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Adam Lucas
1. Carolina’s solid ACC Tournament quarter-final win over Virginia 63-43.
2. Brady Manek was absolutely sensational in the first half, beating Virginia single-handedly on his way to the break, 33-13. Manek dropped 19 points on the usually tight-fisted Cavaliers in just 18 minutes of the first half, hitting three three-pointers and then making good headway to the rim as the Virginia defenders came flying at him. The last time Tar Heel beat an opponent solo in any half was when Reggie Bullock played against Maryland in 2013. Bullock scored 21 points to 20 from the Terps in the first half that evening. Manek finished the game with 21 totals and Carolina was in the lead all night, and the best news is that he only played 28 minutes.
3. Despite the fact that Manek was good in attack, Leaky Black was equal to him in defense in everything. Hubert Davis made the decision to put Black on Virginia’s point guard Keehei Clark, and the unexpected move completely blocked Virginia’s offense. Black had a solid ten-inch lead over Clark, and Clark just couldn’t get into rhythm with the ball. Black held Clarke to 0 for 4 with two losses in the first half. Clark did score three goals in the second half, but still finished 3 of 9 with three losses.
4. Carolina shared the ball very well on Thursday night. The Tar Heels handed out ten assists on 13 field goals in the first half and finished the game with 17 assists on 25 shots. Tar Heel’s starting backcourt didn’t throw the ball as well as usual, but they were instrumental in distribution as R.J. Davis and Caleb Love shared 11 passes.
5. Armando Bakot continues to rise in the Carolina record book. On Thursday, Backot recorded another double-double, his 24th such game this year. This is the school’s single-season Tar Heel record, eclipsing the mark previously set by Bryce Johnson. Backot’s 11 rebounds also put him past Anton Jamieson and Sean May for third on the Carolina single-season rebounding list. Bacot currently has 398 boards. Only Tyler Hansbrough (399) and Johnson (416) are ahead of him.
6. With a possible busy weekend in Brooklyn, Hubert Davis went to his bench early in the first half, putting in Puff Johnson and Justin McCoy early in the first half for a chance to get all of his starters on the bench at least once. McCoy had a great jump against his former team, the Tar Heels maintained a +5 lead with spares in the game, and rested starters returned to extend the lead for the rest of the half. As the lead remained significant, the Tar Heels would also be able to change personnel more frequently in the second half, including the appearance of D’Marco Dunn with seven minutes remaining.
7. By the way, I really liked Davis’ training on this stretch. Dunn had a tough first appearance in the game, including a loss. Davis took him out of the game, let him sit on the bench and calm down for a minute, and then sent him back to the scorer’s table for a check.
8. You know, McCoy must be pleased that he performed well against his former team. McCoy looked more confident than in recent weeks, and in the second half he threw a 3-pointer from a corner to continue his first-half run. He also grabbed three rebounds. The Tar Heel reserve was able to contribute enough to give frequently used starters a relative break, with Backot playing 34 minutes, Black and Love scoring 32, Davis 31 and Manek 28 minutes.
9. Point losses this year continue to be a telling statistic for Carolina. The Hills led the category 13-5 against Virginia and are now 16-1 when they win this battle and just 7-7 when the opposition has more points after losses.
10. Tomorrow night, Carolina will face Virginia Tech in another late game. Tar Heels and Hokies should start around 21:30. Remember Dean Smith’s old axiom: It’s very hard to get the best time three times in one season. The Carolinas beat Team Mike Young in the regular season, and Tech probably thinks it’s playing for its life in the NCAA Tournament.
11. This year marks the third ACC trip to Brooklyn for the ACC Tournament. Future locations have not been determined, with the exception of a trip to Greensboro for the 2023 event. Keep in mind that the league is also currently evaluating where it wants to place conference offices, so tournament decisions may be tied into that choice. It is true that practically no one in New York understands that the event is taking place in the city. But it’s also true that with Notre Dame in the first quarterfinals on Thursday night, there was a good college basketball atmosphere at the Barclays Center.