It was an all-time “Good Vibes” day inside the Dean Smith Center Saturday afternoon. In a game where the UNC men’s basketball program honored former head coach Roy Williams, celebrated the 1982 national championship team and hosted Michael Jordan, the current squad showcased the energy, effort and toughness Hubert Davis has searched for this season.
UNC demoralized the visiting NC State Wolfpack with a 56-point first half in which the team knocked down 10 of 15 three-point attempts, and led by 25 at the break. They would take it on cruise control from there to secure the team’s third victory in a row.
𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐃𝐔𝐁.#CarolinaFamily | @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/KPmsPDzCKD
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) January 29, 2022
“There’s nothing better than a Saturday afternoon game in the Smith Center,” Davis said. “And to be able to play well with the ’82 team here, and also a celebration for Coach Williams, it just makes it a really good day today. Today was a good day for Carolina Basketball.”
Saturday marked the first time this season the Tar Heels have reached 100 points in a game, and the first time they’ve done so at home since February of 2019. That game also came against NC State.
The Tar Heels left memories of their poor shooting performances against Virginia Tech and Boston College firmly in the rearview mirror, hitting 20 of 32 shots (65.2 percent) in the first half and finishing at 34-62 (54.8 percent) for the game. It’s UNC’s highest shooting percentage in a game since a December victory at Georgia Tech. This comes after senior wing Leaky Black said he’d “highly doubt” UNC would put up a third straight poor offensive performance after the Boston College game.
And with every shot made against the Wolfpack, the fans in blue just got louder.
“It’s an unreal experience,” graduate forward Brady Manek said of the atmosphere. “That’s definitely one of the reasons that pulled me here, was for a game like that.”
Ten Tar Heels found their way onto the scoresheet against NC State, led by sophomore guard Caleb Love with 21 points. Love was one of four UNC starters to score at least 17, and one of six players to hit a three-point shot.
Manek led the three-point barrage in the first half, draining four of his five shots from downtown and helping the Carolina lead balloon to the 25-point halftime margin. Manek would finish with 17 on the game. All seven players who played for Carolina in the half scored at least five points, with reserves Puff Johnson and Kerwin Walton each scoring five and knocking in a three-pointer. Johnson would finish with a career-high eight points, and showcased what is becoming his signature, no-holds-barred style of play.
“Over this entire season, at great length I’ve talked about energy, effort and toughness,” Davis said. “I don’t have to ever mention that to Puff.”
Junior forward Armando Bacot put together one of his most impressive lines of the season. After seeing his double-double streak snapped against Boston College, Bacot started a new one against NC State with 18 points and 13 rebounds. He also tied a career-high with six blocks against the Wolfpack. It’s the third time overall and second time this season Bacot has recorded six blocks.
Bacot’s 18 points helped him join a relatively exclusive club at Carolina. He is now the 79th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points, which is the most among any program in the country.
“It’s great to just be a part of such a strong tradition,” the big man said. “And to join the other 78 players… I think it’s just a testament to my coaches and teammates, and how hard they push me and how much they believe in me.”
Despite the large second-half advantage, which grew to as many as 35 points, there was still some nervousness among the rowdy Smith Center crowd. As the Tar Heels neared the century mark and the clock dwindled, what seemed like a certain 100-point game grew more and more uncertain. A stretch in the late second half where the reserves turned the ball over four times in just more than two minutes did nothing to calm the nerves. And yet, with less than a minute remaining and the Tar Heels sitting at 99 points, walk-on guard Jackson Watkins strolled to the free throw line for two shots.
His first bounced harmlessly off the rim, before his second found the bottom of the net. The Smith Center, loud all afternoon, reached perhaps its highest decibel levels all season.
“Once he missed that first one, I didn’t know,” said Bacot, who shares the hometown of Richmond, VA, with Watkins. “I was thinking like, ‘Man, I hope he [hits] it.’ That’s a lot of pressure, trying to get that 100th point.”
Still, it would be ignoring the six-foot, six-inch elephant in the room to not acknowledge the presence of Jordan, and his effect on the current UNC players.
“The man was right there in front of us!” Black said. “So we were all just starstruck.”
“When I knocked down my first three, I looked right at him,” said Love, before quickly adding, “It wasn’t intentional.”
Motivated by the presence of perhaps the greatest basketball player of all time, Carolina certainly looked the part of Jordan’s celebrated 1982 team. With this performance still echoing through the cavernous Smith Center, Davis wants to make Saturday’s ceremonies a trend.
“We can get the ’93 team, the 2017 team,” he said. “If we’re gonna play like that, let’s get ’em all here.”
Featured image via Todd Melet. For a photo gallery of the game, click here.
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