During the past two seasons, Carolina has never lost a game in which Caleb Love scores 20 or more points. Thursday afternoon, Love achieved that mark, and UNC had the game in hand… after 20 minutes.
A first-half firestorm from the sophomore guard powered a 51-point opening salvo from the Tar Heels, who took command of the game early, led by 28 points at halftime and never looked back in a 95-63 win over Marquette in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
𝐇𝐄𝐄𝐋𝐒 𝐖𝐈𝐍.#CarolinaFamily | @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/EtNSjhUsoK
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) March 17, 2022
“I’m just really happy for the players,” said Hubert Davis, fresh off his first career NCAA Tournament win as a head coach. “I’m just really proud of them. Not just today, but all season.”
It was also the first NCAA Tournament win for starters Love, Armando Bacot and R.J. Davis, each of whom played integral roles in the victory. Love nearly eclipsed his season-high of 22 points in the first half, raining in six three-pointers as part of his 21-point barrage. He did end up setting that season-high, finishing with 23 points.
Love also found himself involved in some extracurricular activities early on with Marquette’s Darryl Morsell. Love and Morsell exchanged pleasantries on a few occasions before both dove for a loose ball along the sideline. After Love hit the floor, Morsell dove on top of him and wrapped his forearm around Love’s neck. Officials reviewed the play and assessed Morsell a technical foul. It was one of three technical fouls called on the Golden Eagles in the first half alone.
“We knew it was gonna be a dogfight,” Love said. “We don’t back down from anything. My competitive nature and my team’s competitive nature just came out, and we played it smart and we came out with the win. That’s all I care about.”
“My intent is to continue to fight,” said Hubert Davis. “Plain and simple… if someone is trying to push us around, we’re gonna push back.”
Carolina’s version of pushing back involved healthy doses of Armando Bacot. The junior big man accrued yet another double-double against the undersized Golden Eagles, ending the day with 17 points and 10 rebounds. The performance extended Bacot’s school record of 26 double-doubles in a single season. Bacot also set the UNC single-season record for total rebounds during the game, by pulling down his 417th board of the campaign.
“It’s a great record to hold. I hope that I can extend it a little more,” he said.
R.J. Davis didn’t score in bunches as his teammates did, but did set a career-high with 12 assists against the Golden Eagles. He also committed just one turnover in his 28 minutes of action. Davis’ effort contributed to UNC dishing out a season-high 29 assists on 34 made shots, smashing the previous high of 22, set against Florida State.
“R.J.’s been fantastic all year,” Love said. “Coach Davis always preaches to me and R.J. about if our shot’s not falling, how else can you impact the game? Being a point guard, if your shot’s not falling, you’ve still got to play defense, you’ve still got to distribute, you’ve still got to rebound, do other things to impact the game. That’s exactly what R.J. did.”
Defense also proved to be one of the game’s deciding factors. First-team All-ACC defender Leaky Black matched up with Marquette’s leading scorer Justin Lewis, who came into Thursday averaging 17 points per game and nearly 24 in his last three games. With Black as his primary defender, Lewis ended the first half scoreless. His six points on the night were a season-low.
“Leaky’s performance this year, defensively, has gone unnoticed,” said Hubert Davis. “The first two statistics that people look at is blocked shots and steals… it’d be nice if they actually looked at specific stats, in terms of how [Black] defended guys throughout the season. And if you took the time to look at Leaky’s defensive stats… I think he would be noticed more as one of the best defenders, if not the best defender, in the country.”
Graduate forward Brady Manek enjoyed being close to home deep in the heart of Texas, setting a season-high with 28 points on 10-15 shooting. Five of those made shots were three-pointers, and as a team, Carolina set a new school record in the NCAA Tournament with 13 made three-pointers. Manek and Love combined for 11 of those three-pointers, and 51 of UNC’s 95 points. Manek also pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds to secure his fourth double-double of the season.
“I’m fortunate enough to play with guards that like throwing me the ball,” Manek said. “Just finding the open spots and getting me those open looks, it really gets my confidence going.”
The Tar Heels will need that confidence for Saturday’s second-round game. Carolina will take on No. 1 seed and defending national champion Baylor, who easily dispatched No. 16 seed Norfolk State, 85-49, earlier on Thursday. The Bears will enter with a 27-6 overall record, in pursuit of the first back-to-back national championship since Florida did so in 2006 and 2007.
“It will be an extremely tough challenge for us,” Davis said. “But we’re excited to have the opportunity to do that. And we’re very thankful that we’re still playing and that we do get that chance.”
Featured image via Todd Melet. For a photo gallery of the game, click here.
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