By R.L. Bynum

In Hubert Davis’ 2½ seasons as North Carolina’s head coach, he’s always had a couple of schools of thought about how he uses his bench.

One is that players earn minutes by practicing well and following that up with good play during the games. The other is that every player must be ready because their chance will come; Davis just can’t say when that will happen.

Those chances are happening much more often than in his first two seasons.

It appears to have everything to do with Davis trusting his reserves more this season. Unlike previous seasons, he doesn’t hesitate to sub out a regular when they have a bad stretch.

The numbers prove the difference, and RJ Davis agreed that the league-leading No. 4 Tar Heels (13–3, 5–0 ACC) are the deepest team he’s played on in his 3½ seasons in Chapel Hill.

“One hundred percent, just in terms of this season until now,” RJ Davis said. “The bench contribution and bench points we get and just the impact that each and every one comes down to the floor and plays with.”

Carolina has gone from averaging 42.7 minutes and 11.4 points from its bench last season to 58.8 minutes and 21.4 points this season.

Only three reserves averaged more than eight minutes per game last season: current Penn State players Puff Johnson (15.9 minutes per game when he didn’t start) and D’Marco Dunn (10.3), as well as Seth Trimble (9.8 when he didn’t start). Johnson (20.5 minutes per game) and Dunn (16.8) are playing more for the Nittany Lions.

This season, there are four playing more than eight minutes per game: Trimble (17.4 when he doesn’t start), Jae’Lyn Withers (12.9 when he doesn’t start), Jalen Washington (9.3), and Paxson Wojcik (8.2 when he doesn’t start).

“It’s also about the energy,” RJ Davis said. “I think this team does a great job of uplifting each other and bringing that infectious energy. The bench does a really good job of when their number calls, they’re ready.”

Against the Orange, Washington (11 points and six rebounds) and Withers (10 points and six rebounds) combined for 21 points and 12 rebounds.

“J-Wash and J-Wit really hit the offensive boards and were aggressive,” RJ Davis said. “Just to have their energy and their ways to contribute toward the game, that’s really neat for us and also for them because we see the potential; we see the talent. They’re really great players.”

Coach Davis played reserves a season-high 85 minutes in Saturday’s 103–67 home win over Syracuse, and they scored 39 points. That was second only to the 43 bench points in the 105–60 home win on Dec. 29 against Charleston Southern.

“That gives people that didn’t really get many minutes at the beginning of the year more confidence whenever they’re coming in,” said Withers, who has come off the bench in all but three consecutive games (Villanova, Arkansas and Tennessee). “[They also get] more game reps; that’s very beneficial.”

Those blowouts obviously can skew the numbers.

The lightest bench usage was 38 minutes and four points in the 87–76 loss on Dec. 5 in New York to No. 1 UConn. Somewhat like in the 2022 national championship game against Kansas, the Tar Heels looked tired in the final minutes.

“It takes the relief off our starters for sure,” Washington said. “They are able to trust us with minutes when we get in the game. Those guys get their breath, and we’re able to sustain a lead, build a lead, and they come back in, and they seal the deal for us.

For the three other games (besides UConn) against teams currently ranked in the AP poll (a 100–92 home win over No. 6 Tennessee on Nov. 29, an 87–83 loss in Atlanta to No. 8 Kentucky on Dec. 16 and an 81–69 win in Charlotte over No. 15 Oklahoma on Dec. 20), the averages of 47.3 minutes and 17.2 points from the bench are still higher than the averages for all games last season.

“With this team, everybody just wants to celebrate others’ success,” said Armando Bacot, who is averaging 28.6 minutes per game compared 35.7 last season. “And I think all year, we’ve done a good job of that.”

All of that has appeared to give this season’s team better chemistry than a year ago and is a big reason that Carolina will take a five-game win streak into this week’s games at home Wednesday at 9 p.m. (ACC Network) against Louisville (6–10, 1–4) and Saturday’s 2:15 game (The CW) at Boston College (11–6, 2–4).

