It wasn’t always pretty, but after the grimmest week imaginable, any win looks downright beautiful to head coach Hubert Davis and the UNC basketball team.
The Tar Heels fought through poor shooting, extended dry spells and foul trouble on Armando Bacot to earn a hard-fought victory over Virginia Tech, 78-68.
𝐇𝐄𝐄𝐋𝐒 𝐖𝐈𝐍.#CarolinaFamily | @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/K6FJJVwy36
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) January 25, 2022
It’s Carolina’s third straight win over the Hokies, though the teams will meet again on February 19, in what could potentially be a Quad 1 opportunity for the Tar Heels, who are desperate to earn their first Quad 1 win this season. Using the current NET ratings, this win over Virginia Tech qualifies as a Quad 2 result. Still, there are no complaints within the Carolina locker room.
“Not every game’s gonna be perfect,” said graduate forward Brady Manek. “Not every game’s gonna be pretty. But the way the guys played tonight, especially coming back 48 hours after getting beat… it’s really nice to see how we can turn stuff around.”
For the first time all season, all five Carolina starters scored in double figures, with 10 points from senior wing Leaky Black a pleasant surprise. Black, who came into the game with just two three-pointers, hit two against the Hokies. It’s the ninth time in Black’s career he’s scored in double figures, and the first time he’s hit multiple three-pointers in a game since a win against Virginia Tech in last season’s ACC Tournament. But Black’s outburst couldn’t mask a dreadful shooting night for Carolina, who hit just 23 of 63 shots (36.5 percent) from the field. It’s the third straight game in which they’ve shot poorer than 40 percent.
Junior forward Armando Bacot once again turned in a double-double, scoring 12 points and grabbing 20 total rebounds, eight of them offensive. However, Bacot struggled with layups around the rim and finished just 7-19 from the field before fouling out late in the second half. As a team, the Tar Heels shot just 6-20 on layups.
Bacot has a theory for why that is.
“It was something wrong with the rim. It wasn’t me,” he said.
“There was nothing wrong with the rim,” his head coach said. “He just missed them. He wanted to assure himself of getting a double-double, and so he just put it on the rim and kept getting rebounds… I’ll talk to him tomorrow at practice and say, ‘Look, why don’t you just make the shot?'”
Carolina is currently in a stretch of five games in 10 days, beginning with Wake Forest last Saturday and ending with a road trip to Louisville on February 1. The Tar Heels had only a single day to practice between a blowout loss to the Demon Deacons and Monday’s game with the Hokies, and several players came into Sunday expecting a scorched-earth approach from the head coach. Davis, though, surprised them.
“I sat them down, and I said, ‘Guys, I am in a great spot,'” Davis said. “And they looked at me like, ‘What’s wrong with this guy?'”
Davis’ unexpected approach had a tangible effect on the game, as Carolina showcased the energy, effort and toughness which Davis has emphasized all year, and which had been sorely lacking in previous losses.
“Seeing him, the captain, come in really encouraged, and feeding us positivity… obviously as kids, you see that and you’re just like, ‘OK,'” said Black.
Carolina will need some more of that energy and positivity over this week’s grueling stretch. The Tar Heels, whose starters all played at least 34 minutes against the Hokies and who got only two points off the bench, have just one day to recover before Boston College visits Chapel Hill on Wednesday night. UNC defeated the Eagles, 91-65, in Chestnut Hill earlier this season.
“We’re gonna need production on both ends of the floor outside of the starting five,” Davis said. “It’s just not gonna work.”
The team’s depth was unexpectedly hampered against the Hokies, as sophomore forward Dawson Garcia missed the game due to an illness in his family. Garcia flew back to his hometown in Minnesota before the game, and Davis does not know when the big man will be available next.
“We missed him tonight,” Davis said of Garcia. “And I really believe a huge part of our togetherness tonight was to be together as a team, in large part, for Dawson.”
Already dealing with the absence of guard Anthony Harris for the rest of the season, the undermanned Tar Heels have no choice but to press onward through their crowded schedule. It may take wins like Monday night to get through it, but they all count.
“Everything that we want to achieve is still achievable,” Manek said. “That’s really got all of our spirits back up, and we played really well tonight because of it.”
Featured image via Todd Melet. For a photo gallery of the game, click here.
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