UNC Basketball: Tar Heels face tough road test this week
By Zack Pearson
Wednesday begins a big two-game road trip for the North Carolina Tar Heels
The North Carolina Tar Heels survived another scare at the Dean E. Smith Center on Saturday to open up Atlantic Coast Conference play.
With just over three minutes left in the game, Wake Forest held a lead and UNC was in danger of losing their second-straight home game.
But then Joel Berry saved them with a floater in the lane with just over a minute left in the game.
UNC escaped with a four-point win, beginning the conference season at 1-0.
After the season opener, UNC now faces a tough two-game road stretch that will provide an early test in 2018.
They begin with a trip to Tallahassee on Wednesday night to take on No. 24 Florida State who is 0-1 in conference play after losing on the road to Duke.
The Seminoles will be a tough challenge for UNC as they are one of the better three-point shooting teams in the nation. They enter the game shooting 38.7 percent from beyond the arc, good for 59th in the nation.
UNC is ranked 51st in the nation, shooting 39 percent from the three-point line but the Tar Heels do struggle to defend the three.
That’s where they can get in trouble.
Against Duke, the Seminoles made 15 three-pointers shooting 46 percent from that area. If UNC, struggles to defend again it could be a long night for them.
UNC will need to get going early and take the crowd out of it. The Donald L Tucker Center isn’t the easiest place to play and could be a hostile environment tonight, especially if Florida State jumps out to a lead early.
The way UNC’s schedule lines up, getting at least one win on this road trip would be huge.
Following the FSU game, UNC heads into Charlottesville for another tough road game against No. 8 Virginia.
Playing at Virginia hasn’t been kind to the Tar Heels recently.
Back in February of 2017, the Tar Heels visited Charlottesville as the No. 5 team in the nation.
They left that game scoring just 43 points in a 53-43 loss to the Cavaliers. The Tar Heels had one of their worst outputs on offense in program history and just couldn’t get anything going.
UNC has lost four-straight games at Virginia, with their last win coming in the 2012 ACC season.
John Paul Jones Arena is no easy place to play for opposing teams. Mix that in with Virginia’s style of play that slows down the pace of the game and teams find themselves in four-six point holes that feel like 10 or 12-point deficits.
For the Tar Heels, getting at least one win on this road trip is crucial. We’d all love two wins, which would put them at 3-0 on the ACC season and already beat two ranked conference opponents.
But after the Saturday afternoon game in Virginia, UNC returns home to play Boston College before going on the road to South Bend.
The Fighting Irish will be without preseason ACC Player of the Year in Bonzie Colson, so these next four games are very key.
Next: UNC vs. FSU: Preview, prediction and more
After what looked to be a mental lapse despite a against the Demon Deacons, let’s hope UNC can get two big road wins this week.
If they do so, it could go a long way in them winning another ACC regular season title.