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UNC Basketball: Cole Anthony to play against Boston College

By Blake Cockrum

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - NOVEMBER 06: Cole Anthony #2 of the North Carolina Tar Heels reacts after making a three-point basket against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the second half at the Dean Smith Center on November 06, 2019 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. North Carolina won 76-65. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - NOVEMBER 06: Cole Anthony #2 of the North Carolina Tar Heels reacts after making a three-point basket against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the second half at the Dean Smith Center on November 06, 2019 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. North Carolina won 76-65. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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The UNC basketball program will get a boost from star freshman point guard Cole Anthony, who returns from injury after an eight-week absence.

The North Carolina Tar Heels have been without starting point guard Cole Anthony for nearly eight weeks now, but the star freshman is set to return on Saturday night against Boston College. The school confirmed the news just over two hours before the start of the game on Saturday afternoon.

Anthony suffered a partially torn meniscus in his right knee that required arthroscopic surgery In mid-December. He hasn’t played since the Tar Heels’ 56-47 loss at Virginia on December 8. North Carolina has struggled mightily in his absence, going just 4-7 and dropping five consecutive games in the month of January.

https://twitter.com/UNC_Basketball/status/1223709169921847296

By no means were they anywhere near perfect with Anthony in the lineup, but they had compiled six wins in their first nine games. Their lack of competitiveness during that stretch had little to do with Anthony, though, and far more about the growing pains of a young team that lost its top five players from a season ago. Since then, they’ve greatly missed the 19.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game that Anthony averaged over the first month of the season.

In recent weeks, however, the Tar Heels have looked much better. They’ve won back-to-back games for the first time since late December, and performed with greater efficiency and intensity than we’ve seen most of this season. Much of that is due to the terrific play of junior forward Garrison Brooks, who’s played like a first time All-ACC selection this season. Another important factor of late has been the progression of freshman big man Armando Bacot, who’s becoming a much more consistent force for the Tar Heels — particularly as a distributor.

If the Tar Heels can continue to play at that level with Anthony back in the lineup, it’ll be interesting to see what they can do over the final month of the regular season.

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