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UNC Basketball: The Dawson Garcia breakout game?

By Nick Delahanty

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - NOVEMBER 05: Dawson Garcia #13 of the North Carolina Tar Heels reacts after a three-point basket against the Elizabeth City State Vikings during their game at the Dean E. Smith Center on November 05, 2021 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The Tar Heels won 83-55. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - NOVEMBER 05: Dawson Garcia #13 of the North Carolina Tar Heels reacts after a three-point basket against the Elizabeth City State Vikings during their game at the Dean E. Smith Center on November 05, 2021 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The Tar Heels won 83-55. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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Although the UNC basketball program suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday afternoon, sophomore Dawson Garcia was phenomenal for the Tar Heels, earning our “Tar Heel of the Game” honors.

The UNC basketball program faced their toughest test of the early season, as they suffered a loss to No. 6 Purdue on Saturday. Although the Tar Heels didn’t pull out the victory, there was a lot to be impressed by.

Hubert Davis’ squad did not have a lead until midway through the second half, and on numerous occasions fought back from a double-digit deficit. Needless to say, this team has a lot of fight in them.

With Armando Bacot sidelined for most of the game due to foul trouble, the Tar Heels needed a spark while their go-to offensive player was out. While Bacot was on the bench, it was another big man who led the charge.

Through the first three games of the season, Dawson Garcia had yet to get into the rhythm that we all know he could get into. On Saturday afternoon, Garcia found his shooting stroke, and was simply unconscious through the first half.

Garcia scored 15 points through the first 20 minutes of play, as he made all of his seven shot attempts. He added an additional nine points in the second half to finish with a game-high 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting. After making just one three-pointer through the team’s first three contests, the sophomore forward knocked in three of his five attempts against Purdue.

Without a doubt, Purdue is a team to keep an eye on this season. The Boilermakers have a ton of talent and can beat you in multiple ways, a trait that could help them make a deep run in this season’s NCAA Tournament. Given their veteran leadership and talent all over the floor, you have to give a lot of credit to this Tar Heels team for keeping up with them for the majority of the game’s 40 minutes.

The Tar Heels were, in large part, able to keep up with the Boilermakers due to Garcia’s stellar play. That is why Garcia has earned our “Tar Heel of the Game” honors for the contest. Through four games, four different Tar Heels have earned the honor.

Yes, it’s very early in the season, but could this serve as the Dawson Garcia breakout game? We all know how good the sophomore from Prior Lake, Minnesota can be — we literally saw him dominate the Tar Heels at the Dean Dome just a season ago!

Now that he’s on our side, the UNC basketball program could really use the player that we saw against Purdue. If he can continue to shoot the ball at a high level, this Tar Heels team will be a tough group to match up with down the stretch.

Check in tomorrow to find out who earns our “Tar Heel of the Game” honor against Tennessee.

Next. UNC Football: No Howell, No Problem!. dark

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