So far this season, Carolina is finding there’s no substitute for talented depth.

UNC season statistics

Team	League	Overall	NET*
No. 3 Duke	0–0	11–0	2
California	0–0	10–1	63
No. 12 North Carolina	0–0	10–1	15
No. 23 Virginia	0–0	9–1	21
Miami	0–0	10–2	33
Virginia Tech	0–0	10–2	58
No. 11 Louisville	0–0	9–2	17
SMU	0–0	9–2	43
Stanford	0–0	8–2	98
Clemson	0–0	9–3	32
Notre Dame	0–0	9–3	65
Wake Forest	0–0	9–3	59
N.C. State	0–0	8–4	34
Georgia Tech	0–0	7–4	189
Syracuse	0–0	7–4	96
Pittsburgh	0–0	6–6	154
Boston College	0–0	5–6	177
Florida State	0–0	5–6	148

* — Through Wednesday games
Tuesday’s results
No. 12 North Carolina 77, East Tennessee State 58
No. 3 Duke 97, Lipscomb 73
No. 20 Tennessee 83, No. 11 Louisville 62
Dayton 97, Florida State 69
Clemson 68, South Carolina 61
Miami 98, Florida International 81
Georgia Tech 87, Marist 76
Wednesday’s results
N.C. State 108, Texas Southern 72
Pittsburgh 103, Binghamton 6
Syracuse 76, Mercyhurst 62
Wake Forest 71, Longwood 68
UT Arlington at Stanford, 10 p.m., ACCN Extra
Friday’s games
Mississippi Valley State at Florida State, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Morgan State at California, 10 p.m., ACCN Extra
Saturday’s games
Montana at No. 11 Louisville, noon, ACCN Extra
Lafayette at Georgia Tech, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Elon at Virginia Tech, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Ohio State vs. No. 12 North Carolina at CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta, 3 p.m., CBS
Northeastern at Syracuse, 4 p.m., ACCN Extra
Maryland at No. 23 Virginia, 6 p.m., ESPN
No. 3 Duke at No. 16 Texas Tech, 8 p.m., ESPN
Stanford at Colorado, 8 p.m., ESPNU
Sunday’s games
Penn State vs. Pittsburgh in Hershey, Pa., noon, Big Ten Network
Ole Miss vs. N.C. State in Greensboro, 1 p.m., ESPN
No. 13 Vanderbilt at Wake Forest, 1 p.m., The CW
Purdue Ft. Wayne at Notre Dame, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Central Arkansas at SMU, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Cincinnati vs. Clemson in Greenville, S.C., 3 p.m., ESPN
North Florida at Miami, 4 p.m., ACC Network
Columbia at California, 5 p.m., ACCN Extra
Monday’s games
American at Virginia, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
Jacksonville at Florida State, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Stonehill at Syracuse, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Fairleigh Dickinson at Boston College, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
East Carolina at No. 12 North Carolina, 8 p.m., ACC Network

Date	Month/day	Time	Opponent/event (current ranks)	TV/ record
	October
24	Friday	L, 78–76	vs. No. 10 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. 9 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. East Tennessee State	10–1
			CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta
20	Saturday	3 p.m.	vs. Ohio State	CBS
			—————————
22	Monday	8 p.m.	vs. East Carolina	ACCN
30	Tuesday	7 p.m.	vs. Florida State	ESPN2
	January
3	Saturday	2:15	at SMU	The CW
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 or 2:30	at No. 23 Virginia	ESPN or ESPNU
31	Saturday	2 p.m.	at Georgia Tech	ACCN
	February
2	Monday	7 p.m.	vs. Syracuse	ESPN
7	Saturday	6:30	vs. No. 3 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. 11 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. 3 Duke	ESPN
10–14	Tues.-Sat.	ACC tournament	Spectrum Center, Charlotte