By R.L. Bynum
Cormac Ryan brought prolific perimeter shooting skills from Notre Dame when he transferred to Carolina, but struggled mightily to find the range in the Tar Heels’ first three games.
As the second half started Wednesday afternoon in the Imperial Arena in the Bahamas, he found it. The 25-year-old fifth-year guard ignited a 16–1 run after No. 14 UNC trailed by six at halftime, as the Tar Heels rolled to a 91–69 victory in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis.
With three 3-pointers in the first four minutes of the second half, Ryan matched his 3-pointers total through the first 3½ games, finishing with a season-high 15 points and a 12.1 game score, after going scoreless in the first half.
“Cormac is a great shooter, and there may come times that he is not,” UNC coach Hubert Davis told the Tar Heel Sports Network. “I say this about everybody on this team, but specifically about Cormac — he’s a basketball player. He is not just a shooter. He brings so much to this team on both ends of the floor. One of them is his ability to shoot. I think it’s going in every time he shoots. I knew eventually they would start to go in, and he picked the perfect time in the second half.”
Ryan wasn’t the only Tar Heel struggling from the perimeter, as UNC (4–0) made only 34.4% of its 3-point tries in the first 3½ games. UNC was 9 of 13 from outside the arc in the second half and finished with 12 3s against Northern Iowa (1–3) after combining for only 18 in the first three games.
Harrison Ingram, who made only 4 of 12 3-point shots in the first three games, was 4 of 6 and led the way with 18 points, 10 rebounds and three assists for his seventh career double-double but first as a Tar Heel. He had a team-high 15.5 game score.
The Tar Heels, who led by as many as 24 points, play at 2:30 p.m. Thursday (ESPN) in a semifinal game Villanova (4–1), which beat Texas Tech in the second semifinal 85–69. A win there would put UNC in Friday’s 3:30 p.m. championship game against either No. 20 Arkansas (3–1), Michigan (3–1), Memphis (3–0) or Stanford (3–1).
“I got into them pretty good at halftime because I wanted them to respond to Northern Iowa and the way they were playing,” Coach Davis said. “I just felt like Northern Iowa, in the first half, looked like the more physical, more confident team.”
Freshman point guard Elliot Cadeau collected a season-high 15 points and three assists with a 13.7 game score. RJ Davis added 13 points (and was a team-high +21), Jae’lyn Withers 11 and Armando Bacot 10, as six Tar Heels scored in double-figures. It was the first time with six UNC double-figure scorers since a 91–87 win at Duke on Feb. 6, 2021.
Withers said that Coach Davis got their attention at halftime.
“What he told us was that we were playing like a bunch of scared kids,” Withers, who made a 3-point attempt for the first time this season, told the Tar Heel Sports Network. “He said we were the more more physical team or athletic team, more dominant team and we just had to play like that. I think, more or less, that’s what his message.”
UNC forced a season-high 17 turnovers (bettering the 15 against UC Riverside) and forced four shot-clock violations, all numbers Coach Davis was happy to see. The season-high 25 points off those turnovers were the most since scoring 32 at home against Wake Forest last January.
“With this group we have, we have versatility that we can defend a number of different ways where we’re switching DHOs [dribble hand offs] and ball screens, we’re picking up full court, we’re trapping, we’re getting steals and deflections,” Coach Davis said. “That’s something that we wanted to improve on from last year to this year is to get more deflections and more steals.”
Withers said that UNC pulled away in the second half thanks to what the Tar Heels’ versatility allows them to do on the defensive end.
“I think that it added to our length by putting [Ingram] at the three and me at the four,” Withers said. “That also helped with rebounding, and I think that it allowed me to showcase the versatility with the core group. On the defensive end — one through through four — we’re pretty good at switching. Then at the five, me and my Mondo are capable of guarding ones.”
By the first TV timeout, Northern Iowa led 10–2 as UNC missed nine of its first 10 shots. The Tar Heels reeled off a 7–0 run at that point after Cadeau entered the game. After an early 2–0 edge, UNC didn’t lead again until Ingram capped a 10–2 run with two free throws and a 3-pointer, putting the Heels up 27–25 with 6:18 left in the first half.
