The No. 15 North Carolina men’s basketball team, 13-4 overall and 3-1 in the ACC, returns home to the Smith Center to take on struggling Virginia Tech, 8-8 on the season and 0-3 in league play, for a 6:30 p.m. tipoff Sunday.
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A 71-70 loss at the hands of the hot-shooting Fighting Irish is the only recent blip on an otherwise stellar stretch for the Tar Heels.
Carolina, fresh off an 81-79 road win at N.C. State, has won seven of its last eight outings and will be heavily favored to emerge victorious again against the lowly Hokies.
But the Tar Heels have thinned out at the point guard position, losing freshman Joel Berry to a strained groin for at least the next two weeks.
Paige and the Tar Heels scarped by N.C. State Wednesday (Todd Melet)
Coach Williams says Berry’s injury puts a hold on his plans to play three point guards more often.
“My Kansas team played in the Final Four, and we started three point guards all year. That was a comfortable way to play. I had wanted to get to that point, we finally did it, and then Joel gets hurt. The next two to three weeks we’ll be without it,” Coach Williams says.
Junior point guard Marcus Paige got back in rhythm and rediscovered a consistent shooting touch last time out, notching 23 points to go along with nine assists.
But Paige says the Tar Heels must play smarter in the waning minutes of ACC games in order to make life easier on themselves.
“We fouled the guy on the three-point shot in the corner and he makes it. Those are things that lose you basketball games on the road, but we were able to make enough free throws. We responded well enough, but there are a lot of things we can look at in this game [vs. NC State] that don’t tilt in our favor that we can correct,” Paige says.
Sophomore forward Isaiah Hicks provided a spark to his team Wednesday night on the road, finishing with 12 points on 6-7 shooting. What’s more, Hicks seemed to set an aggressive tone with emphatic finishes around the basket.
Coach Williams says Hicks, who has been UNC’s defensive player of the game a team-high six times this season, has tremendous potential and finally got his hard work to pay off with meaningful minutes on the offensive end.
“It’s 18, 19 and 20-year-olds. We do the same drills and the same sprints. I would think that the stars and the moon weren’t aligned properly there for a little while, because he works awfully hard,” Coach Williams says.
Tokoto plays defense (Todd Melet)
Junior forward J.P. Tokoto, meanwhile, leads UNC in both assists and steals with 21.
But Tokoto and company will do well not to underestimate Virginia Tech. Freshman guard Justin Bibbs and redshirt junior Adam Smith can both knock down perimeter shots with laser-like accuracy for the Hokies.
The Tar Heels lead the all-time series with the Hokies 64-13 and sport an 11-3 record since the Hokies joined the ACC prior to the 2004-05 season.
UNC has won nine of its last 10 meetings with Virginia Tech, but barely escaped by a 60-56 margin a year ago in Blacksburg.
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