The Tar Heels began their ACC Tournament on Thursday, as they looked to take down the Florida State Seminoles for the third time this season. Behind big days from their two stars, Armando Bacot and RJ Davis, they would do something they couldn’t do against the Seminoles the first two times they clashed, pull away and win comfortably.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair, but when the Tar Heels turned it on, they really turned it on. With the score 26-23 with under 6:00 to go in the half, Elliot Cadeau would force a steal and draw a foul that would kickstart a 20-7 run to close the half for Carolina, giving them a 16-point advantage at the half. The Tar Heels were dominant inside the entire have, ripping down 22 rebounds, including ten offensive rebounds. Florida State, for comparison, had six total rebounds the entire half. The Tar Heels were also able to force nine turnovers and turn that into 17 points, something that many were worried the Seminoles might be able to do to them with their success at creating turnovers so far this season.
The Seminoles would close the gap to 12 early in the second half, but a 13-4 run from Carolina would stretch the lead out to 21 points just a couple of minutes later. Cormac Ryan was the spark plug to that run, as he scored his nine second-half points in the first five minutes to help them extend the lead back out. They wouldn’t let the game get any closer than that 21-point margin the rest of the day, allowing the starters to come out with 5:36 remaining in the game. The blue squad would help the team close out the 92-67 victory to advance to the ACC Tournament Semifinals tomorrow afternoon.
The Hustle This Team Shows is Rare: We mentioned the play in the first half from Elliot Cadeau that sparked the run and that was a common theme again for Carolina. The team as a whole showed tremendous all game long once again, getting to seemingly every loose ball and battling for every rebound. This type of effort has become a constant for this team in the last couple of weeks and the main reason why many feel they can make a deep run.
That Rebounding Effort Resembled Roy Williams’ Teams: The final rebounding margin was 48-22 in favor of Carolina, but that doesn’t even show just how dominant the Tar Heels were on the glass in this one. The Seminoles had just nine rebounds through the first 30 minutes of action and had no response for the dominance that this team showed on both ends of the floor on the glass. Bacot and Harrison Ingram led the way with 10 rebounds each with both guys pulling down five or more offensive rebounds. Jae’lyn Withers and Jalen Washington also had productive days, pulling down seven and six rebounds, respectively. It’s hard to expect this type of domination here in every game the rest of the way, but it’s always fun to turn the clock back a bit and look like a Roy Williams team every now and again and it leads to a lot of performances like we saw today.
Elliot Cadeau Steps Up: Cadeau did not have the strongest finish to the regular season, but he responded with an outstanding showing today. His hustle was there from the word go on the defensive end of the floor and he did an outstanding job of aggressively driving the basket to score or dish it off on the other end of the floor. He finished the day with 8 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals, which may have been the most well-rounded showing of anyone on the team in this game.
Each Starter Had Their Moments Where They Controlled the Game: Cadeau was a part of a day for the starting five where each guy had moments where they took over the game. Bacot and Ingram were dominant in the first half inside, leading the team in scoring and rebounding and setting a physical tone inside. Davis and Cadeau were the guys who took over late in the first half and helped the Tar Heels extend the lead out before halftime and Ryan was the guy who helped put it out of reach early in that second half. When everyone is clicking the way that we saw today, that’s when Carolina becomes nearly impossible to beat. Let’s hope this can become more common over the next few weeks, especially in the NCAA Tournament.
Bench Shines Again: There was a time in the middle of the season where fans were concerned that this Tar Heel bench was reverting back to a group that couldn’t be trusted, but that is no longer the case as we enter postseason play. The bench was phenomenal again today, led by a huge performance from Seth Trimble, who had 12 points and five rebounds. As we mentioned above, Withers and Washington had good days rebounding off the bench and the prior provided six points to go along with his seven rebounds. The best stat, though, has to be that every scholarship player on the team scored at least two points in this one, showing just how deep the production went for this group on Thursday. In order to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, the team needs their starters to thrive, but they also need to have a bench they can rely on, which it seems like it can certainly do right now.
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