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A win is a win is a win, and the Tar Heels will take it.
There were some nice indicators in Carolina’s second-half blowout of the Cal Bears, who had their heart cut out of them. Destined to finish near last in the ACC, their 79-53 loss at a subdued Smith Center showed the blueprint of how it will play out.
Winning free Crumbl Cookies after a Cal player bricked two free throws and introducing Luke Maye eight years after his big shot vied for the loudest cheers of the night.
An improving UNC defense shut down Cal’s two highest scorers who were averaging a combined 33 points a game. Leading man Andrej Stojakovic and second banana Jeremiah Wilkinson combined to shoot 3 for 21 from the floor, which included 0 for 8 from outside.
Drake Powell took the first turn on Stojakovic, the second-leading scorer in the ACC with the most free throw attempts, but everyone close to his 6-7 size got their chances in the romp that welcomed Seth Trimble back to full speed. Only 6-9 Mady Sissoko with 16 points and 8 rebounds did anything worthy of a cross-country text.
The Heels led by only 39-29 at the half (shooting a season-high 57 percent), mostly because their visitors from Berkeley had more second-chance points, 9-2. They blew it open with a 15-0 run, the lead was 18 and their ACC record went to 5-1 mirrored by Cal’s 1-5.
Whether Hubert Davis wants to acknowledge it or not, his eight-man rotation is set with Cade Tyson and James Brown, the 9th and 10th men to go in before garbage time, had only 10 of the 200 minutes.
Carolina will struggle with considerably bigger and stronger opponents, but few can match their speed and athleticism on the perimeter, where Ian Jackson, Elliot Cadeau, R.J. Davis, Powell and Trimble combined for 59 of their 79 points and drained 5 of their 6 3-pointers. Jalen Washington didn’t match his career game at N.C. State but had a workable 6 points, 4 rebounds, an assist, a block and a steal. First big man sub Van-Ellen Lubin continued excellent efficiency with 7 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals in 15 minutes.
The Tar Heels cannot have a bad loss against a bad ACC team and expect to get a good NCAA seed. Stanford, the best of those bad teams, comes to town Saturday in another must win.
“I challenged them before the game to put two halves together defensively, and we did that,” Davis said. “We were locked in on Stojakovic. He’s so talented as a three-level scorer. So I was really worried about that one matchup, but I thought we did a good job doubling him when he went isolation in the post. And we did a good job of defending him without fouling.”
A definite key, as the 20-point scorer who had attempted 113 free throws left with the same amount.
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Featured image via Todd Melet
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
Chansky’s Notebook: Cal ‘Crumbls’ Chapelboro.com.
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