By R.L. Bynum
Even recognizing that Pittsburgh will probably finish in the lower half of the ACC and might only make the NIT, there were many positive signs for No. 8 North Carolina coming out of the Tar Heels’ victory.
In the 70–57 win, despite shooting a season-low 36.5% and going scoreless for more than six minutes to start the game, UNC continued impressive trends that could be an omen of the potential of Coach Hubert Davis’ third UNC team.
There is a lot to like about how UNC (10–3, 2–0) is playing, including the continued stellar play from RJ Davis, but here are four key areas heading into the Tar Heels visit Saturday (ESPN2) to No. 16 Clemson (11–2, 1–1), which lost Wednesday at Miami 95–82.
Rebounding
Hubert Davis’ constant badgering of the team about the importance of rebounding and boxing out — including a video session after the Kentucky game where the players watched dozens of examples of them failing to box out — clearly has driven home the message.
They haven’t been the dominant rebounding team that fans came to expect out of the double-low-post UNC teams under Dean Smith and Roy Williams. But the Tar Heels have outrebounded their last two opponents (granted, one was Charleston Southern) after failing to do so in their previous three games.
It was impressive to do it by a 51–41 margin with a season-high 16 offensive rebounds and a 15–1 edge in second-chance points against Pittsburgh, which still leads the ACC in rebounding margin (+7.9).
Harrison Ingram led the way with a career-high 15 rebounds.
Defense
Carolina’s defensive intensity keeps getting better, as they held Pittsburgh to a season-low 36.5% shooting, the lowest by an opponent since Notre Dame shot 33.3% last season.
Holding Blake Hinson, the Panthers’ leading scorer, to 11 points on 4 of 16 shooting — mostly thanks to Harrison Ingram’s defense — was impressive. Even when players such as Elliot Cadeau and RJ Davis got switched on to Hinson, he had a tough time scoring.
Free-throw shooting
Since making only 59.1% of their free-throw attempts in the loss to UConn, Carolina is shooting 80.9%, including 86.1% in the last two games.
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Carolina has shot at least 80% from the line eight times already this season after doing it nine times all of last season.
RJ Davis is the most accurate free-throw shooter in program history, with his 86.5% easily topping Shammond Williams’ previous best of 84.8% from 1994 to 1998. Davis, who tied a school record by making 41 consecutive attempts earlier this season, has only missed at the line three times, and leads the ACC at 94.9%, with Cormac Ryan third at 91.2%.
Points per possession
In a post on his Bless your chart Substack blog, Chris Gallo of Dadgum Box Scores pointed out the most impressive of the trends, one that could be an exciting omen for UNC fans.
Carolina scored 1.03 points per possession against Pittsburgh, and Gallo notes that the Tar Heels have been over one point per possession in every game this season after scoring at least a point per possession in 72.2% of the games over Davis’ first two seasons.
The 13 games with at least a point per possession tops the total of Coach Davis’ first two seasons combined (12).
Gallo’s research shows that this is deepest into a season the Tar Heels have at least a point per possession in every game since 2016, when UNC did it for the first 22 games on its way to the NCAA championship game.
Further, he points out that the 2009 national-championship team never got below a point per possession, with the season-worst 89 points in 89 possessions in a 92–89 loss to Wake Forest.
Replicating that could lead to an exciting March run.
