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Off the cuff: UNC played perhaps its most complete game of the season against N.C. State but mainly poor free throw shooting and eight second-half turnovers kept the game from being a blowout.

Up by 10 at the half, the Tar Heels could only play the Pack even in the second half. Carolina was only eight of 18 from the free throw line.

N.C. State hadn't played in 10 days because of COVID-19 protocols that involved five people in the program. "Pauses hurt," Wolfpack coach Kevin Keatts said. "Coaches, we love to have control, but we cannot control what happens with this virus."

I've mentioned it before and I'll probably mention it again but the sports media has really changed over the years - and not for the better.

Reporters today ask general questions about development of certain players and big picture issues normally reserved for feature articles, not game stories. After the game, no one asked specifics about the game itself. Fortunately, Coach Roy Williams mentions some specific plays and sequences on his own.

One of my favorite sequences of the game was provided by UNC's Armando Bacot and R.J. Davis. Bacot blocked State's Manny Bates right down to the ground first before the under 16-minute TV timeout with the Heels up 53-45.

Davis hit one of two free throws and in less than a minute he juked a defender with a behind the back move and scored on a jumper. Thirty seconds later, off a pick from Bacot, he drained a three from the top of the key giving Carolina a 14-point lead at 59-45.

It was the biggest lead of the game though it was equaled several times.

A win at Pittsburgh Tuesday, so long as there isn't a late-season collapse, should go a long way toward earning the Heels a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

Projections have Carolina as a 10 or 11 seed though I'm guessing an 8 or 9 seed as the Tar Heels are playing better as the season goes along.

Tar Heels 86, Syracuse 76
Heels handle State to earn season split

North Carolina avenged an earlier loss at N.C. State by handling its rival 86-76 in Chapel Hill as five Tar Heels, led by Armando Bacot and Day'Ron Sharpe, scored in double figures. (1/23)

The Tar Heels shot 56.8 percent in the first half, its best shooting half of the season. It was the first game that UNC shot 50 percent or better in both halves of a game, finishing at 54 percent.

Carolina led by 10 at the half (43-33) - only the fifth time the Tar Heels have led at the break - as the home team was able to get the ball down low to big men Bacot and Sharpe, who scored 17 and 16 respectively - most of those coming in the first half. Bacot finished with eight rebounds while Sharpe ended with 10.

"The inside game was really good for us in the first half," UNC coach Roy Williams said noting that increased turnovers in the second half and the play of State's Devon Daniels led to an even second half.

Daniels scored a game-high 21 points, which included three three-pointers.

Sharpe's play during a late first-half 14-5 run gave Carolina some breathing room that the Heels sustained most of the second half. Sharpe managed eight points during the run including a power dunk follow and a finesse left-handed scoop shot.

The Wolfpack scored the first four points of the second half to close within six points but Carolina quickly matched those four and was never seriously threatened again until a Daniels three cut it to 75-69 with under four minutes to play.

But UNC's Anthony Harris, who scored 10 points in only 10 minutes of play, recovered an errant shot by Caleb Love and laid it in at the end of the shot clock to put the Heels back up by 10 at 79-69 with 2:35 to go.

Carolina's freshman guards Caleb Love and R.J. Davis combined for 25 points and eight assists but Love did turn the ball over five times while Davis turned it over twice.

"We've had 60 practices and 14 games so they should no longer be freshmen," Coach Williams said, adding that they still are making freshman mistakes but are getting better. He said they'll be special once "the brain and heart gets involved instead of just ability."

Another freshman, Kerwin Walton, hit a couple of three pointers late to keep the Pack at bay. Coach Williams called them "big threes for us" after he had struggled earlier in the game.

N.C. State, which has been slowed by COVID-19 protocols, falls to 6-5 overall and 2-4 in the ACC. North Carolina, scheduled to play at Pitt Tuesday, improves to 10-5 overall and 5-3 in the conference.

Box Score

UNC's Day'Ron Sharpe had the games only double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. (UNC sports information photo by Jeffrey A. Camarati.)

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