In its last home game of the calendar year, Carolina put together a true team effort. Thirteen Tar Heels scored a point against The Citadel Tuesday night, part of a dominant 100-67 win against the Bulldogs. UNC won’t return home again until January 4.
HEELS WIN.#CarolinaFamily | @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/JNAhQkCok9
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) December 14, 2022
“I really feel like being at home the last week and a half has really helped us in terms of becoming a better basketball team,” head coach Hubert Davis said after the game.
Senior center Armando Bacot made himself a part of Carolina history against the Bulldogs, scoring 14 points and grabbing 11 rebounds to register his 55th career double-double, five shy of Billy Cunningham’s school record. But Bacot did pass Cunningham for most games with 10 or more rebounds in UNC history: Tuesday was his 62nd. The All-America candidate was recognized on the Smith Center video boards for his accomplishment and received a raucous standing ovation.
“I guess it’s just a testament to my hard work,” Bacot said. “And I guess the amount of shots we miss.”
Six different Tar Heels knocked down a three-pointer, with the team totaling a season-high 15. The team’s 31 three-point attempts also set a season high. Junior guard Caleb Love led the barrage by netting four of his six tries, with Pete Nance not far behind at 3-4. Nance scored 16 points to register his fourth consecutive game with double figures. He’s one of four Tar Heels averaging 10 points or more per game this season.
But the biggest story of the night was the play of Carolina’s bench: after Leaky Black picked up two early fouls and had to sub out, Davis went to the reserves early and often. By the end of the night, the bench had scored a season-high 42 points, the last coming on a three from walk-on Jackson Watkins to give the Tar Heels 100 points. Dontrez Styles, who had not scored a point all season, came in and scored nine. Styles hadn’t played in Carolina’s last game against Georgia Tech.
“One thing I learned is that pouting is not gonna get you anywhere,” Styles said afterward. “Your moment’s gonna come, that’s what Coach Davis says. And when it comes, you’ve gotta be prepared and be ready.”
“I thought Dontrez’s minutes were terrific on both ends of the floor,” Davis said. “Not only offensively, but rebounding, defending, using his athleticism. I thought that was great.”
Jalen Washington, Puff Johnson, Justin McKoy, Tyler Nickel (a career-high 16 points), Seth Trimble and Creighton Lebo each also scored for the Tar Heels. Ten Tar Heels played in the first half alone.
“I didn’t have a plan to play ten players in the first half,” Davis said. “We needed a spark… we needed energy and enthusiasm, and we needed it to come from the bench. I was just going down the line to be able to find that.”
That extra spark led to Carolina’s second 100-point outing of the season. The first came against College of Charleston, but no second-half comeback was needed against the Citadel. The Tar Heels controlled play against the Bulldogs from the opening tip-off. It was a welcome sign from a team which had struggled to do so against lesser opponents in the early goings of the season.
Unfortunately, Tuesday was the last such “easy game” for Carolina this season. Up next is a trip up to New York City to face No. 23 Ohio State in the CBS Sports Classic. After that, it’s a trip to Charlotte to face Michigan in the Jumpman Invitational. Then the Christmas break, and then ACC play begins.
At 7-4, the Tar Heels seem to have righted the ship from their four-game losing streak. But the next two games will provide a truer test of how much progress has been made.
“Every day we’ve been getting better,” Bacot said. “We’re still a flawed team; there’s still a lot of stuff we’ve gotta work on. But as long as we just keep getting better… we’ll be a good team.”
Featured image via Todd Melet. For a full photo gallery of the game, click here.
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