UNC Hoops: A Few More Takeaways

CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina has five days between games, so it’s a good time to offer up another of our extended takeaways from the third-ranked Tar Heels.

We pulled back on that last week since there was a late game Wednesday, then one on Saturday and again Monday night. Now that the Heels took care of Wake Forest by 21 points Monday night at home, they aren’t in action again until traveling to Florida State for a game this Saturday afternoon.

UNC has won nine consecutive games, is 16-3 overall, and 8-0 in the ACC.

Here are some extra takeaways about the Tar Heels:

Monday night’s career-high 36-point explosion by RJ Davis wasn’t the first time this season, or in his UNC career, he’s been in a complete zone. But it may have been the most prolonged, hence the new high in points.

Being in a zone doesn’t just mean converting everything, or seemingly everything, it also includes scoring in quick bunches. And that’s exactly what Davis did Monday:

*Layup & floater 36 seconds apart in the 1st half

*Two floaters 40 seconds apart in the 1st half

*Two 3s, a runner & FT 78 seconds apart in the 2nd half

*A layup and floater 47 seconds apart in the 2nd half

*Two 3s 99 seconds apart in the 2nd half

That accounted for 27 of his 36 points against the Demon Deacons. That shows dagger-ability, and someone not afraid to hoist the team on his shoulder for needed spurts.

“(Like) I’m in a zone,” Davis said, when asked what it felt like during the game. “I feel like I’m in my backyard out there just hooping. I think it’s a zone that every hooper knows when you’re just in that zone that’s hard to get out of.”

UNC Coach Hubert Davis was in that zone many times when he played at UNC and for 12 years in the NBA. He gets it as a player, and going from assistant coach to head coach watching the New York senior’s game grow.

“He's just, I think it's more than just being able to score, I think there's a feeling of comfortable and confidence,” Carolina’s coach said. “Him being a senior, him being here, the guys that he's playing with. You know, that's growth. I do remember feeling more comfortable and confident every year that I was here.

“The most comfortable and confident I felt was my senior year and for RJ, he's feeling that way. Not just shooting but defense (too). He didn't have a turnover, his leadership. He’s having a great year.”

Davis, by the way, is 23-for-49 from the perimeter over UNC's last seven games versus ACC opponents, which is 46.9 percent.

Advancing to the next weekend in the NCAA Tournament means winning two games in three days, which isn’t easy. Teams get basically one day to prepare for an opponent, and then it’s gametime.

So, while having similarly short turnarounds in the regular season are a big challenge, they also carry value. That is why UNC’s three-day spurt this past week meant as much as it did, and revealed something impressive in the Tar Heels.

They won a physical battle at Boston College last Saturday, and then two nights later, exploded for a huge second half to clobber Wake Forest.

“One of the things that I told them (Sunday)is that we played three games in two and a half days in The Bahamas,” Hubert Davis said. “So, actually we're getting an extra day of preparation (laughter). That's what I told them. It's the truth. And so the schedule, it is what it is. And our job is to prepare and practice and play as hard as we can.

“It is tough, you played an away game on Saturday and get back at 10 (p.m.) and today we had shootaround in the morning and they had to go to class all this afternoon. Then we have pregame meal, and then we have a game. But that's your job and responsibility and I was really proud of how they showed up and how they competed tonight.”

That was a solid trial-run for the postseason, but also later in this campaign. On February 24, UNC visits Virginia in Charlottesville, and two nights later, hosts Miami. Two very different teams, a road nemesis in the Cavaliers, and a Final Four team from last season that won in Chapel Hill as well.

Harrison Ingram was a good rebounder in his two seasons at Stanford. He averaged 6.2 boards per game in the 65 contests he played for the Cardinal, and six times reached double figures in boards. He didn’t grab more than 11 in any game, and all six double-digit rebound game occurred in his freshman season.

In two years on The Farm, he also pulled down nine boards seven times, and eight six times.

Through 19 games into his Carolina career, however, Ingram has become a force on the glass. Seven times Ingram has pulled down 10 or more boards, four times grabbing 13 or more. And of late, the 6-foot-7 native of Dallas, TX, has taken his board game to a new level.

In UNC’s last seven contests, Ingram has had games of 19, 15, 14, and 13 rebounds, in addition to 10 against Syracuse. He has truly become a beast on the glass.

“Harrison, I don’t know what else to say about him, he’s just a complete player in terms of giving you everything that you want in a player…,” Hubert Davis said after Ingram’s 19-rebound performance at NC State. “We always talk about this is not an Armando Bacot rebounding game, it’s a UNC basketball rebounding game. And for him to get 19 rebounds, that’s just off the chart.”

Noted in our Thursday Daily Drop, we wanted to lay out the crazy numbers in “print” here as well.

On the season, UNC has outscored its opponents 238-101 in fast break points. On Monday versus Wake Forest, the difference was 15-1. Wake converted a free throw after being fouled in transition. That was it. But it was also the seventh-lowest fast break point total by a Carolina opponent this season. The Numbers:

*Six UNC opponents have failed to score a single fast break point: Northern Iowa; Villanova; Charleston Southern; Clemson; Louisville; and Boston College.

*In Carolina’s last three games, Louisville, BC, and Wake have combined for ONE fast break point. The Heels scored 32 in those contests.

*Only four times in 19 games has an opponent totaled 10 or more fast break points.

*UNC has outscored its last five opponents 70-19 in fast break points.

*In the last six contests, Carolina’s opponents are averaging 2.7 fast break points per game.

*Overall, for the season, UNC’s foes are averaging 5.3 transition points per outing.