Carmichael Comments: Home Sweep

Carmichael Comments: Home Sweep
Vol. 7, No. 8
By: Matt Krause (@MattKrausePxP)

For the first time this season, Carolina played a "traditional" Thursday-Sunday ACC week, with two conference games in a four-day span. Although neither win was easy, the Tar Heels defended their home court twice, knocking off Duke 53-46 in a low-scoring overtime battle, and coming from behind to beat Boston College 80-67. Here's a few key notes from the week that was:

Duke's 23.5% field goal percentage tied the Villanova game on Nov. 24 for the lowest by a Carolina opponent this season, and was the lowest for a Carolina ACC opponent since Miami shot 22.7% on Feb. 6, 2022.

"Thank goodness we can play defense," Carolina Head Coach Courtney Banghart remarked just moments after the Tar Heels finished off their archrivals on Thursday.

Even on a day where the offense struggled to find any sort of rhythm and shot just 32% with 26 turnovers committed, the Tar Heels remained attentive to the scouting report, preventing the Blue Devils from earning consistent quality shot attempts and denying a team that came in scoring 80 points a game from finding a rhythm of their own.

"I would have bet a lot of money the game would be more high-scoring," Banghart said. "Our guys really locked in on the scout. We took away their favorite actions, we were really good at the ball screen."
Duke finished with 16 field goals to 21 turnovers, and a Blue Devil team that came in assisting 60% of made field goals dished out only five in a 45-minute game.

Carolina picked up its third overtime win in the Banghart era and first since Dec. 20, 2020 against Wake Forest.

Carolina and Duke were tied at 16 at halftime on Thursday night, locked in a battle that neither team could seem to gain an upper hand on. That is, until Carolina went up 32-16 on a slow-developing 16-0 run in the early stages of the second half. From there, Duke's comeback was on, culminating in a 40-40 deadlock at the conclusion of regulation. With numerous chances to put the game away late in regulation, Carolina was forced to regroup and turn their attention to another five minutes of basketball. What does Banghart say in that situation?

"Stay the course," she implored to her team. "When we went to OT, I feel like, in regulation, we kind of handed it to them, and then re-handed it to them, and they weren't able to capitalize. So we were like 'okay, enough.'"
Banghart said she reminded her team that it was "our turn," and the Tar Heels responded by wrapping up the win and shooting 10-for-14 at the free throw line alone in OT.

Alyssa Ustby will leave Carolina with a 4-0 home mark against Duke, the first Carolina senior or graduate student to do so since 2011. She averaged 14.5 PPG in the quartet of home wins, scoring in double figures in every game.

While the production on this season's Carolina roster has proven the Tar Heels to be an ensemble cast, the most familiar face on the team belongs to graduate student Alyssa Ustby, who's in her fifth and final season wearing No. 1 in Carolina Blue. Ustby's freshman season, when fans were not permitted into Carmichael Arena, was the first time since 1977 that Carolina and Duke did not play in a season, as the Blue Devils opted out of the season after just four games. Since the return to normalcy in 2021-22, Carolina has reeled off four straight wins at home against Duke for the first time since 2008-11. Ustby has played a critical role in each win, scoring 10+ in each game, with a high of 17 in last season's Senior Day victory. It's a fitting conclusion for a transformational player.

"That's pretty special," Banghart reflected simply when reminded of Ustby's achievement. "(Alyssa) has meant a lot to us."

The win over Boston College was Carolina's first halftime comeback since Mar. 3, 2024 against Duke.

A confluence of events led the Tar Heels to enter the locker room on Sunday at halftime in a three-point deficit, 40-37. Boston College shot 60% in the second quarter, picking apart the normally-sound Carolina defense with eight of their nine made field goals coming from two-point range. The Eagles' five-out offense – an offensive style played without a true post player, and a group of players all standing right around 6' tall and possessing a similar game – stretched the Tar Heels out, and Carolina struggled to contain penetration and midrange jumpers. Part of the problem was foul trouble, as Lexi Donarski and Indya Nivar each accrued three first half fouls, and were glued to the bench for the final 4:27 of the half. Plus, Trayanna Crisp was unavailable.

Come halftime, Banghart addressed her team's slow start and challenged them directly.

"I thought our energy in the first half was not who we are," she said postgame.

Banghart said that the difference in energy between the Duke game and Boston College showed that the energy and effort was about "the other team" – with all due respect, BC is not a traditional rival at the level Duke is – and shared that observation with her team.

The message worked. After the half, Carolina scored the first six points and never relinquished the lead. Boston College shot less than 30% after halftime, and getting stops enabled the Tar Heels to unleash Alyssa Ustby's rim-running ability in transition. She scored 12 of her 17 points after halftime, a key piece in Carolina's first halftime comeback of the season.

"We were more aggressive, and just better overall," Banghart said of her team's second half.

Carolina has forced 20+ turnovers in three straight ACC games for the first time since Feb. 23, 2023-Mar. 2, 2023 against Virginia Tech, Duke, and Clemson, with the Clemson game falling in the ACC Tournament. Carolina has forced 15+ turnovers in eight straight games, the longest streak since eight in a row from Dec. 5, 2021 against James Madison through Jan. 9, 2022 against Virginia Tech.

Carolina's defense has been turning teams over at an exceptional rate, with every opponent going back to UNCG on Dec. 11 committing 15 or more in their game against the Tar Heels. There are certainly styles of play that are designed to force turnovers on the defensive end – but Carolina is certainly not a team that you'll see press for 40 minutes. Instead, Banghart preaches a defensive philosophy that borrows a metaphor from the diamond – "hitting singles."

"We don't want to play high-risk, high-reward defense, especially against really good teams," she explained. "And that is going for things outside of our structure and end up giving up something easy. We always talk about 'hitting singles' …and if you do that, you're usually in a pretty good spot."

What does that mean in basketball terms?

"If you're on the ball, chest up," Banghart said. "One pass away, an elite gap angle. If you're weak side, you're ready to rotate to be helpful."

Following that formula will typically lead to a stop, whether from a missed shot, or recently, a turnover.

Up Next
After playing three straight home games, five of the next seven games for the Tar Heels are out on the road. Carolina will make its first-ever visit to SMU on Thursday, clashing with one of the ACC's newest members at 8:00 p.m. ET. SMU, led by fourth-year head coach Toyelle Wilson, sits 2-3 in their debut season in the conference. Our THSN coverage begins 30 minutes prior to tip with the Reeds Jewelers Pregame Show at 7:30 p.m. Catch the call worldwide for free on the Varsity Network app from Learfield, GoHeels.com, or the GoHeels app, as well as on WCHL 97.9 FM/1360 AM.

Sunday will see another road game, this time a visit to the confluence of the three rivers in Pittsburgh to face Pitt. Carolina will be hunting its sixth straight win over the Panthers, one of two teams that Courtney Banghart has a perfect record against during her time leading the Tar Heels. Tip on Sunday is set for 2:00 p.m., and our THSN coverage begins 30 minutes prior to tip with the Reeds Jewelers Pregame Show at 1:30 p.m. Catch the call worldwide for free on the Varsity Network app from Learfield, GoHeels.com, or the GoHeels app, as well as on WCHL 97.9 FM/1360 AM.

If you missed it, this week's edition of Holding Court is available now on the Tar Heel Voices Podcast Channel, and will air on WCHL at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 14. We'll tape again next Monday, Jan. 20, at the Sheraton Chapel Hill at Noon.

That's all for now. Go Heels!
-Matt