Lucas: Rapid Reactions

By Adam Lucas

Given the circumstances, best win of the year? Best win of the year.
Carolina wasn't flawless, but the Tar Heels were just good enough to earn a 75-65 win over NC State on the road. Carolina has now won two games in a row and it feels like about twelve in a row.
The mystery is how, exactly, the Tar Heels did that. One big answer is Garrison Brooks, who continues to be sensational. Brooks added another 25 points and 11 rebounds against the Wolfpack. Paired with Armando Bacot's 11 points and 11 rebounds, Carolina had two terrific performances in the paint (and also held a 42-31 rebounding advantage).
Brandon Robinson struggled through a 2-for-5 shooting performance on a night when his ankle and rib were in constant pain. But he kept coming back from the Tar Heel locker room, and he made huge free throws down the stretch to ice the game (on a night when Carolina missed three second half front ends of one-and-ones). The senior demonstrated some toughness on Monday night.
Don't look now, but Leaky Black is playing some solid point guard for the Tar Heels right now. The sophomore, who said after the game he is much more comfortable at the point now than he was a month ago, hit five of his nine shots, made a three-pointer, and scored 11 points. More than any specific stat, though, he was simply steadying for a UNC offense that sometimes got a little loose when he was out of the game.
Really, you could go down the box score and list a way that every player who played for the visitors helped the Tar Heels win. In fact, maybe we'll do that. Andrew Platek's defense on C.J. Bryce helped hold Bryce—State's highest scoring player—to an 0-for-8 performance from the field. It's true that Platek is not as athletic as some of the players he guards. But he is slowly turning into a good positional defender who makes the man he's guarding work for his offense. He also had a fearless drive and hoop on State big man D.J. Funderburk in the second half.
The Tar Heel graduate transfers, Christian Keeling and Justin Pierce, combined for seven straight points during a key stretch in the second half when it felt like the game was in the balance. Keeling hit a couple nice midrange jumpers and had four points in his 24 minutes. A number both would like to improve: they combined for just one more rebound than Wanda.
Carolina again played without Jeremiah Francis, who missed his second straight game. As a team, the Tar Heels have now missed 64 games due to injury, which ties the most in the Roy Williams era (also 64 missed in 2008-09).
In the absence of Jeremiah Francis, K.J. Smith gave Carolina 11:27 of backup play at point guard and grabbed four rebounds during that stretch.
With two straight wins, the Tar Heels now have some life. The way they've held together in the absence of Cole Anthony—who said in the postgame locker room he feels he's very close to returning (but still needs medical clearance)—is extremely impressive, and they've got the chance to put together a nice little win streak with a win on Saturday against Boston College. Some positive momentum is needed, because next week (at FSU, home against Duke) is one of the toughest on the schedule.
The quick turnaround from Saturday's game against Miami is something that will have to become familiar--and unfortunately, it will get more difficult in the weeks to come. Going on the road in the back half of the Saturday-Monday turnaround is the more difficult assignment, and the Tar Heels will travel to Florida State a week from tonight. Later in February, they'll journey to Notre Dame for a Monday game after a Saturday night home tilt against Virginia. That's just the nature of the ACC in 2020.
State fans wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat thinking about Roy Williams. The Carolina head coach is now 36-4 against the Wolfpack as a head coach, and 31-4 as the head coach of the Tar Heels. Those are simply incredible numbers against any team, much less an opponent that desperately wants to beat Carolina more than any school on their schedule.

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University of North Carolina Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Cole Anthony

Armando Bacot

Leaky Black

Garrison Brooks

Jeremiah Francis

Christian Keeling

Justin Pierce

Andrew Platek

Brandon Robinson

K.J. Smith

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