CHAPEL HILL - North Carolina entered the halftime locker room with an 0-for-8 mark from three-point range. Yet, the No. 3 team in the country trailed by only point, as Wake Forest possessed a 34-33 lead
Aggressiveness is what the Tar Heels displayed in an effort to compensate for their slow start from behind the arc, and it worked in an 85-64 victory Monday night at the Smith Center.
After Cormac Ryan failed to connect on a three-point attempt with 14:41 remaining, 18 of North Carolina’s next 20 shots to close out the half were inside the arc. This included a stretch of 12 consecutive twos that helped the Heels balloon their lead to eight at 22-14.
While the Demon Deacons used back-to-back triples from Damari Monsanto to regain the lead heading into the break, the Tar Heels’ mindset was to still attack the paint and finish at the rim.
“(Assictant) Coach (Brad) Frederick was saying at halftime that we’re taking good open threes. We weren’t taking bad shots, but we were taking the shots they wanted us to take,” said Harrison Ingram. “In the second half, we started attacking the paint. We knew that Efton was in foul trouble. We knew Carr was in foul trouble, so it was attack the paint and see if they could block it, and they couldn’t.”
That includes for RJ Davis, who in a year of impressive play, turned in the performance of all performances.
On a night when he dropped a career-high 36 points, the most in the Smith Center since Tyler Hansbrough’s 39 versus Clemson in 2008, Davis did not start off hot, though. In fact, he began just 1-for-4 from the field, including two misses from three-point range.
But the senior guard did not continue to hunt his shot from outside, he created his own in the paint and at the rim.
“I knew the shots weren’t falling really [early in the first half], so I was trying to tell myself to be more aggressive and get to the rim, and don’t always rely on your three-point shot,” said Davis. “It was going to come, we had 20 more minutes.”
It did come in the second half, when he netted four triples, but Davis attributes his aggressiveness in driving to the rim and getting the floater in the paint or at the elbow for his career-high night.
“Getting to my floater or finishing off the backboard through contact, that’s what was working. I was able to space out for three in the second half,” said Davis. “I’m glad I didn’t just continue to keep shooting threes in the first half.”
Although Davis stole the spotlight in North Carolina’s ninth straight victory, the newfound gameplan of attacking the basket also helped his backcourt mate, Elliot Cadeau, who finished with 14 points, one off of his career-high.
His seven made field goals were a career-high, as the freshman guard recorded four layups in the final 20 minutes, and seven total.
“His angles and change of pace is really allowing him to get to the basket and it’s opening up things on the offensive end, and it’s good for us,” said head coach Hubert Davis.
Cadeau did not attempt a shot from beyond the arc, but when the likes of Davis, Ingram, and Cormac Ryan began attacking the rim, he did the same. Each of his seven field goals were layups.
“The threes weren’t falling so the only thing we could do was attack the rim and we were getting wide open looks, so we just kept on doing it,” said Cadeau.
For the game, the Tar Heels connected on 58 percnt of their attempts from two-point range. Sixteen of their 32 made baskets were layups, including a combined 11 from Davis and Cadeau.
As Hubert Davis, who implored his team to attack, watched North Carolina use its aggressiveness to outscore Wake Forest, 52-30, in the second half and move to 8-0 in ACC play, he couldn’t help but smile.
“You see all of the hard work and preparation and to see it come out in a game, it’s the feeling of seeing your kids doing something and doing something well,” Carolina's coach said. “It brings a smile to your face.”
