Tar Heels end losing streak with win over UNC-Asheville at home

After a disappointing 0-2 weekend at the Hall of Fame Tip-off Classic, Hubert Davis and the North Carolina Tar Heels got back on track with a win over UNC-Asheville going into the Thanksgiving break.

With their defense being criticized for poor play including giving up an average of 90 points per game over their last four, UNC showed up defensively in the 72-53 win over the Bulldogs. The Tar Heels held the Bulldogs to just 26.5 percent from the field and 18.9 percent from the three-point line, putting the clamps down when needed.

The Bulldogs entered this game shooting poorly from the field, so it’s not a shocker that they struggled again. Even with the defensive showing, there’s still room for improvement on the defensive end, especially with tough tests against Michigan and UCLA in non-conference play still.

Plus, UNC was very sloppy with the basketball committing 18 turnovers. If Asheville had a halfway decent offense, the Tar Heels are probably looking at their third loss of the year if we are being totally honest. A win is a win but this team needs to clean up a lot of things before they hit conference play or they could be in trouble again this year.

https://twitter.com/UNC_Basketball/status/1463323964126609417

The Tar Heels set the tone early on, jumping out to a 35-15 lead including going on a 14-3 run in the first half. UNC’s offense was working well and the team found its rhythm from the field. UNC shot 49.1 percent from the field in the game and 50 percent from the three-point line including five different players making a shot from beyond the arc.

The Bulldogs did cut the lead down to seven at one point in the second half, opening up the half on a 14-8 run to open it up. But UNC responded with a run of their own late and put the game away with clutch buckets from Armando Bacot, R.J. Davis and Caleb Love.

Bacot led the way with 22 points on 8 of 14 shooting and he also grabbed 7 rebounds in the game. But more importantly, Bacot was 6 of 7 from the free throw line, an area he entered the game struggling in. On the year, Bacot had made just 52% of his free throw attempts but surpassed that mark in this one.

Davis finished with 12 points and Brady Manek had 8 points and 9 rebounds off the bench.

The win gets the Tar Heels to 4-2 on the year and will host No. 20 Michigan on December 1st in Chapel Hill. From there, they open up their ACC schedule a few days later at Georgia Tech before hosting Elon and Furman.

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