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University of North Carolina Athletics
Friday, October 27
Chapel Hill
7:30 PM
North Carolina
0-0,0-0ACC
117
vs
53
St. Augustine's (exhibition)
0-0,0-0CIAA
1
2
F
Saint Augustine's
26
27
53
North Carolina
65
52
117
Team Stats
SA
UNC
FG%
.266
.551
3FG%
.250
.457
FT%
.636
.789
RB
25
62
TO
13
12
STL
7
6
Game Leaders
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
13
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
7
Players Mentioned
F/C
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballPaxson Wojcik (left) and Harrison Ingram
Photo by: Maggie Hobson
Hot-Shooting Heels Run Past Saint Augustine's, 117-53
October 27, 2023 | Men's Basketball
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—Senior guard RJ Davis scored 17 points in the first six minutes of the game as 19th-ranked North Carolina built an early lead and cruised past Saint Augustine's, 117-53, on Friday night in the Smith Center in the Tar Heels' lone exhibition contest of the 2023-24 preseason.
Davis recorded 20 points on 7 of 8 shooting, including 5 of 6 from three-point territory, in the first half. He cooled in the second half but still finished with 22 points, five three-pointers, nine rebounds and two assists.
Junior transfer Harrison Ingram joined Davis with the hot hand in the early going, piling up 14 points on 5 of 7 shooting (including 2 of 3 three-pointers) with five rebounds and a blocked shot in the first 20 minutes. Ingram stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots overall.
Seven Carolina players scored in double figures, including Davis (a game-high 22), Ingram (16), Jalen Washington (14), Armando Bacot (13), Creighton Lebo (11) and Zayden High and Cormac Ryan (10 apiece).
The Tar Heels, who finished last in the Atlantic Coast Conference by shooting 31.2 percent from three-point range a season ago, connected on 16 of 35 of long-range tries on Friday (45.7 percent).
Ranked No. 19 by the Associated Press and No. 21 by the coaches in the preseason polls, the Tar Heels led from start to finish, building a lead that grew to as many as 39 points in the first half and as many as 64 in the final minute of the game.
After spending much of the preseason focusing on playing at a quicker pace than a year ago, the Tar Heels raced to a 25-0 advantage in fast break points and a 52-14 edge in points in the paint. Carolina's 52 paint points were almost as many as SAU scored overall (53).
"That's the key," Davis said of the team's pace. "The emphasis has been to get back to [a] Carolina pace, getting up and running. We had 25 fast break points, that's pretty good. That's just Coach Davis and the rest of the coaching staff emphasizing getting out and running. Looking to primarily run, not really settling in and try and get set down plays. We want to get layups, and that's what we did."
"I wouldn't characterize [tonight] as old Carolina Basketball, I would characterize it as Carolina Basketball," head coach Hubert Davis said in his postgame press conference. "You know, it's playing hard, playing smart, and playing together. I felt like tonight we played hard, we played smart, and we played together and we had fun."
How It Happened
First Half
• Davis scored all eight points as Carolina jumped out to an 8-0 lead in less than two minutes, forcing a Falcon timeout at the 18:18 mark of the first half. He scored 17 of Carolina's first 24 points as the Tar Heels built a 24-6 advantage.
• Carolina hit 8 of its first 10 and 14 of 20 field goal attempts from the floor before finishing 22 of 36 (61 percent) as a team in the first half.
• The Tar Heels also blistered the nets from behind the three-point arc in the first half, hitting 10 of their first 17 from three-point range and connecting on 56 percent in the half.
Second Half
• Carolina shot 50 percent overall and cooled to 35.3 percent from three-point range in the second half.
• Lebo, a senior walk-on, had a career night, all in the second half. He hit 4 of 5 shots and 3 of 4 three-point tries for 11 points in 15 minutes.
Inside the Box Score
• UNC shot 10 for 18 from three-point range (55.6 percent) in the first half and 16 for 35 in the game (45.7 percent).
• Tar Heel sophomore guard Seth Trimble (lower body) and Jae'Lyn Withers (upper body) both missed the game due to injury. Trimble was wearing a protective boot on his left foot during the game on the bench.
• Freshmen Elliot Cadeau and High entered the game together at the 16:45 mark of the first half, making their first appearances.
• Cadeau, the ACC Preseason Rookie of the Year, recorded seven points, three rebounds and four assists, highlighted by a driving dunk down the right side of the lane in the second half.
• High posted a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds while also blocking three shots
• Preseason first-team All-America Bacot scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds with four assists in just 21 points.
• Appearing in his third different uniform in a game in the Smith Center, guard Ryan started the contest and hit his first three-point attempt. He previously played with both Stanford and Notre Dame against the Tar Heels in the Smith Center. Ryan scored 10 points in 14 first-half minutes before leaving the game after stepping on teammate Paxson Wojcik's ankle and turning his ankle.
• Carolina out-rebounded SAU by a 62-25 margin and limited the Falcons to 26.6 percent shooting from the floor.
• Former Tar Heel NCAA champion Marcus Ginyard served as the color analyst for the ACCNX live stream of the game, while former Tar Heel Pete Chilcutt called the game as an analyst with play-by-play radio voice Dave Nathan on the Tar Heel Sports Network. Regular radio play-by-play man Jones Angell missed the game while in Atlanta with the UNC football team.
Up Next
UNC will begin its regular season on Monday November 6 at home against Radford. Tickets are available now.
Follow Tar Heel basketball on X at @UNC_Basketball and @UNCMBBstats and on Instagram at UNC_Basketball.
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