Lucas: He's Ready

By Adam Lucas

LOUISVILLE—As Hubert Davis thought back over Carolina's 80-59 win over Louisville on Saturday afternoon, he was able to pinpoint exactly when the game changed.

"At the beginning of the game, we were a little shaky on both ends," he told Jones Angell on the Tar Heel Sports Network. "I don't know if we were nervous, but we just weren't aggressive on both ends. After the first six or seven minutes, we started playing the way we wanted to play. At that point, we did a better job of getting stops, rebounding, and getting turnovers. We got out on the fast break and scored and we were more aggressive in attacking the basket."

It's not a coincidence that something else changed 6:32 into the game, exactly in the timeframe Davis referenced: D'Marco Dunn entered the contest.

At that point, Louisville guard El Ellis had 11 points, scoring at almost a two point-per-minute clip. He was scoring from the field, but even as the Tar Heels tried a combination of RJ Davis, Leaky Black and Seth Trimble defending against him, he was also consistently getting to the free throw line, where he made his first six attempts.

Dunn changed the flow of the game. Ellis did not score the rest of the half, and the Heels went from down by eight points when Dunn entered the game to up 11 at halftime. The segment of the game was highlighted by some sticky Dunn defense on Ellis as the shot clock wound down with three minutes left in the half, preventing him from getting some of the easy looks he'd gotten earlier in the half. Then, as if to complete the play, he blocked Ellis' attempted three-point shot.

"I just wanted to stick to our principles," Dunn said on the THSN. "I didn't want to allow any straight line drives. We were a little lackadaisical at the beginning, and we weren't locked in. I felt like my role was to bring energy off the bench."

As so often happens, Dunn's ferocious defense led directly to a stellar offensive performance, as he finished with a career-high 14 points. Add in a career-high five rebounds, and it was the Arizona native's best game as a Tar Heel.

Dunn sealed the performance by swiping the ball from Ellis with 11 minutes left—one of 11 Carolina steals, the most this season in a regulation game—and cruising in for an easy hoop that pushed the lead to 19 points.

"When he's locked in defensively, he is gifted on that end," Davis said. "He has great feet, athleticism, long arms, and he's a strong big guard who can guard multiple positions. When he locks in and gives that type of effort, that is huge for us. Not only was he stopping Ellis from scoring, he was keeping him off the free throw line. When you add in his ability to score and knocking down a couple three-pointers, it was a great game for D'Marco."

Dunn has now made a three-point shot in his last three games and is 4-for-7 from the arc in those games. He's 5-for-11 from three since returning from a broken left hand, exactly the kind of perimeter production needed by a Carolina team that has struggled shooting from the outside.

It's worth remembering that just before that injury, Dunn had played one of his most aggressive games as a collegian in 17 minutes at Indiana. Although he didn't shoot well, going 2-for-6, he simply looked more comfortable than he had previously. The 17 minutes against the Hoosiers were the most he had played as a sophomore—a figure that has since been eclipsed by 20 minutes at Pitt, 22 at Virginia and 26 against the Cardinals.

In other words, Davis is gaining confidence in him in bigger situations. It's hard to think of a more important compliment than the game changing when a player enters the game; that's the kind of impact Dunn had against the Cards. The Tar Heels have made some defensive tweaks, and Dunn's versatility allows him to guard multiple positions without fear of allowing opponents to exploit unusual matchups. It's not uncommon for formerly inconsistent freshmen to become more reliable sophomores. If that's what is happening here, the Tar Heels have another important rotation piece.

"Coach Davis always tells us to follow the process," Dunn said. "You have to stay ready."

Dunn was a game-high +25 on Saturday, and it felt like it—the Tar Heels looked like a better team with him on the court. It took a full team contribution to get Carolina's second 20+ point road victory since 2019—"Every guy who played today, I could spend 30 minutes talking about the impact he made on the floor for our team to be successful," Davis said—but it felt like it might be one of those underclassman breakthroughs for Dunn. The game is slowing down for him, as he showed when he whistled a nice pass through traffic for a Dontrez Styles basket at the end of the first half.

"The energy was infectious," Dunn said. "Our bench brought some energy. The starters and everybody felt that energy, and we all locked in. When one person picks us up, we all get going."

Players Mentioned

Leaky Black

RJ Davis

D'Marco Dunn

Dontrez Styles

Seth Trimble

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