UNC Basketball: Tar Heels show three-point range in road win at Georgia Tech

The UNC basketball program completed a 2-0 week by beating No. 24 Michigan and then earning their first Atlantic Coast Conference win of the year at Georgia Tech.

Things got off to a slow start for UNC allowing a big 19-2 Georgia Tech run in the first half to fall behind before rallying to tie it at 31 at halftime. But in the second half, UNC flexed their muscles and went on a  22-5 run to grab the lead and eventually seal it.

During that run, UNC got four three-points including three from R.J. Davis and one from transfer Brady Manek. On the game, UNC shot 58.8 percent from the three-point line making 10 of their 17 attempts to help them power ahead and win the game.

Davis led the way with four made three-pointers while Caleb Love and Manek also had three three-pointers for the Tar Heels. In the second half, Davis stuck with his two-guard lineup playing both Davis and Love together. And it paid off during that long run and the win in the second half.

"“I couldn’t take them off the floor. They were just too good. And they’ve been really good throughout the entire year,” Davis said in his presser via Inside Carolina. “You know, one of the reasons that I love playing two point guards… Before I got into coaching, I never looked at it that way. And then we had Joel Berry and Marcus Paige, and I said wow, ‘That’s pretty good. It’s nice to have.’ Two ball handlers out there that, you can never be pressed, you can never be taken out of your offense, and you’ve got multiple playmakers that can make plays for your team. And that’s what we have in R.J. and Caleb. At any given time those are the guys that can make shots, but they also can consistently create shots. “"

But it’s not just this game where UNC has flourished from behind the arc.

As of Monday night, the Tar Heels rank fourth in all of college basketball making 43.29 percent of their three-point attempts behind only South Dakota State, Purdue, and Colorado State.

The jump in production there is huge for Davis’ team. Last season, UNC shot just 31.7 percent which was good for 273rd in the country. The year before that they shot 30.4 percent which was 312th in the nation.

Now, I don’t know if UNC can keep this high of a number up but through eight games the results look positive. Davis leads the way making 51.4 percent of his attempts, followed by Dawson Garcia (50 percent), Manek (41.5 percent) and Love (40.5 percent). Sophomore Kerwin Walton, who was UNC’s best three-point shooter last season, has struggled so far shooting just 35.7 percent from the field. Walton’s struggles likely won’t continue but in order for him to see an uptick in minutes, he needs to drain his shots.

Let’s see if UNC can continue this hot start from the three point line the rest of non-conference play and into conference play. Because if they do that, they can play with any team in the country.

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