UNC Basketball: Tar Heels bounce Davidson out of Charlotte
The North Carolina Tar Heels and Davidson Wildcats played in Charlotte with UNC coming out with the win.
Charlotte is a busy place for the Atlantic Coast Conference this weekend. On Saturday there is the showdown between #1 Clemson and #7 Miami for not only the ACC Championship but a spot in the College Football Final Four.
However, before that UNC took on Davidson at the Spectrum Center, home of the Charlotte Hornets.
The game ended in a win for the Tar Heels. So what happened to lead to that outcome?
First Half
The first half was marked by the strong play of Joel Berry II who had 12 points, including 10 straight for the the Tar Heels.
The start of that run was a circus shot and-one while the last one was a big three pointer for UNC.
Outside of that, two main things stood out.
The first was Theo Pinson fouls.
Pinson had three fouls in the first half and had to sit the remaining 4:24 of the first half. After Pinson went out, the Wildcats went on a 6-0 run to tie up the game, further showing the value of Pinson on the defensive end for UNC.
The other was Davidson’s three point shooting.
The Wildcats hit seven three pointers in the first half while shooting 43.8 percent from behind the arc. They outscored the Tar Heels by 15 from downtown.
Davidson finished with 14 three pointers as they were led by the play of Peyton Aldridge who finished with 22 points and seven rebounds, but only shot 30.4 percent from the floor.
Second Half
The second half was marked by two main things as well.
The first was the continued scoring of Joel Berry II. Berry tossed in 15 second half points to finish with 27 for the game. He additionally had four assists.
Berry also gave Tar Heel fans a scare when he pulled himself out with an apparent knee injury.
He returned shortly, but UNC fans held their collective breath until the senior leader returned.
The other was the hustle play of Brandon Robinson. His eight points, a career high, were part of a 8-2 run that brought UNC back from three down to up three early in the first half.
Robinson was also everywhere on the floor for UNC saving possessions and bringing the ball up the court.
The epitome of the game for Robinson came early in the second half.
The Tar Heels looked to be turning the ball over with UNC only up three. Robinson made a diving play and got the ball back to the Tar Heels as Kenny Williams hit a layup to give UNC a five point lead.
Coach Williams clearly was impressed with his play as Robinson played a lot of minutes with Seventh Woods sidelined.
Player of the Game
Luke Maye. Last season Maye had a career-high ten points and six rebounds in Chapel Hill against the Wildcats in just 16 minutes of play. He shot 4-of-7 from the field including 1-of-2 from downtown.
The Junior continued his amazing season getting yet another double double in the first half with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
He finished the game with 24 points and 17 rebounds, a career-high, while shooting 10-of-18 from the field. He also had a steal.
Maye had a huge putback dunk with 7:14 remaining to put the Tar Heels up 15 in the second half. The dunk was part of an 18-4 run UNC used to put away the Wildcats for good.
Notable Stat
31. That is the rebounding margin the Tar Heels had over the Wildcats. UNC outrebounded Davidson 54-23 and couldn’t be stopped on the boards.
What’s Next
Up next for the Tar Heels is a Sunday game against Tulane in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels played the Green Waves last season, winning 95-75 in a road opener in New Orleans.