That advantage lasted just under two minutes before the Panthers went on a 16–8 run to lead 41–35 at halftime after shooting 60% from the floor.
That was the first time UNC has trailed at halftime this season and the first time an opponent has shot that well in a half since N.C. State shot 64.5% Feb. 19 last season.
Bacot got five points and only three shots in the first half while picking up two fouls before halftime, with UNC shooting 33.3% from the floor and 23.1% from outside the arc.
Northern Iowa never challenged the Tar Heels after they scored the first eight points of the second half. The Panthers went cold after halftime, shooting 32.1% from the floor in the second half with only three 3-pointers.
Nate Heise led the Panthers with 14 points.
NOTES — UNC’s point total was its highest of the season (topping the 90 points against Lehigh) despite shooting a season-low 42.6% from the floor and the highest in seven Bahamas games. Its previous low was 45.9% against UC Riverside. … UNC had season highs of free throws (27), free-throw attempts (31) and shot a season-best 87.1% at the line. … The Tar Heels scored 1.3 points per possession, compared to 0.94 for Northern Iowa. … Carolina had 14 assists on 26 field goals, led by RJ Davis’s four. … Carolina is 3–1 against Northern Iowa, with the lone loss coming 71–67 in Cedar Falls, Iowa, on Nov. 21, 2015. It was Marcus Paige’s homecoming game but he couldn’t play in because of a hand injury. … UNC is 5–2 in Battle 4 Atlantis games, winning two of three games in its two previous times at the event in 2014 and 2019. … Seth Trimble got his first start of the season and third of his career, taking Paxson Wojcik’s place. Withers started the second half in that spot.
No. 14 UNC 91, Northern Iowa 69
UNC lineup combinations
| Score | Time | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Segment score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starters | 20:00 | Davis | Trimble | Ryan | Ingram | Bacot | 2–10 |
| 2–10 | 14:59 | Cadeau | Davis | 4–0 | |||
| 6–10 | 13:58 | Ingram | Withers | 3–0 | |||
| 9–10 | 13:20 | Washington | 3–3 | ||||
| 12–13 | 12:32 | Wojcik | 5–8 | ||||
| 17–21 | 9:19 | Davis | Ryan | High | 0–0 | ||
| 17–21 | 9:09 | Bacot | 1–2 | ||||
| 18–23 | 8:13 | Trimble | 4–2 | ||||
| 22–25 | 7:34 | Ingram | 5–0 | ||||
| 27–25 | 5:10 | Wojcik | 0–2 | ||||
| 27–27 | 3:56 | Washington | 0–2 | ||||
| 27–29 | 3:36 | Ingram | Withers | 2–0 | |||
| 29–29 | 3:36 | Cadeau | Davis | 6–11 | |||
| 35–41 | 4.5 | Trimble | Ingram | Okonkwo | 0–0 | ||
| 35–41 | Half | Davis | Ryan | Ingram | Withers | Bacot | 16–1 |
| 51–42 | 15:56 | Washington | 0–0 | ||||
| 51–42 | 15:14 | Cadeau | Davis | Ryan | Ingram | 8–4 | |
| 59–46 | 12:58 | Wojcik | Withers | 8–1 | |||
| 67–47 | 11:01 | Trimble | Ryan | Bacot | 7–5 | ||
| 74–52 | 8:26 | Davis | Ryan | Withers | 3–6 | ||
| 77–58 | 6:19 | Davis | Ryan | Ingram | 2–3 | ||
| 79–61 | 4:56 | Washington | 0–2 | ||||
| 79–63 | 4:39 | Davis | Ryan | Ingram | Withers | 5–2 | |
| 84–65 | 2:48 | Cadeau | Wojcik | Withers | Washington | 3–0 | |
| 87–65 | 1:46 | Trimble | High | Okonkwo | 4–4 | ||
| 91–69 | Final |
Battle 4 Atlantis
At Imperial Arena
Paradise Islands, Bahamas
Wednesday’s first-round results
No. 14 North Carolina 91, Northern Iowa 69
Villanova 85, Texas Tech 69
Memphis 71, Michigan 67
No. 20 Arkansas 77, Stanford 74, 2 OTs
Thursday’s semifinals
Villanova 83, No. 14 North Carolina 81, OT
Memphis 84, No. 20 Arkansas 79
