Lucas: The Response

By Adam Lucas

PARADISE ISLAND—We've seen this before.

Carolina had the ball and a 36-35 lead just before halftime on Friday. Hubert Davis used his first half timeout to set up a play, and Elliot Cadeau began creating. But then his pass to RJ Davis was stolen by Layden Blocker, who took it the length of a court for a buzzer-beating dunk.

We've all seen it. That's the kind of play going into halftime that can completely change a game. This time, though, Carolina refused to let that happen.

"We were real, and we were vocal, and we were straightforward and direct about what we needed to do to change things in the second half," Hubert Davis said on the Tar Heel Sports Network about the halftime locker room message. "We had talked a lot on Thursday night about how you need to respond when things don't go your way. The only thing you have control over is your response. We needed to respond to what happened yesterday against Villanova, and to what happened in the first half against Arkansas when we lost the lead."

The response—which included nearly 60 percent shooting from the field and over 80 percent from the free throw line—was precisely what the Tar Heels needed. On the other side, Tramon Mark was cooking, as he went 13-for-17 from the field for his 34 points.

And Carolina also had an individual with at least 30, as RJ Davis tied his career high with 30 points. But here's the difference: Davis had help from every one of the seven other Tar Heels who got minutes against the Razorbacks.

That includes Harrison Ingram, who posted an eye-popping 13-point, 10-rebound, six-assist line while playing all 40 minutes. That's how indispensable he was: he never left the court.

Ingram completely controlled the game during the decisive stretch in the second half, consistently backing his man into the post, then either scoring over him or waiting for a double-team and finding an open teammate.

"I was waiting for the double team," Ingram said. "If they didn't double me, I would take my chances. We knew they had smaller guards, so the plan was to bully them down low. There's no reason to be on the perimeter trying to dance. Go down there and bully them and show them we've been in the weight room."

Here's one of the fun things about this team, though. It wasn't just a game of physical prowess. Ingram actively showed leadership on the court that made a tangible difference in the outcome. After one of those post-up-and-pass sequences, he had found Seth Trimble across the court open behind the three-point line. Trimble, who was doing a solid job denying Mark the ball on the other end of the court, hesitated for just a second and didn't take the shot.

At the next dead ball, Ingram immediately went to Trimble. "Shoot that," he told him. "You're open. Shoot it."

With four minutes left and Carolina holding an eight-point lead, Ingram again passed out of a double-team to Trimble, who again was open behind the three-point line. But this time, the sophomore guard took the shot, and when he knocked it down Carolina had an 11-point lead and the game was never in doubt again.

It's only November, but that was a little window into what you're going to like about this team. They don't just let the game happen to them. They actively impact it. And it's not just the players who are on the court. There's so much talk about leadership and who might be a team's leaders.

It's pretty simple: watch them play. The leaders become obvious.

"This is a tough group and a together group," said Hubert Davis. "The huddles, the communication, the encouragement is off the chart. Cormac didn't play. Before the game, I've never seen a player as emotional as he was because he couldn't play. What he meant to us on the bench and his communication with the guys, it was as if he was out there on the floor."

Oh, that's right. We may have forgotten to mention that Carolina played without Cormac Ryan, who came into the game as the team's fourth double-digit scorer, third-leading assist man, the leader in assist/turnover ratio, and a three-point threat who was slowly heating up in the Bahamas.

The Tar Heels, in other words, had every reason to lose this game. But they didn't.

And so they will come back from Nassau without a Battle 4 Atlantis championship but with a little more of their identity established. This is, as you've already heard, a fun group. It's especially noticeable when they're together for a long period in a situation like this tournament. In walking around the resort, it was very unusual to see the same group together twice. Upperclassmen hung out with younger players. Transfers with returners.

The team bus mostly wasn't needed after Monday's trip to an off-site practice facility, but the difference was especially noticeable on that bus. Those trips can sometimes be quiet. Everyone might be on their phones, or listening to music, or otherwise engaged. This bus was raucous. And it wasn't separate groups. It was the entire team, everyone talking to everyone else. Ryan gave a dissertation on Subway franchises (you had to be there). RJ Davis provided updates on the Louisville game to former Cardinal Jae'Lyn Withers. The wisdom of driving on the opposite side of the road was discussed (that's how they do it in the Bahamas), and the fact that England native James Okonkwo would be a natural here.

It's not a place for the sensitive. But it is definitely a place to have fun. The Tar Heels have the right mix of young and brash—"Other than the fouling, I played good defense," Elliot Cadeau told his teammates in the locker room, oblivious to the fact that "other than the fouling" was a pretty substantial caveat for a player who has fouled out two games in a row—and veteran and deservedly confident.

Beating Arkansas completely changed the takeaway from the week. Losing to the Hogs would have made the whole tournament feel ominous. Now Villanova feels like an aberration. As Ingram said, "Villanova played an amazing game. Eric Dixon had a career night and they beat us by two in overtime after we had three guys foul out."

He's not wrong. And he usually isn't.

But don't worry, Harrison Ingram doesn't often  have any doubts about whether he is wrong. Confidence is part of what makes him who he is on the court, and a similar quality in multiple other teammates is part of what's changed the composition of the Tar Heels. This isn't just the Bacot and Davis show anymore. You come to tournaments like this to begin developing your team's personality, to spend time together off the court and play quality composition on the court.

Carolina succeeded in both ways this week. And what do we know about them now?

"We have some big boys," Ingram said. "You want to go in the post? I can do that, too.

"You want to bully? I can do that, too.

"You want to be pretty and shoot threes? I can do that, too.

"We have so many players who bring a different aspect of their game to the table. It really feels like we fit together perfectly."

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Elliot Cadeau

RJ Davis

Harrison Ingram

James Okonkwo

Cormac Ryan

Seth Trimble

Jae'Lyn Withers

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