Inside The Game: Heels Beat Hokies
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CHAPEL HILL – Seventh-ranked North Carolina turned in one of its more efficient offensive performances of the season in pulling away late from Virginia Tech for a 96-81 victory on Saturday at the Smith Center.
Carolina led by 11 points at halftime and by as many as 16 two minutes into the second half.
UNC was led by Armando Bacot’s 25 points to go with 12 rebounds. RJ Davis finished with 20 points and five assists, Cormac Ryan had 16 points while hitting four 3-pointers, and Harrison Ingram finished with 12 points and 17 rebounds.
Carolina improved to 20-6 overall and 12-3 in the ACC. The Hokies fell to 14-11 and 6-8.
Here are some important tidbits inside the game from UNC’s win over Virginia Tech:
*Nine Tar Heels played in the first half and eight of them scored. The only one who didn’t is Paxson Wojcik, who logged three minutes.
*The bench played 25 minutes in the first half combining for nine points on 3-for-5 shooting, five rebounds, and an assist.
*For the game, the bench combined for 43 minutes, 15 points, five rebounds, and four assists (all by Seth Trimble).
*Trimble returned to action Tuesday at Syracuse after missing two games with a concussion. He said today he is feeling better but not all the way back. He acknowledged he was affected at Syracuse, but more himself today. The sophomore said the week off will help him get to 100% for the game at UVA next Saturday.
*The Hokies scored just two fast break points in the game, the fourth time a UNC opponent had just two points in transition. Incredibly, the Tar Heels have outscored their opponents 305-136 on fast break points on the season.
An interesting breakdown: two opponents have finished with only three fast break points; four have had two; one (Wake) had only a single point; and six did not score at all in transition.
*Harrison Ingram was 0-for-4 from 3-point range today, which was just the second time since the loss to Kentucky on Dec. 16 he didn’t hit at least one three in a game. The other game in which he didn’t hit a three was the home win over Wake Forest.
That was a 15-game stretch in which he was 29-for-70 from
beyond the arc, which is 41.4 percent.
*Ingram, by the way, had a double-double before halftime, and went into the locker room with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Ingram has nine double-doubles on the season, and UNC is 8-1 in those games.
*Armando Bacot had six points at halftime, but scored 19 in the second half. It came on a variety of shots: second scoop shot and score of the day, a lefthanded hook off the glass, a thunderous slam, plus three free throws. Bacot finished with 25 points and 12 boards for his fifth consecutive double-double, 13th of the season, and 81st for his career, passing former Drexel star Malik Rose on the all-time list.
*Carolina’s 14 offensive rebounds on 33 missed shots works out to 42.4%. Carolina’s 17 second-chance points comes after having 18 in the loss at Syracuse last Tuesday.
*Virginia Tech scored 20 points off nine UNC turnovers, an exceptionally high number given Carolina’s number of miscues. This has become a recent issue for the Heels. In the last three games, UNC’s opponents have scored 57 points off 35 turnovers.
*With Bacot scoring 25 points and RJ Davis getting 20, this was just the fourth time this season the two Carolina holdovers each hit the 20-point mark in the same game. The Heels are 3-1 in such games, having beating Tennessee and Lehigh as well, while losing at home to Clemson. All four times it has happened in the Smith Center.
*Some stats:
-Points in the paint: UNC 54-36
-FTs: UNC 19-23 / VT 18-20
-Rebounds: UNC 43-31
-Offensive boards: UNC 14-8
-UNC was 14-25 on layups / 6-7 on dunks
-UNC scored on 45 of 70 possessions (64.3%)
-VT was 13-21 on layups / 1-1 on dunks
-VT scored on 37 of 71 possessions (52.1%)