Thursday’s losers’ bracket results
Texas Tech 72, Northern Iowa 70
Michigan 83, Stanford 78
Friday’s results
Consolation
No. 14 North Carolina 87, No. 20 Arkansas 72
Championship
Villanova 79, Memphis 63
Fifth-place game
Texas Tech 73, Michigan 57
Seventh-place game
Northern Iowa 73, Stanford 51
UNC season statistics
| Date | Month/day | Score | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 27 | Friday | W, 117–53 | vs. St. Augustine’s | Exhibition |
| November | ||||
| 6 | Monday | W, 86–70 | vs. Radford | 1–0 |
| 12 | Sunday | W, 90–68 | vs. Lehigh | 2–0 |
| 17 | Friday | W, 77–52 | vs. UC Riverside | 3–0 |
| Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas | ||||
| 22 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | Northern Iowa | 4–0 |
| 23 | Thursday | L, 83–81, OT | Villanova | 4–1 |
| 24 | Friday | W, 87–72 | Arkansas | 5–1 |
| ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | ||||
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 100–92 | vs. No. 6 Tennessee | 6–1 |
| December | ||||
| 2 | Saturday | W, 78–70 | vs. Florida State | 7–1, 1–0 ACC |
| Jimmy V Classic in New York | ||||
| 5 | Tuesday | L, 87–67 | No. 1 Connecticut | 7–2 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 16 | Saturday | L, 87–83 | No. 12 Kentucky | 7–3 |
| Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte | ||||
| 20 | Wednesday | W, 81–69 | Oklahoma | 8–3 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 29 | Friday | W, 105–60 | vs. Charleston Southern | 9–3 |
| January | ||||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 70–57 | at Pittsburgh | 10–3, 2–0 ACC |
| 6 | Saturday | W, 65–55 | at Clemson | 11–3, 3–0 ACC |
| 10 | Wednesday | W, 67–54 | at N.C. State | 12–3, 4–0 ACC |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 103–67 | vs. Syracuse | 13–3, 5–0 ACC |
| 17 | Wednesday | W, 86–70 | vs. Louisville | 14–3, 6–0 ACC |
| 20 | Saturday | W, 76–66 | vs. Boston College | 15–3, 7–0 ACC |
| 22 | Monday | W, 85–64 | vs. Wake Forest | 16–3, 8–0 ACC |
| 27 | Saturday | W, 75–68 | at Florida State | 17–3, 9–0 ACC |
| 30 | Tuesday | L, 74–73 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 9–1 ACC |
| February | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | W, 93–84 | vs. No. 13 Duke | 18–4, 10–1 ACC |
| 6 | Tuesday | L, 80–76 | vs. Clemson | 18–5, 10–2 ACC |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 75–72 | at Miami | 19–5, 11–2 ACC |
| 13 | Tuesday | L, 86–79 | at Syracuse | 19–6, 11–3 ACC |
| 17 | Saturday | W, 96–81 | vs. Virginia Tech | 20–6, 12–3 ACC |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 54–44 | at Virginia | 21–6, 13–3 ACC |
| 26 | Monday | W, 75–71 | vs. Miami | 22–6, 14–3 ACC |
| March | ||||
| 2 | Saturday | W, 79–70 | vs. N.C. State | 23–6, 15–3 ACC |
| 5 | Tuesday | W, 84–51 | vs. Notre Dame | 24–6, 16–3 ACC |
| 9 | Saturday | W, 84–79 | at No. 13 Duke | 25–6, 17–3 ACC |
| ACC tournament Washington | ||||
| 14 | Thursday | W, 92–67 | Quarterfinals: Florida State | 26–6 |
| 15 | Friday | W, 72–65 | Semifinals: Pittsburgh | 27–6 |
| 16 | Saturday | L, 84–76 | Final: N.C. State | 27–7 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 21 | Thursday | W, 90–62 | First round in Charlotte: Wagner | 28–7 |
| 23 | Saturday | W, 85–69 | Second round in Charlotte: Michigan State | 29–7 |
| 28 | Thursday | L, 89–87 | Sweet 16 in Los Angeles: No. 19 Alabama | 29–8 |
Photo via @UNC_Basketball
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