North Carolina is a spot that NC State has been very familiar with in recent years — being on the NCAA Tournament bubble.
The Tar Heels are lacking quality wins, with victories over Michigan, Virginia and a sweep of Virginia Tech. UNC first-year coach Hubert Davis might have to make a dent in the ACC Tournament, though it is always hard to find 68 teams.
North Carolina plays at NC State at 2 p.m. Saturday on ESPN. The Tar Heels have remaining games vs. Syracuse and at Duke.
Overview
North Carolina has four players in double figures, led by junior center Armando Bacot.
Bacot is averaging 15.9 points and 12.3 rebounds per game and shooting 58.0 percent from the field. Stretch four Brady Manek, an Oklahoma roster, is third on the team with 13.8 points and 5.6 rebounds.
The backcourt duo of sophomores Caleb Love and R.J. Davis have combined for 28.8 points and 7.1 assists per game.
The Tar Heels have been without Marquette transfer Dawson Garcia since Jan. 22 due to personal reasons with his family.
Rankings
North Carolina is No. 41 in the NET rankings this season, and NC State is No. 135.
ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has the Tar Heels currently ranked No. 34 overall, and NC State is No. 118.
KenPom.com has North Carolina at No. 41, and NCSU checks in at No. 128.
RealtimeRPI.com has NC State ranked No. 216 in the country, and North Carolina is No. 43.
Shooting
UNC is averaging 77.5 points per game and shooting 45.7 percent from the field, 37.6 percent on three-pointers and 75.8 percent at the free-throw line.
Senior small forward Rechon "Leaky" Black is surprisingly leading UNC with making 41.9 percent of his three-pointers (13 of 31). Davis is right behind at 40.8 percent and Love is at 39.9 percent, and both have over 120 three-point field-goal attempts.
Rebounding
UNC is averaging 39.3 rebounds per game this season and is particularly good on the offensive rebounds with 291.
Bacot is a beast on the boards and is averaging 12.3 per game. He has 103 offensive rebounds. Manek is second with 5.6 boards a contest.
Defense
The Tar Heels are allowing 72.1 points per game, and opposing teams are shooting 43.4 percent from the field and 34.6 percent on three-pointers.
Bacot has a team-high 47 blocks, and Love leads the squad with 34 steals.
Depth
North Carolina hasn't featured a deep bench like in past years, with the coaching change to Davis.
Add in Garcia and sophomore wing Anthony Harris not on the roster and the bench options have shrunk. Sophomore shooting guard Kerwin Walton is averaging 3.9 points in 15.2 minutes per game, but he averaged 8.2 points per game last year.
Sophomore wing Puff Johnson and freshman combo forward Dontrez Styles round out the rotation. Styles, who is from Kinston (N.C.) High, picked UNC over NC State among others.
Star Watch
The Armando Bacot argument about winning the ACC Player of the Year has died down since the last meeting against NC State. The 6-10, 240-pounder is still a force in the paint and the boards.
What is interesting for Bacot is that he hasn't had more than nine field-goal attempts in his last four games, even though he's made 19 of 30 shots during that stretch. It hasn't slowed down his rebounding with 52 boards in those four games.
Bacot is averaging 15.9 points and 12.3 rebounds per game and shooting 58.0 percent from the field. He has scored 20-plus points in eight games, and has grabbed at least 10 rebounds in all but six contests, which is pretty remarkable.
Bacot had 29 points and 22 rebounds in a 74-58 win vs. Virginia on Jan. 8. He also had 19 points, 22 rebounds and two blocks in the 90-83 overtime win at Louisville on Feb. 1.
As the lone main big man, he's had a couple of big shot-blocking games. He had six blocks against NC State, and five rejections recently at Virginia Tech on Feb. 19.
The Richmond, Va., native was a decorated recruit and Rivals.com ranked him No. 27 overall in the country in the class of 2019. He finished up at Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy.
Likely Starters
NC State
PG — 1 Dereon Seabron (6-7, 180, R-Soph., 18.0 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 3.2 apg, 1.4 spg)
SG — 0 Terquavion Smith (6-4, 160, Fr.,15.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.4 spg)
G — 14 Casey Morsell (6-3, 200, Jr., 7.4 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 0.8 apg)
PF — 4 Jericole Hellems (6-7, 200, Sr., 13.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.1 spg)
C — 21 Ebenezer Dowuona (6-11, 225, Soph., 4.1 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 0.2 apg, 2.0 bpg)
North Carolina
PG — 2 Caleb Love (6-4, 195, Soph., 15.3 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 3.8 apg, 1.2 spg)
SG — 4 R.J. Davis (6-0, 175, Soph., 13.5 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.3 apg, 1.0 spg)
SF — 1 Leaky Black (6-8, 200, Sr., 5.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.4 apg)
PF — 45 Brady Manek (6-9, 230, Sr., 13.8 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 1.7 apg)
C — 5 Armando Bacot (6-10, 240, Jr., 15.9 ppg, 12.3 rpg, 1.5 apg)
Numbers Of Note
3: Season highs in three categories for UNC in the win over NC State — field goals (34), three-pointer's (15) and fastbreak points (25).
7.1: Rebound margin, which leads the ACC and 15th in the country.
26.2 Percentage in eight losses for sophomore guard Caleb Love on three-pointers.
Game Within The Game: UNC's Brady Manek vs. NC State's Jericole Hellems
North Carolina fifth-year senior Brady Manek hurt NC State in the first meeting.
He has scored at least 11 points in 10 of his last 11 games. The 6-9, 230-pounder made 5 of 7 three-pointers en route to 17 points in the 100-80 victory Jan. 29.
Manek is averaging 13.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, and is shooting 48.0 percent from the field and 38.4 percent on three-pointers.
The stretch four had an ACC-best 24 points and went 4 of 9 on three-pointers in the 90-83 overtime win at Louisville. He also went 6 of 10 on three-pointers and had 21 points in a 87-67 loss vs. Duke on Feb. 5.
Manek has grabbed at least eight rebounds in seven games, with a season-high 11 against Appalachian State on Dec. 21.
Manek was ranked No. 143 overall nationally by Rivals.com in the class of 2017, coming out of Harrah (Okla.) High. He originally picked Oklahoma over Oklahoma State and Tulsa.
NC State senior power forward Jericole Hellems will be celebrating his Senior Day. He is averaging 13.4 points and 4.4 rebounds a contest, and shooting 38.7 percent from three-point land. He has been inconsistent of late, and is coming off getting eight points and four rebounds in the 69-61 loss vs. Boston College on Wednesday.
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