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Carolina has Duke’s attention and, hopefully, the NCAA committee’s.
It would be a shame if the Tar Heels’ six-game run isn’t enough to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament. They can settle that argument by upsetting top-ranked Duke Saturday in the regular season finale and R.J. Davis’ last home game of a sensational career.
Giving the Blue Devils a much closer game than the blowout loss on February 1 could help, but it would not guarantee anything. In beating six straight ACC teams with losing records (total to date 34-77), UNC is in contention for the remaining double bye in the ACC tournament next week, but various tiebreakers will likely determine that No. 4 seed.
In fact, the Tar Heels might need to win two or three games before facing Duke again in Charlotte. At least one of those might be against a Quad 1 opponent to notch only their second such victory this season. So it’s complicated.
As clear as the Carolina blue sky, UNC is playing with urgency – the best basketball of the uneven season with Hubert Davis finally settling on a starting lineup, ever-changing for the first 25 games when the record was a disqualifying 7-6 in the ACC and 14-11 overall. That was an NIT resume.
Building confidence through this softer back end of the schedule, the Tar Heels are shooting the ball, rebounding, passing and playing defense much better than they had been. After trailing Virginia Tech 23-21 late in the first half, they exploded in a game that proved to be a stat stuffer against the 13-17 Hokies playing without their leading scorer and rebounder.
The Heels did not have six players in double figures for the third straight game, only five this time. But they got hot to end the first half on a 15-1 run and were blistering in the second half, finishing with a season-high 15 three-pointers and shooting 59 percent overall.
And most beneficial of all, they looked like they were having fun that was absent for much of the season. The nine-men rotation seems to know their roles better and, among the little things that Davis often talks about, are making the easier pass that usually ends up with a teammate getting a better look in rhythm than racing the shot clock that has been the bane of Carolina basketball intermittently through Hubert’s four years as head coach.
“I think we noticed and now recognize the name on the front of our jersey is who we’re playing for and why we’re playing,” said Seth Trimble, who had another terrific game with 17 points off the bench. “We all chose to come together and now we’re applying what we talk about off the court onto the court and really just being a unit, a bunch of brothers having the most fun that we can have.”
And, drum roll, here comes The Brotherhood from Durham.
Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications
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.
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