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CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina isn’t buying into the narrative that the Tar Heels are so-so at best on defense.
One might get a player or two to acknowledge there was a time when the Heels weren’t getting it done on that end of the floor, but those days appear well in the rearview mirror, especially in UNC’s four-game run in the NCAA Tournament.
By every measure, Carolina (28-9) has been better defensively in the NCAA Tournament than in the 24 wins it accumulated before taking on Marquette in the first round in Fort Worth, TX, two weeks ago.
“I just felt like we had an ability to be a really good defensive team,” UNC Coach Hubert Davis said during a press conference at the Smith Center on Tuesday. “At the beginning of the year that was an area that was up and down… I felt like we had a chance and that’s what you want.”
Davis has gotten his wish.
The trend began in the game following a surprising home loss to Pittsburgh when the Panthers converted 51.1 percent of their shots. The next game, however, Carolina went to Blacksburg to take on a hungry Virginia Tech team and held the Hokies to 37.5 percent. Beginning that afternoon, Carolina has held six of its 11 opponents to below 40 percent from the field.
The true measure of Carolina’s improvement, however, is revealed in the percentages in Tar Heels’ wins: In UNC’s 24 victories prior to the NCAA Tournament, its opponents shot 40.3 percent from the floor, including 31.2 percent from three-point range.
In the big dance, however, UNC’s foes have converted just 36.2 percent from the floor, including only 25.5 percent from the perimeter.
Junior forward Armando Bacot recognizes the defensive upgrade, and that it is a more recent thing for the Tar Heels.
“I can’t pinpoint it to one game, but I will say definitely it happen to more towards later on in the season,” he said. “We just started trusting each other more defensively and that made everything so much easier.
“Because at first it was more of us all worrying about our man not scoring, but now it’s like when our man scores they score on the whole team versus just one playing and that’s why everything has been clicking defensively.”
Sophomore guard Caleb Love said following the East Regional championship victory over St. Peter’s the reason he and RJ Davis effectively applied so much pressure on the Peacocks’ perimeter is the trust they had for the guys behind them. Fellow second-year guard RJ Davis echoed that Tuesday and then some.
“It’s most important,” the New York native said about trusting one another on the court. “I think we take pride individually guarding our man, but also, we trust our teammates have our backs. Like HD (Coach Davis) says, it’s not a one-on-one game.
“It’s a one-against-five and they are going to play against five people not only get isolation balls. We are going to be in the gaps and we are going to be in the midline. We are going to play competitive defensive end.”
An even greater indication of Carolina stepping up it defensive work is how it has played at crunch time. Baylor was just 1-for-11 in overtime, and UCLA stars Johhny Juzang and Jaime Jaquez combined to shoot 3-for-19 in the second half, and both went scoreless over the final 10 minutes of UNC's win over the Bruins in the Sweet 16.
Going one step further is that the Heels are also limiting opponents to grabbing just 25 percent of their missed shots in the tournament, and that’s including the flurry from Baylor in its 25-point comeback in the second round.
Up next for Carolina is Duke (32-6) in the Final Four on Saturday in New Orleans. This will be the ultimate test to gauge just how much the Heels have improved.
The rivals split their games in the regular season, with the Blue Devils winning by 20 in the Smith Canter and Carolina winning by 13 in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke, however, combined to shoot 53.1 percent from the field in the two games, though just 27.6 percent from long range.
So, UNC’s interior defense, and perhaps more than that, its perimeter defenders preventing Duke any comfort running its offense could be the key.
North Carolina has shown an ability to do all of that so far in this tournament, and it is paramount it do so again Saturday in order to advance to the national championship game.
