By R.L. Bynum
RALEIGH — After a less-than-artistic offensive showing in the first half, Carolina coach Hubert Davis told his team at halftime to attack the basket, and N.C. State was helpless to stop the Tar Heels.
The more aggressive approach helped No. 7 UNC take control with a 19–4 second-half run and coast to a 67–54 victory over N.C. State at PNC Arena on Wednesday for their fifth straight win to take sole possession of first place in the ACC.
“One of the things that is really big for us is dominating points in the paint with post penetration, offensive rebounds. We want to live in the paint, live on the free-throw line,” Davis said
Davis didn’t like that UNC (12–3, 4–0 ACC) only attempted two first-half free throws against a State team that doesn’t block many shots. He knew that his team had to do better.
“For us to have success, that’s just not good for us,” Davis said. “I thought we made a really conscious effort offensively to make sure that we were attacking the basket, and it led to us getting into the penalty and being able to hit some free throws.”
After the Tar Heels got into the bonus with 10:13 left, they made 7 of 12 free throws the rest of the way.
Carolina, 4–0 in the ACC for the first time since 2016, continued to play unrelenting defense, holding their fourth consecutive opponent to 60 points or fewer. The Tar Heels held State (11–3, 3–1) to 2 of 21 shooting from 3-point range after Clemson went 1 of 18.
“I told them after the game that they’re not playing good defense, they’re playing elite defense,” Coach Davis said. “Just taking the challenge of winning their individual one-on-one matchups, staying on script in terms of what we’ve talked about in preparation for each game.”
N.C. State shot 26.9% from the floor, the worst against UNC since at least 1954. It was the fourth-lowest percentage allowed by the Tar Heels in an ACC regular-season or tournament game. The only lower percentages were by Virginia Tech in 2008 (25.9%), South Carolina in 1960 and Duke in 1954.
Once again, UNC held down an opponent’s best scoring weapon. First, it was Pittsburgh’s Blake Hinson (11 points), then Clemson’s Joseph Girard II (5).Tonight, it was the time to focus on the Pack’s DJ Horne, as the team’s leading scorer (14.4 points per game before Wednesday) was held to only six points.
Coach Davis said he had his team give the same attention to Horne that Hinson and Girard got.
“I felt like our guards really did a good job climbing into him and making each one of his shots difficult as well,” he said.
Harrison Ingram led a balanced effort for Carolina with nine points and a career-high 19 rebounds, the most in program history against N.C. State in 245 games. Armando Bacot had 18 twice and Billy Cunningham had 18 once in 1965.
“He’s just a complete player in terms of just giving you everything that you want in a player,” Davis said of Ingram. “Offensively, in the first half, I felt like he had his way in the post. That gave us an option to be able to score when he really didn’t have any points in the paint.”
RJ Davis fired in 16 points and four 3-pointers, leading UNC in scoring for the 11th time in 15 games, as nine Tar Heels scored, including nine points from Bacot.
Elliot Cadeau added 11 points, six assists, one block and one steal, seems to be getting more comfortable by the game and is looking better on defense.
“Every day at practice, every day in a game, he just gets better and better defensively,” Coach Davis said, pointing out the many adjustments a freshman has to make on that end. “The thing that I’m happy about is his understanding and his growth of how important defense is for himself individually and for this team. He’s doing a really good job growing in that area.”
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Carolina had a tough time stopping the freight train otherwise known as D.J. Burns Jr., who had 11 points. But he went scoreless after picking up his third foul with 9:37 left.
“It’s a lot of fun, and it’s a challenge because he’s so big,” Bacot said of battling the 6–9, 275-pound Burns. “He’s one of the only guys in college who can really move me and really touch me. So, playing against him is great.”
After a sloppy first 7½ minutes, State led 10–6, with UNC only leading for 26 seconds after a Cadeau layup and as the teams combining to shoot 7 of 25. A Cormac Ryan 3-pointer and Ingram layup ignited a 9–0 run that put UNC up by five on a Ryan layup with 5:47 left in the first half. A Davis 3-pointer capped a 7–1 run to push the lead to six.
Six Wolfpack free throws in the final 1:35, while Carolina only got a Zayden High layup,sliced UNC’s lead to 30–28 at halftime. State was 10 of 15 from the free-throw line in the first half, while Carolina was 1 of 2.
After Burns missed a layup attempt that would have tied it, Davis hit a 3-pointer at the other end, and an Ingram 3-pointer shoved the lead to six.
UNC took control when Bacot had six points on a 19–4 run, ballooning the lead to 17 on a Davis 3-pointer with 4:06 left.
Casey Morsell led State with 12 points.
NOTES — Carolina returns home at noon Saturday (ESPN) to face Syracuse (10–4, 1–2), which hosted Boston College on Wednesday night. … A win over the Orange could put UNC in the top five after losses this week by No. 1 Purdue, No. 2 Houston, No. 3 Kansas and No. 5 Tennessee. … Carolina won its third straight road game holding the opponents under 60 points in all three, the first time it did that since 1999 (72–54 win at Florida State on Jan. 6, 59–56 win at N.C. State on Jan. 16 and a 52–40 win at Wake Forest on Jan. 23. … State’s 54 points were its fewest in the eries since a 60–52 UNC win in Raleigh on Jan. 28, 2001. … Bacot’s backcourt shove of Ben Middlebrooks late in the first half drew a flagrant 1 foul, giving him two fouls, and then he picked up his third three minutes into the second half. … When Ingram leaped into the first row for a loose ball early in the second half, he appeared to injure a wrist of Wendell Murphy, a major N.C. State athletics donor. Ingram went over to apologize shortly afterward. … Carolina leads the all-time series with State 165–80. That’s the most wins against any opponent, surpassing the 164 victories against Wake Forest. UNC has won five of the last six games. … UNC is 68–48 at N.C. State, including 19–6 in the arena known as PNC Arena since 2012. That 76% winning percentage is the highest at any ACC home arena. … UNC is 23–6 in all games at the arena.
No. 7 UNC 67, N.C. State 54
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 |
Photos by Smith Hardy