UNC season statistics
| Team | League | Overall | NET* | WAB* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 1 Duke | 17–1 | 29–2 | 1 | 2 |
| No. 10 Virginia | 15–3 | 27–4 | 13 | 11 |
| Miami | 13–5 | 24–7 | 32 | 28 |
| No. 19 North Carolina | 12–6 | 24–7 | 23 | 19 |
| Clemson | 12–6 | 22–9 | 36 | 33 |
| No. 24 Louisville | 11–7 | 22–9 | 14 | 25 |
| N.C. State | 10–8 | 19–12 | 35 | 45 |
| Florida State | 10–8 | 17–14 | 69 | 74 |
| California | 9–9 | 21–10 | 65 | 49 |
| Stanford | 9–9 | 20–11 | 59 | 51 |
| SMU | 8–10 | 19–12 | 39 | 50 |
| Virginia Tech | 8–10 | 19–12 | 53 | 52 |
| Wake Forest | 7–11 | 16–15 | 64 | 81 |
| Syracuse | 6–12 | 15–16 | 83 | 92 |
| Pittsburgh | 5–13 | 12–19 | 109 | 146 |
| Notre Dame | 4–14 | 13–18 | 93 | 121 |
| Boston College | 4–14 | 11–20 | 159 | 217 |
| Georgia Tech | 2–16 | 11–20 | 167 | 210 |
* — Through Sunday games
Saturday’s results
No. 1 Duke 76, No. 19 North Carolina 61
Boston College 77, Notre Dame 69
Clemson 79, Georgia Tech 76
No. 24 Louisville 92, Miami 89
Florida State 92, SMU 78
Stanford 85, N.C. State 84
Wake Forest 80, California 73
Pittsburgh 71, Syracuse 69, OT
END OF REGULAR SEASON
ACC tournament
Spectrum Center | Charlotte
Tuesday through Saturday
| Date | Month/day | Scores | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. BYU in SLC | Exhib. |
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 95–53 | vs. Winston-Salem St. | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 94–54 | vs. Central Arkansas | 1–0 |
| 7 | Friday | W, 87–74 | vs. No. 17 Kansas | 2–0 |
| 11 | Tuesday | W, 89–74 | vs. Radford | 3–0 |
| 14 | Friday | W, 97–53 | vs. N.C. Central | 4–0 |
| 18 | Tuesday | W, 73–61 | vs. Navy | 5–0 |
| Fort Myers Tip-Off | ||||
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 85–70 | vs. St. Bonaventure | 6–0 |
| 27 | Thursday | L, 74–58 | vs. No. 11 Michigan State | 6–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 67–64 | at Kentucky | 7–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 81–61 | vs. Georgetown | 8–1 |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 80–62 | vs. USC Upstate | 9–1 |
| 16 | Tuesday | W, 77–58 | vs. ETSU | 10–1 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 20 | Saturday | W, 71–70 | vs. Ohio State | 11–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 22 | Monday | W, 99–51 | vs. East Carolina | 12–1 |
| 30 | Tuesday | W, 79–66 | vs. Florida State | 13–1, 1–0 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | L, 97–83 | at SMU | 13–2, 1–1 |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 87–84 | vs. Wake Forest | 14–2, 2–1 |
| 14 | Wednesday | L, 95–90 | at Stanford | 14–3, 2–2 |
| 17 | Saturday | L, 84–78 | at California | 14–4, 2–3 |
| 21 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | vs. Notre Dame | 15–4, 3–3 |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 85–80 | at No. 9 Virginia | 16–4, 4–3 |
| 31 | Saturday | W, 91–75 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 5–3 |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | W, 87–77 | vs. Syracuse | 18–4, 6–3 |
| 7 | Saturday | W, 71–68 | vs. No. 1 Duke | 19–4, 7–3 |
| 10 | Tuesday | L, 75–66 | at No. 25 Miami | 19–5, 7–4 |
| 14 | Saturday | W, 79–65 | vs. Pittsburgh | 20–5, 8–4 |
| 17 | Tuesday | L, 82–58 | at N.C. State | 20–6, 8–5 |
| 21 | Saturday | W, 77–64 | at Syracuse | 21–6, 9–5 |
| 23 | Monday | W, 77–74 | vs. Louisville | 22–6, 10–5 |
| 28 | Saturday | W, 89–82 | vs. Virginia Tech | 23–6, 11–5 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | W, 67–63 | vs. Clemson | 24–6, 12–5 |
| 7 | Saturday | L, 76–61 | at No. 1 Duke | 24–7, 12–6 |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte | |
| 12 | Thursday | L, 80–79 | Quarterfinals: vs. Clemson | 24–8 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 19 | Thursday | L, 82–78, OT | First round: vs. VCU in Greenville, S.C. | 24–9 |
Photo via @UNC_Basketball
