UNC Hoops: A Few More Takeaways From Tallahassee

TALLAHASSEE, FL – North Carolina heads into the last days of January and into February on a roll having won ten consecutive games, all by double figures until Saturday’s 75-68 victory at Florida State.

Still, the Tar Heels pulled out a fifth road game for the month, and did so when it wasn’t super sharp for much of the contest. But it had a little extra layer of intangibles that helped get them through the week to improve to 17-3 overall and 9-0 in the ACC.

The third-ranked Heels beat Wake Forest at home, 85-64, as well. This week, they visit Georgia Tech on Tuesday night before hosting Duke on Saturday.

Here are a few more takeaways from Carolina’s win at the Tucker Center:

With so much talk about playing in the trenches of late, one figures UNC Football Coach Mack Brown would be proud. It is a real thing for the Tar Heels, however, and has become one of their attributes.

The Heels have shown it myriad ways from brute physicality to not allowing bad stretches to get to them, to how they block out potential obstacles, like wild crowds when on the road.

So, following with win at FSU, UNC Basketball Coach Hubert Davis was asked if his team has reached a point where they actually enjoy playing in the trenches.

“They're getting there,” Davis said. “But I would say even more, I think, every day they're learning more and more. That's where the success comes from. And the reason why I would say that is when I mentioned it to them, they're nodding their head. They're like, ‘yes, Coach (Davis).’

“I think they're really understanding the importance individually. And as a team, how important it is to live in the trenches.”

Did anyone watching Saturday happen to notice Elliot Cadeau not wearing a short sleeve t-shirt under his jersey? One of the reporters in postgame did, and asked the freshman point guard why he wasn’t wearing it.

It actually happened by accident, as Cadeau explained after the game.

“The shirt that I packed was kind of too tight, and I didn’t like it,” he said, standing outside of UNC’s locker room at the Tucker Center. “So, I went no sleeves. I think I’m going to do it more because I kind of liked it. It’s comfortable.”

What’s interesting, is Cadeau didn’t make the decision to scrap the t-shirt until after warming up some before the game.

“I put the shirt on, and I was warming up and didn’t like it.”

Cadeau scored a career-high 16 points and handed out six assists.

Harrison Ingram ending up at North Carolina after entering the transfer portal from Stanford wasn’t a snap decision for the 6-foot-7 junior. He and his family put in the leg work trying to find the best fit for him. In the end, UNC checked the most boxes, and he became a Tar Heel.

It was watching film of UNC guard RJ Davis, in particular, that sold Ingram.

“That’s one of the biggest reasons I ended up coming here,” Ingram said. “Watching film with my dad and my brother, watching film and breaking stuff down, I knew RJ was an elite scorer. But watching his end-of-game film, I knew that no matter who we’re playing, I haven’t met anybody that can get a bucket like he can get a bucket.

“So, at the end of the game, knowing a guy that can get a bucket whenever he wants, it’s so easy.”

Ingram said he also watched a lot of film on Armando Bacot as well as some on Seth Trimble and Jalen Washington, knowing they’d be back.

“Before I committed, I watched maybe 15 full games,” Ingram said.