For the first 20 minutes, Carolina’s shooting was about as cold as the weather outside in South Bend. The Tar Heels set new lows in first-half points (19, its lowest all season) and field goal percentage (18.5, its lowest since 1980) in a dreadful performance that head coach Hubert Davis graded as an F.

And while the second half wasn’t necessarily straight As, it was good enough to outlast the Fighting Irish and earn just the team’s second win in the month of February, 63-59.

Carolina had already surpassed its first-half totals in points and shots made by the 10-minute mark of the second. The Tar Heels played with the energy Davis sought coming out of the locker rooms, quickly erasing the Irish’s 27-19 halftime lead and setting up the game’s close finish.

Senior center Armando Bacot carried the load on offense, scoring 12 of his 16 points in the second half on 6-11 shooting. By contrast, the entire Carolina team made just five shots in the first half. Bacot was also one of three Tar Heels to grab at least 10 rebounds in a dominating effort on the glass. Carolina outrebounded the undersized Irish 52-33 and carried a 23-9 advantage in second-chance points.

Second-chance buckets from Caleb Love and Bacot broke a late scoring drought for the Tar Heels which had seen Notre Dame pull ahead by a point. And with under a minute remaining in the game, Carolina went to the well again. Leaky Black had missed a point-blank layup with nine seconds to go, but the Irish deflected the rebound out of bounds. They were forced to foul Love on the next possession, and the game became academic from there.

Despite the win and the improved shooting in the second half, UNC still finished the game just 23-69 (33.3 percent) from the floor. Not only is that by far Carolina’s worst shooting performance in a win, it’s the team’s worst mark in any game this season. Despite shooting 0-4 on three-pointers, R.J. Davis was the only Tar Heel to finish .500 from the floor. His last shot — and Carolina’s last made field goal — was his finest: a turnaround, fadeaway jump shot in the lane to give UNC a three-point lead with 49 seconds to go.

It wasn’t the prettiest game. In fact, it was very, very ugly. But for a Carolina team in need of a win like a fish needs water, any old result will do. The Irish are in contention for last place in the conference, so it won’t exactly shine up UNC’s NCAA Tournament resume, but it does give the team a morale boost heading into a game which could very well determine its postseason fate: a home date with Virginia this Saturday. The Cavaliers present the last Quad 1 opportunity in the regular season for the Tar Heels. UNC still does not have a Quad 1 win on the season.

 

Featured image via Inside Carolina/Jim Hawkins

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