The inevitable happened on Saturday afternoon when head coach Hubert Davis decided to place his four best guards into the starting lineup. Ven-Allen Lubin was slotted into the center position to round out the group.
This lineup should be no surprise — Davis shook things, but how did it pan out in the end?
Let's talk about it.
All four guards scored in double-figures. RJ Davis had the most with a 22-point outing followed by elite freshman Ian Jackson's 19 points after scoring a total of 11 points the past two games. Junior Seth Trimble's first appearance back as a starter before his injury ended in with a double-double — tacking on 18 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. And sophomore Elliot Cadeau completed the game with 13 points and four assists.
Not too shabby. It was productive performance by each guard and displayed the team's strength to the fullest.
The other end of the court served problems for these guards — allowing Boston College guards Donald Hand Jr. and Dion Brown to score above their season averages. At times, it felt like every shot Hand took around the perimeter was going to go in — it did majority of the time as he finished with 26 points on 8-17 shooting and 5-8 from three.
Defense continues to be a major problem and Carolina allowed 96 points to a team entering the game at 9-10. It will not be enough moving forward, and especially if this program wants to be a part of the big dance.
This coming stretch of games will only become harder for UNC as its next four matchups consist of:
At Pittsburgh, January 28
At Duke, February 1
Vs. Pittsburgh, February 8
At Clemson, February 10
The offense for this team has never been an issue. It's the ability to guard the opponent for 40 minutes and do the little things, all the time.
A ton of opportunities ahead to pad the NCAA Tournament resume but it comes down to execution for the Tar Heels.