ATLANTA – Two games doesn’t define a team, but it can be a healthy peak into the window of a club, especially given how last week went for North Carolina’s basketball team.
The Tar Heels picked up a pair of impressive and important victories by pulling away from then-No. 24 Michigan at home and then Sunday using a second-half eruption to trounce Georgia Tech at McCamish Pavilion.
Both games were similar in that Carolina turned dog fights at halftime into routs. The Heels outscored Michigan 43-24 after the intermission and bettered Georgia Tech 48-31 over the final 20 minutes. That’s a combined score of 91-55 in the two second halves.
The combined score in the first halves of those games was 60-58 in UNC’s favor. So something has clearly taken place in the locker room during both intermissions and first-year Carolina coach Hubert Davis had several moments with his team.
“Coach Davis is feeding us that we’re the best team in the country, and once we start getting that in our heads and start playing like it, obviously it shows,” senior wing Leaky Black said, following the Heels’ 79-62 win at Georgia Tech on Sunday. “So, I feel like that’s what it is.”
Following a physical and back-and-forth first half, all indications suggested the second period would be more of the same. But that’s when Carolina went to another level, one it hadn’t reached yet in the young season.
The Heels went on a 12-2 run after Michigan tied it at 29-29, and extended the push to 19-6. Ultimately, Carolina outscored Michigan over a 17-minute stretch 43-18.
Then versus the Yellow Jackets, UNC used a 22-4 run to build a 60-43 lead with 8:12 remaining.
“Right now we’re a team that’s gonna fight,” sophomore guard RJ Davis said Sunday. “We’re not gonna back down from anyone. When our back’s against the wall, we’re gonna keep pushing through, and show what Carolina basketball’s about, and that’s what we did.
“Coming into the second half, we wanted to get stop, stop, stop, and find the best available shot for anyone on the team.”
As pleased as Hubert Davis is with his team’s play in the last two second halves, he wasn’t interested in zeroing so much on that in Atlanta. Davis gave a fuller view of the performances.
“It’s not just the second halves, I’m really proud of them; with the exception of the game against Tennessee, we’ve always stayed in it,” he said. “We’ve always fought back, we’ve always handled runs by opposing teams, we’ve always stepped up when we needed to step up, and tonight we needed to on the road.
“I really believe that our win against the College of Charleston, being a true road game, really gave us confidence, really gave us life to come here in a very tough place to play against a really good team.”
The season is just eight games old, but two noteworthy performances in the same week fueled by the Tar Heels pulling away in emphatic fashion certainly indicates this team has a high ceiling.
Sophomore guard Caleb Love says it reveals who they are and should always be on the court.
“It means a lot (and) shows how good we are,” he said. “And once we lock in on defense – it’s mainly the defense. Our defense creates our offense.”
Last Wednesday, they locked down, and Sunday they did, too.
