moments from Luka Bogavac scoring the first four points to break his slight slump and finish with 15, one of four starters in double figures.
The game ended with the first basket of the season by reserve Elijah Davis, son of the coach who was so proud he said, “I’ll remember that for the rest of my life.” Yet there was so much more to cherish as the Tar Heels ended their non-conference schedule and went home for Xmas before returning to begin their 18-game ACC slate.
Overall, it was Carolina’s best performance of the season, albeit against an outclassed opponent. The biggest (and tallest) factors were Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar, the Tar Heel twin towers having another double-double duet of 37 points and 22 rebounds.
For highlights, Wilson had 6 offensive rebounds of his total 12, plus 3 steals, 4 blocks and what seemed like 5 dunks. He is UNC’s first freshman to score 20 points in five straight games, tying the famous almost 50 years ago Phil Ford, who grinned from the home baseline.
Veesaar is having such a debut that he is remindful of Brady Manek with still another year to play, draining 4 of his 5 three-point attempts. Carolina shot 48 percent from the arc, 54 percent overall.
The Tar Heels are 12-1, their best start since the 2009 national championship season. And beginning ACC play next Tuesday at home against 7-6 Florida State, they will be favored to win their first six games before going to Virginia on January 24. None of those six foes – FSU, SMU, Wake Forest, Stanford, Cal and Notre Dame are currently ranked.
If the Heels win all six, their 18-1 start would match the 2008 season, the first of back-to-back Roy Williams Final Four teams and Dean Smith teams of 1995, 1987 and 1969. Only bettered by Smith’s 1984 and 1968 teams and, of course, Frank McGuire’s 32-0 undefeated 1957 national champions.
Despite doing better in the recent SEC challenge (7-9 compared to 2-14 last year), the ACC is still rated fourth best conference in D-1 basketball, with February foes Duke and Louisville and after this week Virginia ranked in the top 25 with UNC. In this week’s polls, the Big Ten has eight teams, the SEC has six, and the Big 12 five.
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.
