Lucas: GT Rapid Reactions

By Adam Lucas

1. Very impressive win for Carolina at the Smith Center, topping Georgia Tech 88-65. The Tar Heels controlled the game the entire way.

2. Armando Bacot just keeps doing it. The reigning ACC Player of the Week set a new career high Saturday night with 29 points, coupling it with 12 rebounds to notch yet another double-double.

3. Saturday night's first half was the RJ Davis show in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heel sophomore was terrific, pumping in four of his five three-point shots and scoring 16 points in 19 minutes. His last three-pointer of the half, a high-arching shot over Jordan Usher, was an extremely high degree of difficulty shot. Davis finished with 21 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the field, and he also handed out six assists.

4. Those six assists were part of some of the best ball movement of the season for Carolina. The Tar Heels handed out 20 assists on 30 field goals and also had a couple others "the way we keep them." Some were fancy, some were simply good basketball plays, but the offense looked as cohesive--at least among the starting five--as it has all year. Carolina shot 47.5 percent from the field for the game and 39.1 percent from the three-point line.

5. Just as they did in the last meeting, Carolina devoted a significant portion of the scouting report to the dangerous scoring potential of Tech guard Michael Devoe, who came into the game second in the league in scoring at 20.5 points per game. Last time, it was largely Leaky Black who got the defensive assignment. He saw significant time on Devoe this time around, also, but Caleb Love also was engaged defensively and played with very good energy. Devoe was 0-3 in the first half with two turnovers and finished with two points and six turnovers.

6. As you would expect, Kerwin Walton and Dawson Garcia showed some rust after a layoff due to Covid protocols, but also showed why they're an important part of the Tar Heel equation moving forward. Garcia, who had 11 rebounds, gives Carolina another post presence to put with Armando Bacot--he would have been a difference-maker in the Notre Dame game--and Walton's reputation remains such that every time he caught the ball, the Tech bench was screaming, "Shooter!"

7. So great to see Puff Johnson check into the game for the first time this season with 3:30 left. Johnson has had awful injury luck during his Tar Heel career, but he has a skill set--proficient outside shooting, a willingness to go to the offensive glass, and defensive length--that will be helpful.

8. In the absence of Anthony Harris, who was unavailable, Justin McKoy received major minutes. McKoy played eight minutes in the first half alone, his highest total since Uncasville. McKoy gives Carolina another smart, versatile defender who is almost always in the right place defensively. He had a nice block on Devoe in the final minute of the first half after the Jackets ran a nice set out of a timeout. McKoy wasn't fooled, stood his ground, and got the block. McKoy finished with 18 minutes, three points and four rebounds.

9. Great to see former Carolina baseball standout Andrew Miller at the game. Miller has quite a bit on his plate right now, as he's one of the key figures on the MLBPA side in the current owner-player negotiations in Major League Baseball.

10. The win continued an amazing Carolina basketball streak, as the Tar Heels have now swept an Atlantic Coast Conference foe home-and-home every season that the league has existed. Needless to say, no other school can claim that feat, and in an era when games are rescheduled and home-and-home series are variable, it's even more impressive than it used to be.

Scoreboard Slider

University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Armando Bacot

Leaky Black

RJ Davis

Dawson Garcia

Anthony Harris

Puff Johnson

Caleb Love

Justin McKoy

Kerwin Walton

Related Videos