North Carolina started to stumble toward the end of January with a surprising loss to Georgia Tech, which spurred on three losses in five games.
The Tar Heels have recovered with home wins against Virginia Tech and Miami, sandwiched around a 54-44 win at Virginia. UNC controls its own destiny in winning the ACC regular season title at 22-6 overall and 14-3 in the league. North Carolina closes out with home games against NC State today and Notre Dame on Tuesday, and then at Duke on March 9.
NC State plays at North Carolina today at 4 p.m. on ESPN.
Overview
North Carolina senior guard R.J. Davis has become the “bus driver” for North Carolina, and just had 42 points in the win over Miami.
Davis and UNC struggled offensively but did enough to defeat NC State 67-54 on Jan. 10. The Tar Heels shot 38.7 percent from the field and 7 of 21 from three-point land, with Davis going 6 of 19 on his field-goal attempts. UNC won the battle of the boards 49-41 and held NC State to 2 of 20 on three-pointers.
Davis’ emergence has allowed senior center Armando Bacot to settle into being a role player. Stanford junior transfer Harrison Ingram has been a crucial addition as the small-ball four.
The perimeter game feeds off of Davis, with Stanford and Notre Dame transfer Cormac Ryan giving a veteran presence, while freshman point guard Elliot Cadeau had an extra year of high school remaining, but elected to graduate early and join the Tar Heels.
Rankings
North Carolina is No. 9 in the NET rankings, and NC State is No. 78.
ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has the Tar Heels ranked No. 13 overall, and the Wolfpack are No. 71.
KenPom.com has North Carolina at No. 9, and NCSU checks in at No. 75 this season.
Shooting
North Carolina is averaging 81.5 points per game and shooting 44.8 percent from the field, 35.4 percent on three-pointers and 74.9 percent from the free-throw line.
Davis leads the starters at 41.1 percent from three-point land and he’s 89.6 percent at the free-throw line. Ingram is at 39.5 percent, and Ryan chips in at 32.1 percent. Reserve sophomore guard Seth Trimble is 9 of 21 on three-pointers.
Rebounding
The Tar Heels are averaging 41.0 rebounds per game and have a plus-6.7 rebounding margin. UNC has 340 offensive rebounds.
Bacot and Ingram are first- and- fourth respectively in the ACC in rebounding. Bacot is avearging 10.2 rebounds per game for his five-year career and 10.5 this season. He has 1,628 career rebounds, and leads the Tar Heels with 85 offensive rebounds this season. Ingram has grabbed 9.2 rebounds per game, and has 73 offensive boards.
Defense
UNC is allowing 70.4 points per game, with opposing teams shooting 40.6 percent from the field and 30.7 percent from three-point land.
Bacot anchors the defense with 47 blocks, while Ingram has a team-best 42 steals.
Depth
Trimble, sophomore post player Jalen Washington, Louisville transfer Jae’Lyn Withers and former Loyola (Chicago) and Brown transfer Paxson Wojcik, a small forward, are the main components on UNC’s bench.
Trimble is chipping in 5.0 points in 17.2 minutes per game, and Washington is at 4.1 points and 2.7 rebound sin 8.7 minutes a contest.
Star Watch
Senior guard R.J. Davis leads the ACC with 21.7 points per game and is a strong candidate for league player of the year.
Davis has incrementally improved each of his four years at NC State, and has career highs in points per game, steals per game (1.3), three-point percentage (41.1) and free-throw percentage (89.6).
Davis is playing more off the ball with the arrival freshman point guard Elliot Cadeau, and he put it all together last game against Miami (Fla.), with 42 points, six rebounds, four steals and went 7 of 11 on three-pointers. He set a new scoring record at the Dean E. Smith Center.
Davis has hit at least four three-pointers in 11 games, has reached double figures in every game but one, and has scored 20-plus points in 10 contests.
Davis has played against NC State seven times over the last three years. The Wolfpack held him to 6 of 19 shooting for 16 points in the 67-54 win over NCSU on Jan. 10, 2024. He’s averaging 13.3 points per game and has shot 30 of 76 from the field in seven games against NC State.
Davis was ranked No. 52 overall coming out of White Plains (N.Y.) Archbishop Stepinac in the class of 2020.
Likely Starters
NC State
PG — 12 Michael O'Connell (6-2, 195, Sr., 4.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 3.1 apg)
SG — 0 DJ Horne (6-1, 175, R-Sr., 17.5 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.4 spg)
G — 14 Casey Morsell (6-3, 200, R-Sr., 11.6 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.9 apg, 1.0 spg)
PF — 23 Mohamed Diarra (6-10, 215, Jr., 5.3 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 0.3 apg)
C — 30 D.J. Burns (6-9, 275, R-Sr., 11.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.6 apg)
North Carolina
PG — 2 Elliot Cadeau (6-1, 180, Fr., 7.6 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 4.1 apg)
SG — 4 RJ Davis (6-0, 180, Sr., 21.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.4 apg, 1.3 spg)
G — 3 Cormac Ryan (6-5, 195, Sr., 10.9 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.4 apg)
F — 55 Harrison Ingram (6-7, 235, Jr., 12.2 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 2.2 apg, 1.5 spg)
C — 5 Armando Bacot (6-11, 240, Sr., 14.1 ppg, 10.5 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.7 bpg)
Numbers Of Note
15 ACC players of the year at North Carolina, which senior guard R.J. Davis is trying to join. Justin Jackson in 2017 was the last winner for UNC.
32 ACC regular-season titles for North Carolina, with the last one coming in 2019. The Tar Heels have 18 ACC Tournament titles, with 2016 the last one.
161 Games played after Saturday for UNC fifth-year senior center Armando Bacot, which tied former Virginia point guard Kihei Clark for most in ACC history.
Game Within The Game: UNC's Harrison Ingram vs. NCSU's Mohamed Diarra
North Carolina junior small ball four Harrison Ingram has arguably been one of the best transfers in the ACC.
INgram had his breakout moment when he went 5 of 9 on three-pointers for 21 points, plus 13 rebounds and four steals in a 93-84 win over Duke on Feb. 3. Ingram has saved his best ball for UNC's top opponents. He had 20 points in a 87-76 loss vs. UConn on Dec. 5, and he had 20 points and four three-pointers in the 100-92 victory against Tennessee on Nov. 29.
Ingram was ranked No. 16 overall in the country in the class of 2021 coming out of Dallas (Texas) St. Mark's High. He strongly considered UNC, but went with former Tar Heels assistant Jerod Haase and Stanford.
The 6-7, 235-pounder averaged exactly 10.5 points per game both years with the Cardinal. He struggled shooting the ball at 40.8 percent from the field and he was 31.9 percent from three-point land, and just 59.8 percent at the free-throw line.
Ingram has improved his shooting at North Carolina, but is still a subpar 56.8 percent from the free-throw line. He is an impressive 49 of 124 from the three-point line for 39.5 percent and is averaging 12.2 points and 9.2 boards a contest this winter. He has hit at least three three-pointers in eight games this season.
NC State junior power forward Mohamed Diarra has logged at least 26 minutes in the last five games. He has a combined 52 points, 48 rebounds and seven blocks during those five contests.
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