UNC Basketball vs. Georgia Tech: Game preview, info, prediction and more

The UNC basketball program is looking to go 2-0 against Georgia Tech this year after a surprising 74-58 blowout win over the Virginia Cavaliers.

It’s been a bit of an up and down season so far for Hubert Davis’ squad but to get the monkey off their back and beat Virginia to end a seven-game losing streak to the Cavaliers could give them some momentum going into the heart of Atlantic Coast Conference schedule.

Up next for UNC is a home date with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, a team that enters the game 6-8 overall and 0-4 in conference play. But UNC can’t sleep on this team and think they are just going to cruise to an easy victory, either.

As good as this Carolina team can be, the inconsistent nature of turnovers could cause this game to be a lot closer than the first time. In the first meet-up between these two teams, the Heels went into the second half tied 31-31 with fans wondering why. That same team came out and won the second half 48-31.

So what changed?

Well for starters point guard RJ Davis took over. The sophomore had a consistent overall game, but 13 of his 24 points came in the second half for a much-needed spark. The entire team began to show life finally hitting smooth fast breaks and forcing the Yellow Jackets into bad shots. Now they must repeat half two for the entirety of this rematch.

If they do, they should be able to find themselves in the win column come Saturday night.

Something To Watch

Will Armando Bacot continue his double double streak? As it stands, Bacot has six double-digit point and rebound games in a row with each becoming more and more impressive. In the 78-71 loss against Notre Dame, Bacot finished with 21 points and 17 rebounds. That performance got even better in the last outing where he had 29 points and 22 rebounds in the 74-58 win over Virginia. Bacot in the first game against Georgia Tech had 15 points and 13 rebounds.

Bacot is currently third in the nation for double doubles with 11 on the season and is in the talk for conference player of the year.

Keys To Victory

Dominate the inside and limit the outside. The reason Carolina won the first outing so easily was thanks to their 33-21 rebound advantage. They also didn’t let Georgia Tech sting them behind the arch with the Yellow Jackets shooting 37.8% vs. Carolinas’ 58.8%.

Carolina did lose the turnover battle 14-13, but ball movement still was more fluent on UNCs side.

One thing Carolina will have to do better this time is containing guard Dallan Coleman, the freshman came off the bench and scored 13 points on 71.4% shooting. Repeating what worked the first time with some minor tweaks should result in another Tar Heel victory.

Projected Starters

No. 4 R.J. Davis (So., 6-0, 175) – 12.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.6 apg
No. 2 Caleb Love (So., 6-4, 195) – 15.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.4 apg
No. 1 Leaky Black (Sr., 6-8 200) – 3.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 2.1 apg
No. 45 Brady Manek (So. 6-9, 230) – 12.9 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 1.5 apg
No. 5 Armando Bacot (Jr., 6-10, 240) – 16.6 ppg, 11.1 rpg, 1.5 bpg

What You Need To Know

WHAT? Georgia Tech (7-8, 1-4 ACC) AT North Carolina Tar Heels (11-4, 3-1 ACC)
WHEN? Saturday, January 15 – 8:00 p.m. EST
WHERE? Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
TV? ESPN
RADIO? Tar Heels Sports Network
LINE? N/A
LAST MEETING? UNC beat Georgia tech 79-62 on Dec. 5, 2021
ALL-TIME SERIES? UNC leads all-time 70-26
PREDICTION? UNC 70, Georgia Tech 63

Be sure to check back with Keeping It Heel as we continue our coverage on the UNC Basketball program.