By R.L. Bynum
In 3½ seasons as Carolina’s head coach, Hubert Davis rarely has gone deep into his bench consistently, and he appears to have settled into that pattern over recent games.
Nine players are averaging at least 10 minutes per game, the most since nine players averaged that much time during the 2021–22 season, his first as head coach. But with the new year came a smaller rotation for Davis, who played seven players an average of double-digit minutes in his second and third seasons.
After playing at least five reserves against five power conference teams before the New Year — No. 11 Kansas (6), No. 16 Michigan State (5), No. 5 Alabama (5), Georgia Tech (5) and No. 22 UCLA (5) — Tuesday’s 82–67 home win over SMU was the third consecutive game using only four players off the bench.
Before this stretch — starting with the 83–70 loss on Jan. 1 at Louisville and the 74–73 win Saturday at Notre Dame — there was only one game in which only four reserves played against a power conference team, that being the 85–72 Maui Invitational loss to No. 2 Auburn on Nov. 26.
With Seth Trimble back after missing three games with an upper-body injury, Coach Davis is essentially down to a seven-man (sometimes eight-man) rotation.
He logically is heavily dependent on guards Trimble (31.2 minutes per game), Elliot Cadeau (28.6), RJ Davis (34.4), Ian Jackson (25.1, but 35.8 in the last four games) and Drake Powell (23.5, but 31.0 in the last four games).
Forward Jae’Lyn Withers (17.3) has played mostly at the four spot, with playing time at the five spot generally split between Jalen Washington (16.8) and Ven-Allen Lubin (15.9).
Against SMU, only Trimble and Lubin played more than 14½ minutes off the bench after only two reserves played more than nine minutes against Notre Dame and only two played more than four minutes off the bench against Louisville.
Get a breakdown of the lineup combinations against SMU with the table below this game story.
The rest of the scholarship players have mostly sat on the bench recently.
—After playing 15 minutes at Louisville and eight minutes at Notre Dame, junior Belmont transfer wing Cade Tyson (10.5) didn’t play against SMU. That was the first time Tyson hadn’t gotten into a game all season, although he played three or fewer minutes in four games.
—After Georgia Tech transfer forward Ty Claude (5.6) only played three minutes at Louisville, he didn’t get into either of the last two games. He’s played double-digit minutes three times: vs. Alabama (10), UCLA (13) and Campbell (10).
—Freshman forward James Brown (2.7) has only combined to play 5½ minutes in the last three games and has gotten into only seven. His season-high is five minutes against La Salle.
Coach Davis played more than five reserves five times: against American (7), Hawai’i (7), Dayton (6), La Salle (9) and Campbell (8).
Playing a short bench caught up with UNC in the second half of the 2022 national championship game against Kansas, and fatigue has been a factor in other games.
Coach Davis obviously wants his best players on the court as much as possible. He appeared to try to develop a deeper bench early in the season before shifting his allocation of playing time in the last few games.
Even though SMU never got closer than 12 points in the last 16 minutes, three starters played at least 31 minutes: Powell (35 minutes, 11 seconds), Jackson (34:13) and Davis (31:34).
Only the coaches know how the players perform in practice, which is one way they determine who plays and for how long. However, unless there is a shift, Coach Davis appears ready to play a short rotation the rest of the way, although that could change depending on the matchup.
UNC season statistics
ACC standings
| Team | League | Overall |
|---|---|---|
| No. 4 Duke | 5–0 | 13–2 |
| Clemson | 4–1 | 12–4 |
| Louisville | 4–1 | 11–5 |
| Pittsburgh | 3–1 | 12–3 |
| Wake Forest | 3–1 | 11–4 |
| North Carolina | 3–1 | 10–6 |
| Florida State | 2–2 | 11–4 |
| SMU | 2–2 | 11–4 |
| N.C. State | 2–2 | 9–6 |
| Georgia Tech | 2–3 | 8–8 |
| Stanford | 2–2 | 10–5 |
| Boston College | 1–3 | 9–6 |
| California | 1–3 | 8–7 |
| Virginia | 1–3 | 8–7 |
| Notre Dame | 1–3 | 7–8 |
| Virginia Tech | 1–3 | 6–9 |
| Syracuse | 1–3 | 7–8 |
| Miami | 0–4 | 4–11 |
Tuesday’s results
North Carolina 82, SMU 67
No. 4 Duke 76, Pittsburgh 47
Louisville 74, Clemson 64
Syracuse 62, Georgia Tech 55
Wednesday’s games
N.C. State 66, Notre Dame 65
Florida State 80, Miami 65
Stanford 70, Virginia Tech 59
California 75, Virginia 61
Saturday’s games
Notre Dame at No. 4 Duke, noon, ESPN
Louisville at Pittsburgh, noon, ESPN2
Florida State at Clemson, 2 p.m., ACCN
Syracuse at Boston College, 3 p.m., The CW
Georgia Tech at SMU, 4 p.m.
