By R.L. Bynum
CLEMSON, S.C. — In another physical game, No. 8 North Carolina came to Tiger Town and won the game from the perimeter.
While No. 16 Clemson was a season-worst 1 of 18 from 3-point range, five Tar Heels comnined for their eight 3-pointers as Carolina pulled away in the second half for a 65–55 ACC win Saturday at Littlejohn Coliseum.
Carolina (11–3), off to its first 3–0 ACC start since 2016, has earned two consecutive Quad 1 wins with RJ Davis (14 points, four rebounds, three assists) failing to score 20 points after doing so in the previous eight games. He scored 15 points at Pittsburgh.
“The level and the variety of teams we played in the non-conference has helped us in situations like this on true road games to be in tight situations,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said after his team’s fourth Quad 4 victory. “That gives us confidence that we can make plays on both ends of the floor.”
Clemson (11–3, 1–2), whose previous low 3-pointer total was six against UAB, got its lone 3-pointer after 16 misses from Chauncey Wiggins with 13:20 left in the game.
Armando Bacot (14 points, 16 rebounds, three assists, two blocks) recorded his 75th career double-double, and is fifth on UNC’s career scoring list. He held P.J. Hall to a season-low 10 points (previous low was 14) by being more physical and eventually fouling him out.
“It’s great,” Bacot said of the 3-0 start in the ACC. “It’s something I’ve never experienced since I’ve been here, especially early on, winning big games like that on the road. It’s a great feeling, but we’ve got to keep our foot on everybody’s neck.”
Rebounding continues to be the driving force for UNC.
The Tar Heels outrebounded Clemson 44–33 and are nearly eliminating opponents’ second-chance points. Oklahoma had two, Pittsburgh had one, and when Clemson got its first on a bucket with 7:11 left in the first half, UNC had allowed five second-chance points in 82 minutes. Clemson finished with eight.
Elliot Cadeau, Seth Trimble (mostly) and RJ Davis (some) hounded former Syracuse sharpshooter Joseph Girard III, who was 1 of 10 for five points.
“Just the awareness of where he was and making sure he didn’t get an open look,” Coach Davis said. “A couple of times he did, but I just thought overall great team defense, physicality. We were talking on defense; we were engaged.”
UNC closed out well on Clemson shooters, but the Tigers also missed open 3-point attempts.
“I liked what we did defensively as a team,” Coach Davis said. “I thought in the first half, we defended, and then we kept fouling them. We put them on the line 15 times in the first half and I felt like in the first half that was their number one and most efficient way to score. Second half, we did much the same things but we defended without fouling and with the exception of the first two possessions, that put us in a position to box out and rebound. I thought we did a fantastic job.”
Carolina made a season-low seven free throws on a season-low 12 attempts, and only attempted four in the first half.
“We’ve got to attack the basket, and you’ve got to strong through contact and you’ve to got be strong around the basket,” Coach Davis. “I didn’t feel like we were strong enough to get fouls in the first half and in the second half, I felt like we were.”
RJ Davis is getting extra attention of opponents and getting open on ball screens has been more of a challenge.
“Give teammates the ball, find the open man and not holding the ball too long when the double-team is there,” he said. “That’s going to happen, and I’m fine with that not scoring as many points. We have a lot of players who can chip in.”
Cormac Ryan’s 3-pointer was the last of seven straight UNC points to give the Heels a five-point lead in the first two minutes.
With Paxson Wojcik, Jae’Lyn Withers and Jalen Washington on the court, Clemson went on a 7–2 run, slicing UNC’s lead to one on a Chase Hunter free throw ahead of the second television timeout. After playing only three minutes at Pittsburgh, Wojcik played nearly six consecutive first-half minutes, with UNC outscored 15–7 during that stretch.
The teams then traded leads a few times before a Ryan 3-pointer and a pair of Washington buckets spurred a 19–2 Carolina run to take a four-point lead. Clemson scored the last four first-half points to tie it by halftime.
The Tigers went up by four early in the second half, but an RJ Davis 3-pointer gave UNC a 39–38 lead ahead of the first TV timeout. Davis capped a 13–3 Carolina run with another 3, and Carolina led by four with 10:30 left.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Wojcik (his fourth of the season) and Trimble restored the four-point lead after the Tigers had tied it. UNC had the lead for good after Wojcik’s 3.
After a P.J. Hall layup cut the lead to two with 5:42 left, UNC went on a 7–2 run; an Ingram layup with 2:20 left gave the Heels a 62–55 advantage.
Chase led Clemson with 17 points.
NOTES — On Wednesday at 8 p.m. (ESPN), Carolina plays the third of three consecutive ACC road games, visiting N.C. State. The Wolfpack (11–3, 3–0) beat Virginia 76–70 Saturday afternoon. The Tar Heels hosted Charleston Southern on Dec. 29 and don’t return home until the Jan. 13 game against Syracuse. … Clemson’s 5.6% from 3-point range was the third-lowest 3-point percentage by an opponent with a minimum of 10 attempts in UNC history. Arizona shot 4.3% on Jan. 27, 2007, and Texas A&M shot 5% on Dec. 20, 2001. … Carolina allowed fewer than 60 points in consecutive road games for the first time since beating UNCG 79–56 and Clemson 74–50, in the 2014–15 season. The Tar Heels won at Pitt, 70–57, in their previous game on Tuesday. … Carolina held Clemson to a season-low 55 points. It was the second-lowest total by a Carolina opponent this season (UC Riverside scored 52). … UNC is 4–2 this season against ranked teams. … It was only the fourth time a UNC game has been tied at halftime under Coach Davis, and first since the Louisville game on Feb. 21, 2022. … UNC’s total of free throws (7) and attempts (12) were season lows. The previous low for both was 12 of 14 against Charleston Southern. … Carolina is 17–3 against Clemson when both teams are ranked. This was the first game with both ranked since the No. 20 Tigers beat the No. 19 Tar Heels 82–78 on Jan. 30, 2018. … UNC leads the all-time series 136–23, including 31–15 at Littlejohn Coliseum.
