Lucas: Miami Rapid Reactions

By Adam Lucas

1. Big road win for Carolina in Coral Gables, as the Tar Heels beat Miami 75-72 and are now 6-1 on the road in the Atlantic Coast Conference and have clinched the program's 44th winning road campaign in the league. Harrison Ingram sank a big free throw and the Heels made just enough plays to escape with the win. It wasn't easy, or pretty, but it was a win.

2. Ho-hum, another huge RJ Davis performance. The senior guard had 25 points, including five three-pointers. A big part of his day was 8-for-8 from the free throw line. In the last two games, Davis' two-point consistency has deserted him (he was 1-for-8 on Saturday from two) but he has still found ways to put the ball in the basket. That's in addition to being the primary defender on Nigel Pack during a second half that saw Pack go 1-for-8 after lighting it up in the first half.

3. Davis was supported by a double-double Armando Bacot, who had 10 points to go with 15 rebounds before fouling out, and a freshman season high of 19 points from Elliot Cadeau.

4. Big sequence early in the second half. In a two-point game, Wooga Poplar was called for a foul. Then Norchad Omier earned a technical foul. That sent Davis to the free throw line for four shots--he made all of them, stretching out a lead that had been tight prior to the play. In what turned into a very close game, giving away those points was important.

5. As happened Tuesday night against Clemson, one team got off to a hot start. This time, it was Carolina bolting to a 20-8 lead. Unlike that game, however, the other team got hot enough to retake the lead before the break, as Miami rode Norchad Omier and Nigel Pack to a 41-40 edge at the break. Cadeau and Davis were the engines behind building that lead. Davis dumped in 16 points in 19 minutes in the first half, and Cadeau made his first three-pointer of 2024 on his way to 11 points and four assists in 15 first half minutes. Not content with just one, Cadeau added another trifecta in the second half.

6. Cadeau had a couple iffy decisions, but he overall was a key to the Tar Heel offense. That included delivering a precision pass to Armando Bacot for a dunk with five minutes left after Miami had closed within five. He then drove by his defender for a layup that gave the Heels a nine-point edge. If he starts hitting his outside shot with any sort of consistency--or even enough for defenses to have to honor him--he's going to be very tough to guard.

7. Cormac Ryan quietly made a couple big plays. The grad student hit a pair of three-pointers, and then broke up a potential Miami fast break with under 35 seconds to play in a two-point game. That possession ended in a missed shot by Norchad Omier and potentially saved a tie game.

8. Carolina aided that first half Hurricane comeback by falling in love with the three-point shot. The Tar Heels fired 19 of their 33 first half shots from three-point range. They connected on a reasonable seven of them, but that probably isn't the formula for success for this year's team. Armando Bacot attempted one field goal in the final 10:13 of the half.

9. Carolina again played without Seth Trimble, who missed his second straight game with an upper body injury. The sophomore guard was on the trip and did some pregame individual sessions with Marcus Paige, but was not available for game action.

10. That necessitated Hubert Davis going a little deeper in his bench than he has in recent games, including getting three first half minutes for Zayden High (who had a couple offensive rebounds but also a couple fouls) and five for Jae'Lyn Withers, who did not take a shot or get a rebound in that span. The best and most consistent Carolina reserve was Paxson Wojcik, who contributed three rebounds in his 18 minutes. Especially in Trimble's absence, the door is still open for other reserves to make consistent contributions. A High free throw was the only bench point scored by Carolina on Saturday.

11. Bacot entered the game with 2,139 points. His performance Saturday moved him past Sam Perkins (2,145) into third on Carolina's all-time scoring list. He also grabbed enough rebounds to pass Tim Duncan (1,570) for third in ACC all-time rebounding. Bacot entered the game with 1,566 boards. He did it in his 156th appearance as a Tar Heel, which set the all-time Carolina record. He also made his 155th UNC start, which is another record.

12. Another one of those unusual ACC scheduling quirks that have become more necessary because of the amount of teams in the league: Carolina and Miami didn't face each other until four weeks remain in the regular season, and now they'll meet twice in 17 days. The Tar Heels and Hurricanes will renew the series on Feb. 26 in Chapel Hill.

13. Never know where you might find some members of the Carolina family. Wayne Ellington, Sterling Manley and Ryan McAdoo were all in attendance on Saturday; the trio were seated behind the Tar Heel bench, along with Roy Williams.

Scoreboard Slider

University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Armando Bacot

Elliot Cadeau

RJ Davis

Zayden High

Harrison Ingram

Cormac Ryan

Seth Trimble

Jae'Lyn Withers

Paxson Wojcik

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