Virginia at Stanford, 4 p.m.
North Carolina at N.C. State, 4 p.m., ACCN
Wake Forest at Miami, 5:15, The CW
Virginia Tech at California, 6 p.m., ACCN
| Date | Month/day | Time/ score | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 15 | Tuesday | W, 84–76 | at No. 19 Memphis | Exhibition |
| 27 | Sunday | W, 127–63 | vs. Johnson C. Smith | Exhibition |
| November | ||||
| 4 | Monday | W, 90–76 | vs. Elon | 1–0 |
| 8 | Friday | L, 92–89 | at No. 11 Kansas | 1–1 |
| 15 | Friday | W, 107–55 | vs. American | 2–1 |
| 22 | Friday | W, 85–69 | at Hawai’i | 3–1 |
| Maui Invitational | ||||
| 25 | Monday | W, 92–90 | Dayton | 4–1 |
| 26 | Tuesday | L, 85–72 | No. 2 Auburn | 4–2 |
| 27 | Wednesday | L, 94–91, OT | No. 16 Michigan State | 4–3 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 4 | Wednesday | L, 94–79 | vs. No. 5 Alabama | 4–4 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 7 | Saturday | W, 68–65 | vs. Georgia Tech | 5–4, 1–0 ACC |
| 14 | Saturday | W, 93–67 | vs. LaSalle | 6–4 |
| Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte | ||||
| 17 | Tuesday | L, 90–84 | No. 8 Florida | 6–5 |
| CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden | ||||
| 21 | Saturday | W, 76–74 | No. 22 UCLA | 7–5 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 29 | Sunday | W, 97–81 | vs. Campbell | 8–5 |
| January | ||||
| 1 | Wednesday | L, 83–70 | at Louisville | 8–6, 1–1 |
| 4 | Saturday | W, 74–73 | at Notre Dame | 9–6, 2–1 |
| 7 | Tuesday | W, 82–67 | vs. SMU | 10–6, 3–1 |
| 11 | Saturday | 4 p.m. | at N.C. State | ACCN |
| 15 | Wednesday | 7 p.m. | vs. California | ACCN |
| 18 | Saturday | 2:15 | vs. Stanford | The CW |
| 21 | Tuesday | 9 p.m. | at Wake Forest | ESPN |
| 25 | Saturday | 2:15 p.m. | vs. Boston College | The CW |
| 28 | Tuesday | 9 p.m. | at Pittsburgh | ESPN |
| February | ||||
| 1 | Saturday | 6:30 p.m. | at No. 4 Duke | ESPN |
| 8 | Saturday | 4 p.m. | vs. Pittsburgh | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 10 | Monday | 7 p.m. | at Clemson | ESPN |
| 15 | Saturday | 6 p.m. | at Syracuse | ESPN |
| 19 | Wednesday | 7 p.m. | vs. N.C. State | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 22 | Saturday | 4 p.m. | vs. Virginia | ESPN |
| 24 | Monday | 7 p.m. | at Florida State | ESPN |
| March | ||||
| 1 | Saturday | Noon | vs. Miami | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 4 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at Virginia Tech | ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU |
| 8 | Saturday | 6:30 | vs. No. 4 Duke | ESPN |
| 11– 15 | Tues.–Sat. | ACC tournament Spectum Center, Charlotte |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
tarheeltribune.com 