CHAPEL HILL – When the Tar Heels took the floor Saturday at the Smith Center in advance of their 96-81 victory over Virginia Tech, they had played just six home games in a span of 75 days.
From a week after Thanksgiving to a few days following Valentine’s Day, North Carolina tipped off in the Dean Dome a measly six times. That’s once every 12-plus days.
In the meantime, the Heels played three neutral site games against ranked teams, and eight true road ACC contests. Opposing fans stormed the court in both of UNC’s road losses in that stretch.
And just last week, the Heels were at Miami on Saturday and at Syracuse three days later. It’s been a grind, and now the players finally get a chance to exhale with their open date on the schedule now having finally arrived.
“This is a good time for us just to get our legs some rest and bodies recovered,” senior guard RJ Davis said. “We’ve been playing games non-stop, and traveling and coming back home and traveling again. So, I definitely can see fatigue playing a role a little bit, so I think this break will be huge for us.”
Carolina enters its break atop the ACC with a 12-3 league mark and 20-6 overall. It’s the 64th time in program history UNC has won at least 20 games, and the earliest it has done so since the 2018-19 club claimed its 20th victory in its 25 game.
But the Heels have split their last six games after churning out a ten-game win streak that pushed them as high a No. 3 in the national rankings. Obvious signs of fatigue have surfaced the last couple of weeks, most on the defensive end of the floor, some of the Heels have said.
Yet, even though they were perhaps average defensively against the Hokies on Saturday, whatever reserve the Heels had stored up was reflected in their potent offensive attack. But maybe that was how they got to the finish line of this part of the season. This tired team needs a break.
“Perfect time. I need it,” graduate forward Armando Bacot said. “It’s been a tough stretch, and it’s been like, when you’re in the position we’re in at the top of the ACC, everywhere you go it’s electric, it’s crazy. It’s a lot of fun, and some of the perks of going to a school like UNC. We get everybody’s shot; every game is like the national championship.”
Georgia Tech and Syracuse students stormed the court after their teams beat the Tar Heels in recent weeks. Carolina, however, didn’t do much storming on the defensive end, nor to close out games.
The Heels were outstanding in January putting away opponents, but had real issues at home against Clemson, at Miami, and trying to overcome the Orange this past week.
Davis agreed they played with heavy legs on defense too often this past week. Graduate wing Cormac Ryan agrees.
“I think it’s great,” he said about the timing of the open date. “It gives us a chance to get our bodies right, to address some things in practice to really tighten up, and get ready for a very important stretch of the season.”
UNC next plays Saturday at Virginia, but before then, the Heels will get to scale back some before getting into the meat or prepping for the Wahoos.
“(Sunday) a Special Olympics event,” UNC Coach Hubert Davis replied, when asked what the week’s schedule looks like. “And then Monday we'll have run-and-shoot, and then practice on Tuesday. We'll do some film work and some light stuff on Wednesday. And then Thursday and Friday, get ready to go.”
And with five games remaining before the ACC Tournament in Washington, DC, the Tar Heels will go forward with fresh legs, cleared heads, and ready for the stretch run.
