UNC Basketball: Grades for Tar Heels’ game against Elon
![CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - DECEMBER 11: Armando Bacot #5 of the North Carolina Tar Heels battles Torrence Watson #5 of the Elon Phoenix for a rebound during the first half of their game at the Dean E. Smith Center on December 11, 2021 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - DECEMBER 11: Armando Bacot #5 of the North Carolina Tar Heels battles Torrence Watson #5 of the Elon Phoenix for a rebound during the first half of their game at the Dean E. Smith Center on December 11, 2021 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/ecd8fc78b27d4f9d025ab784318becfe462f89ec590629bff5e420e12dcb39bf.jpg)
Caleb Love
Caleb Love continues to show everyone exactly why there was so much hype surrounding him and his game coming out of high school last year. He’s a star in the making, with the kind of offensive capabilities that NBA scouts and general managers are going to salivate over when he decides to enter his name into the draft.
He went for 22 points again on Saturday — his fourth time hitting that number this season — on a 7-for-14 shooting performance overall and 4-for-7 from three-point range. He also hit all four of his free throw attempts to bring his season average up to 79.5 percent. He added five rebounds, three steals and one assist while playing a game-high 34 minutes. The only real knock on Love’s game against Elon was the four turnovers, but the rest of his performance more than makes up for that.
A
Dawson Garcia
Garcia hasn’t put together consecutive double-digit scoring games once this season, and he scored just two points in the Tar Heels’ blowout victory over Georgia Tech earlier in the week. He was back on track against the Phoenix, though, scoring 22 points to go along with seven rebounds and an 8-for-10 mark at the foul line. It’ll be interesting to see how Garcia plays against Furman on Tuesday, and whether or not he can string together two straight star performances.
A
Leaky Black
Leaky Black is becoming the player that we all hoped he would, and his improvement on the court this season sure has been fun to watch. He had another good performance over the weekend when he was again the Tar Heels’ best defender against the Phoenix. Offensively, he only scored two points, but that’s fine when he plays terrific defense and is surrounded by a group of Tar Heels that can put the ball in the hoop. He also hauled in a game-high eight rebounds to go along with three assists, one steal and one block in 26 minutes of play.