Lucas: Three Boxes

By Adam Lucas

SOUTH BEND—As befits someone who once made his living on television, Hubert Davis is reliably consistent in distilling the essence of how a team can win a basketball game.

One of his favorite sayings relates to three simple factors that control whether a team is competitive in a game.

"I always say there are three boxes you have to check to be in any game," he told Jones Angell on the Tar Heel Sports Network after Carolina's 63-59 win over Notre Dame. "You have to get after it defensively. You have to rebound the basketball. And you have to take care of the basketball."

The headlines from Wednesday night's game will largely not focus on any of those three boxes. Instead, the attention will be on Carolina's very poor three-point shooting (2-for-23), below average overall field goal shooting (33.3 percent for the game), and atrocious first half that left the Heels trailing, 27-19, at the break.

But then those three boxes took over.

Box one: defense. OK, let's admit it: the 1993 Tar Heels aren't exactly concerned that this group is going to overtake them for sheer defensive acumen. But every once in a while, the 2023 iteration reminds you that they are, in fact, capable of disrupting an opponent.

This time, it was RJ Davis. Coming out of halftime after that very disappointing first 20 minutes, Davis increased his defensive intensity and forced two quick Irish turnovers. One led to Davis taking it himself for a score, the other created a Caleb Love three-pointer. That's how, in less than four minutes of second half play, Carolina somehow had the lead despite that miserable first half.

"It started with RJ," Love said. "He got those two steals right out of the half, and he brought that spark we needed."

Box two: rebound.

It's true that the Tar Heels missed 46 field goal attempts, a number that is far too high. But it's also true that Carolina rebounded half those misses, securing 23 offensive rebounds that led to 23 second chance points. And if your initial shot isn't going to create much offense—and on this night, it didn't—those second opportunities are critical.

Four different Tar Heel individuals had an offensive rebound, with tremendous offensive glass efforts from Armando Bacot (six), Leaky Black (six) and Pete Nance (five). Eight of Carolina's final 12 points were second chance, including Love's game-sealing free throws with 6.8 seconds remaining, plus a possession with under four minutes left when the Heels—trailing by one point—got five shots on one trip, ultimately capping it with a Nance basket.

Box three: take care of the ball.

Perhaps the most stark difference in the two halves was in the turnover department. After turning it over eight times in the first half (zero assists and eight turnovers in 20 minutes is an accurate gauge of how bad the first half was) against a defense that has forced just 8.8 miscues per game this season, Carolina committed just one turnover in the final 20 minutes.

And so, while the offense still wasn't very prolific in the second half, every possession but one at least ended with a shot…which gave the Tar Heels the chance to utilize their best offensive attack—rebounding a missed shot and trying again. Put the ball up on the rim and give Bacot, Nance and Black the chance to go get it. That's essentially how Carolina won the game, and that's a strategy the Heels used more effectively in the second half, when committing even a couple more turnovers could have altered the outcome of the game.

So that's how, even on a night when Carolina wasn't memorably proficient, the Tar Heels still did enough in Davis' three favorite categories to win.

It would be completely incorrect to assume the head coach was fully pleased with his team's victory. There were enough breakdowns, both physical and mental, that necessitated some very pointed postgame locker room comments making it clear that the performance wasn't acceptable. Thursday's practice is likely to be an intense one, with just two preparation days before Virginia arrives in the Smith Center Saturday night for one of Carolina's last, best chances for a big win.

That opportunity only still matters because the Heels did just enough to emerge victorious on Wednesday.

"We shot 2-23 from three and 33 percent from the field," Davis said. "But if you check those three boxes, you give yourself a chance to be successful."

Scoreboard Slider

University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Armando Bacot

Leaky Black

RJ Davis

Caleb Love

Pete Nance

Related Videos