North Carolina got things right despite some offensive glitches during a three-game homestand.
The Tar Heels will try to figure out their act on the road when they visit Louisville on Tuesday night.
In order to show that puzzle is being solved, North Carolina (15-6, 7-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) must extend some of the success on the road. The Tar Heels were blown out in each of their last two games away from home.
Louisville (11-10, 5-6) has lost six of its last seven games, although there was a reset during the last week. The Cardinals parted ways with coach Chris Mack, so interim coach Mike Pegues was in charge for Saturday’s 74-65 home loss to No. 9 Duke.
The Tar Heels’ feel-good moments came largely with a season-high point total in a 100-80 romp past North Carolina State on Saturday. That included a season-best 15 successful 3-point shots.
“My hope is that it carries over,” coach Hubert Davis said. “My hope is that it builds.”
This was one game after the Tar Heels shot 29.1 percent from the floor in a 58-47 victory against Boston College. That was the lowest shooting percentage in a win in program history.
Still, good offensive flow is one of the goals for the Tar Heels.
“When we consistently pass up good shots to get great shots and we’re sharing the basketball, it’s a combination of ball movement plus player movement,” Davis said. “I think we’re really good offensively.”
Junior forward Armando Bacot eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for his career in Saturday’s game. He collected 18 points and 13 rebounds for his 16th double-double of the season.
One of the shortfalls for Louisville in Saturday’s game was rebounding. North Carolina generally stresses work on the boards, so that’s something of note for the Cardinals.
“We gave up 20 offensive rebounds. I’m irate about that,” Pegues said. “We can’t give up 20 offensive rebounds. We can’t lose every 50-50 ball. We can’t lose concentration off the ball.”
With nearly a week passing since the coaching change, that might make this next game a bit smoother for the Cardinals.
“I think that our guys probably had a few jitters,” Pegues said. “It hadn’t been that loud and that packed in there in a while. Maybe the transition had a little bit to do with that.”
This game was initially scheduled for Monday before being moved back one night to even out the schedule after North Carolina had a makeup game added to last week’s schedule. The Tar Heels will be playing their fourth game in eight days on Tuesday.
–Field Level Media
