University of North Carolina Athletics
Four Corners: Big Weekend Ahead
January 12, 2017 | Men's Basketball
CHAPEL HILL—The last week has seen a winter storm drop snow and ice on much of North Carolina, as well as a pair of Tar Heel hoops wins over in-state foes North Carolina State and Wake Forest. Carolina is 3-1 in Atlantic Coast Conference play with a pair of huge conference home games looming in a three-day span.
Ninth-ranked Florida State will visit the Smith Center on Saturday afternoon, and Jim Boeheim will bring his Syracuse team to Chapel Hill on Monday night for a rematch of last year's NCAA Final Four game in Houston. It should be a fun weekend ahead.
On to this week's Four Corners:
1. NEWS & NOTES
♦ Freshman forward Tony Bradley took a hard fall late in the first half on Wednesday night at Wake Forest and was suffering concussion-like symptoms. He didn't return to the game, and his timetable to return to practice and playing basketball will be determined after UNC doctors examine Bradley.
♦ Joel Berry II earned national player-of-the-week honors for his big games at Clemson and against North Carolina State last week. He was named the ACC's Player of the Week for the third time already this season.
@JoelBerryII had 25 pts, 5 rebounds, 5 assists & 2-0 on the week, making him your @NaismithTrophy Men's Player of the Week #NaismithNation pic.twitter.com/KGZoXLS4Is
— The Naismith Trophy (@NaismithTrophy) January 10, 2017
2. LAST WEEK
♦ The Tar Heels blew out North Carolina State on Sunday after the game was delayed by a day due to last weekend's snow and ice storm. Carolina crushed the Wolfpack, 107-56, posting UNC's biggest margin of victory in history in ACC competition. Adam Lucas broke down a fun snow day game afterward. Here are the game highlights:
♦ On Wednesday, Carolina drove west on I-40 for a showdown at up-and-coming Wake Forest. The Tar Heels built a 19-point lead early in the second half, only to see the Demon Deacons pull within a point at 66-65. Carolina then built a nine-point lead before allowing Wake to get back within a bucket in the closing minutes. The Tar Heels pulled out the 93-87 win. Here's Adam Lucas' take on Carolina learning how to win on the road.
♦ After the win over Wake, the Fayetteville Observer's Stephen Schramm wrote about Kennedy Meeks coming through in the clutch when the Tar Heels were hit with foul trouble and the injury to Bradley. Schramm also wrote about Theo Pinson's versatility, demonstrated by his willingness to play in the post on a tough night for UNC big men. Here's the postgame stat graphic from the win over Wake:
Led by a double-double (18 pts and 11 rebs) from Meeks, the Heels pull out the win at Wake Forest.#GoHeels #GetIntoIt #UNCBBall 🐏🏀💯 pic.twitter.com/Qwm6qorVHH
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) January 12, 2017
3. UP NEXT
♦ After the big Smith Center games on Saturday against Florida State and on Monday against Syracuse, the Tar Heels will visit Boston College on Saturday January 21 before hosting Virginia Tech on Thursday January 26. Five of the next seven Carolina games will be played in the Smith Center.
4. DON'T MISS IT
♦ It's hard not to love this photo of Tar Heel Michael Jordan from back in the day that Wayne Ellington dug up:
♦ Theo Pinson saw his first action of the season against N.C. State, but beforehand he pulled a Theo and crashed Roy Williams' pre-NCSU press conference:
♦ Jones Angell and Adam Lucas broke down the big win over N.C. State on Tuesday's Carolina Insider podcast.
♦ Here's a cool tweet from the Salt Lake Stars, Marcus Paige's NBDL team:
SLC or UNC, it doesn't matter. The fans LOVE @marcuspaige5! pic.twitter.com/qu8FbQkzCP
— Salt Lake City Stars (@slcstars) January 12, 2017