No. 8 UNC 65, No. 16 Clemson 55
UNC lineup combinations
| Score | Time | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Segment score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starters | 20:00 | Cadeau | Davis | Ryan | Ingram | Bacot | 11–6 |
| 11–6 | 16:00 | Davis | Trimble | Washington | 2–0 | ||
| 13–6 | 13:52 | Wojcik | Withers | Washington | 2–7 | ||
| 15–13 | 12:12 | Bacot | 2–4 | ||||
| 17–17 | 11:02 | Wojcik | Ryan | Ingram | 2–3 | ||
| 19–20 | 8:01 | Cadeau | Ryan | Ingram | High | 5–7 | |
| 24–27 | 4:50 | Davis | Withers | Washington | 9–3 | ||
| 33–30 | 2:12 | Trimble | Bacot | 4–3 | |||
| 34–33 | 1:08 | Ryan | 0–1 | ||||
| 34–34 | 0:20 | Cadeau | Davis | Trimble | 0–0 | ||
| 34–34 | Half | Ingram | 0–4 | ||||
| 34–38 | 17:40 | Davis | Cadeau | Withers | 5–0 | ||
| 39–38 | 14:32 | Ryan | Ingram | 0–0 | |||
| 39–38 | 13:54 | Trimble | Ryan | Ingram | 3–3 | ||
| 42–41 | 12:35 | Washington | 0–0 | ||||
| 42–41 | 10:55 | Wojcik | Bacot | 3–2 | |||
| 45–43 | 9:12 | Cadeau | 8–6 | ||||
| 53–49 | 7:11 | Davis | Trimble | 7–6 | |||
| 60–55 | 3:52 | Davis | Trimble | Ryan | 5–0 | ||
| 65–55 | Final |
UNC season statistics
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 6 Duke | 3–0 | 14–1 | 4 |
| Clemson | 3–0 | 13–3 | 32 |
| Miami | 2–0 | 13–2 | 33 |
| No. 23 Virginia | 2–1 | 13–2 | 19 |
| Stanford | 2–1 | 13–3 | 70 |
| N.C. State | 2–1 | 11–5 | 36 |
| No. 17 North Carolina | 1–1 | 13–2 | 22 |
| No. 24 SMU | 1–1 | 12–3 | 27 |
| Notre Dame | 1–1 | 10–5 | 60 |
| Syracuse | 1–1 | 10–5 | 78 |
| California | 1–2 | 13–3 | 65 |
| Virginia Tech | 1–2 | 12–3 | 59 |
| No. 20 Louisville | 1–2 | 11–4 | 15 |
| Georgia Tech | 1–2 | 10–6 | 147 |
| Wake Forest | 1–2 | 10–6 | 68 |
| Boston College | 0–2 | 7–8 | 197 |
| Florida State | 0–2 | 7–8 | 115 |
| Pittsburgh | 0–2 | 7–8 | 108 |
* — Through Thursday games
Wednesday’s results
Stanford 69, Virginia Tech 68
Miami 81, Wake Forest 77
No. 23 Virginia 84, California 60
Clemson 74, No. 24 SMU 70
Saturday’s games
Boston College at No. 20 Louisville, noon, The CW
Georgia Tech at Miami, noon, ESPN2
N.C. State at Florida State, noon, ACC Network
No. 24 SMU at No. 6 Duke, 2 p.m., ESPN
Syracuse at Pittsburgh, 2 p.m., ACC Network
Stanford at No. 23 Virginia, The CW
California at Virginia Tech, 4 p.m., ACC Network
Wake Forest at No. 17 North Carolina, 6 p.m, ACC Network
Clemson at Notre Dame, 6 p.m., ESPN2
Tuesday’s games
No. 23 Virginia at No. 20 Louisville, 7 p.m., ESPN2
Miami at Notre Dame, 7 p.m., ESPNU
Boston College at Clemson, 7 p.m, ACC Network
Florida State at Syracuse, 9 p.m, ACC Network
Wednesday’s games
Pittsburgh at Georgia Tech, 7 p.m., ACC Network
No. 17 North Carolina at Stanford, 9 p.m., ACC Network
Virginia Tech at No. 24 SMU, 9 p.m., ESPN2 or ESPNU
No. 6 Duke at California, 11 p.m., ACC Network
| Date | Month/day | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. No. 9 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. 22 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. 12 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 No. 24 SMU | 13–2, 1–1 |
| 10 | Saturday | 6 p.m. | vs. Wake Forest | ACCN |
| 14 | Wednesday | 9 p.m. | at Stanford | ACCN |
| 17 | Saturday | 4 p.m. | at California | ACCN |
| 21 | Wednesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Notre Dame | ESPN2 |
| 24 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | at No. 23 Virginia | ESPN |
| 31 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | at Georgia Tech | ACCN |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. Syracuse | ESPN |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | vs. No. 6 Duke | ESPN |
| 10 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at Miami | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 14 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | vs. Pittsburgh | ESPN |
| 17 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at N.C. State | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 21 | Saturday | 1 p.m. | at Syracuse | ABC |
| 23 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 20 Louisville | ESPN |
| 28 | Saturday | 6:30 or 8:30 | vs. Virginia Tech | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Clemson | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | at No. 6 Duke | ESPN |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photos by Smith Hardy
tarheeltribune.com 