CHAPEL HILL – Pete Nance heard the cheers Saturday.

He heard North Carolina’s fans chanting his name as he walked off the court following the Tar Heels’ 71-63 victory over No. 6 Virginia.

Oh yeah, he heard it all, just like he’s aware of the negatives assailed his way by perhaps some of those same fans. At least it’s the same fan base, one Nance recognizes is far different from what he was used to at Northwestern and has taken time getting used to.

So, after he scored 22 points and blocked four shots against the Cavaliers, Nance was serenaded, and he was fine admitting it was pretty cool.

“For sure,” Nance said. “Definitely happy about it. Definitely will celebrate it tonight, and definitely appreciated the love from the crowd. That was big time. I got chills from it.”

Chilling might be a way to describe much of the negativity tossed in his direction this season, especially in recent weeks. The Tar Heels opened the season ranked No. 1 in the nation carrying a motto of “championship or bust.” But so far, nothing has played out as expected.

**************************************************************************************

Remember, for just $8.33 a month, YOU CAN BE A TAR HEELS INSIDER, TOO!!!

***************************************************************************************

Different Heels (18-11, 10-8 ACC) have been on the receiving end of the fans’ wrath, in which the arrows have recently been fired toward head coach Hubert Davis. Before him, however, it was Nance and it was at times ugly.

“It’s really hard,” he admitted. “When you play for a place like this, and coming to a new school, you want to be able to help. And sometimes when you’re in a slump, it feels like you’re not, you hear all the outside noise, what people are saying”

Heading into Saturday’s game, Nance was 12-for-47 from the floor in the month of February, including 1-for-18 from 3-point range. The percentages, respectively were 25.5 and 5.6. In fact, Nance had seen just six 3-pointers fall through the cylinder in the calendar year. He missed three-plus games, but that’s still a number that had him a bit stressed and was partly why the negatives were piling up.

So as the misses continued, and the Tar Heels were drifting away from the NCAA Tournament, the weight mounted on the team and individual players. Nance wasn’t part of last year’s club, so he wasn’t carrying the same weight as the returning players, but he certainly had plenty to deal with himself.

Tabbed to fill the spot vacated by Brady Manek, who became a fan favorite a year ago with his quick trigger and prolific perimeter shooting, Nance hasn’t been and never will be a player of Manek’s mold. His film at Northwestern made that abundantly clear.

But social media warriors don’t watch film, so they cast aspersions toward Nance for not being the player they expected. That burden saddled Nance to a degree, though he has mostly fought through the hostility.

“I think a key to college basketball young players can learn is try not to ride that wave, just stay level,” Nance said. “That’s what I was trying to do when I was going 0-for-10 or 0-for-7, whatever it was. Try not to get too low, try not to get too high.”

So Saturday, Nance was 7-for-10 from the floor, including 4-for-4 from the perimeter. This performance came three nights after he totaled 11 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists in a win at Notre Dame.

The love Nance received as he left the court Saturday wasn’t just for this performance, but a connection to Wednesday. He scored nine of Carolina’s first 11 points in South Bend, and without him holding things together during the worst statistical half by any UNC team since 1979, the Tar Heels were still within striking range at halftime.

They overcame the Fighting Irish and got a huge win given how damaging a loss would have been. Nance was enormous that night and he was Saturday night. And the fans let him know all was forgiven.

“It’s what we recruited him here for,” senior forward Armando Bacot said. “He can score the ball in a bunch of different ways, and he can affect the game in so many different ways. As long as he’s being aggressive every game and giving us his all, we’ll have a chance.”

Ad if the Heels make good on those chances, Nance may hear his name chanted some more.