A Look Into UNC Basketball: First Nine Games of 2023
CHAPEL HILL N.C.—UNC basketball is back and ready to redeem itself after its underwhelming performance last season.
Photo Credits: Peyton Williams
Players:
Carolina players RJ Davis and Armando Bacot decided to stay for the 2023-2024 season, but unfortunately, the Tar Heels lost some key players. Caleb Love entered the transfer portal and now plays for Arizona, Leaky Black joined the Charlotte Hornets in the NBA and Puff Johnson also transferred to Penn State.
With holes in their roster, the Tar Heels looked to the transfer portal and their incoming freshman class to replenish their team and hopefully generate new momentum and energy for the coming season.
UNC added five players from the transfer portal: 6’5’ graduate guard Cormac Ryan from Notre Dame, another 6’5” graduate guard Paxson Wojcik from Brown, 6’7” junior forward Harrison Ingram from Stanford, 6’9” graduate forward Jae’Lyn Withers from Louisville and 6’8” junior forward James Okonkwo from West Virginia. Ryan and Ingram are part of UNC’s starting lineup and Wojcik and Withers see time on the court as well.
The Tar Heels also introduced the five-star and top-10 recruit Elliot Cadeau. Cadeau has balled out and earned his spot in the starting lineup. Four-star recruit Zayden High has also seen some time on the court.
Game Recaps:
UNC’s season started on Nov. 6. The first three games of the season were at home in the Dean E. Smith Center where they faced Radford, Lehigh and UC Riverside.
Carolina won 86-70 against Radford. Some highlights from this game: Bacot posted his 69th double-double, a new school record, Cadeau had five points and six assists which is the most assists by a freshman in a Carolina debut since 2005 and UNC’s defense held Radford to 34.4% shooting and just 29 points in the second half.
Six days after their season opener, the Tar Heels defeated Lehigh 68-90. Both Bacot and Davis scored 22 points apiece and Bacot also had 20 rebounds, his third career 20/20. Ingram also scored 14 points and six rebounds.
UNC took on UC Riverside five days later and won 52-77. Carolina’s defense held the Highlanders to just 30.6% shooting in the game and kept them scoreless for over nine minutes in the second half. Bacot led the Tar Heels with 21 points and seven rebounds and Jalen Washington tallied 11 points and five rebounds. Ingram had a game-high of nine rebounds and Seth Trimble tied his career-high with 11 points.
With a three-game win streak, Carolina traveled to the Bahamas to compete in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament.
UNC faced Northern Iowa in the opening round of the tournament and won 69-91. Six Carolina players scored in double figures, including Ingram who played his best game as a Tar Heel, posting his first double-double at UNC with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Cadeau also had a season-high 15 points and Withers posted a UNC-high 11 points.
Carolina played on Thanksgiving in a semifinal against Villanova. Villanova handed the Tar Heels their first loss of the season after coming up short in overtime with the final score of 81-83. Davis scored 23 points, Ingram had a season-high 20 points and Ryan added a season-high 18 points. UNC’s defense held Villanova to 38.3% shooting in the game but could not hold the Wildcats at the line as they shot for 88.9%.
UNC took on Arkansas the next day and won 72-87 to take the third-place accolade. Carolina bounced back from their loss the day before with Davis tying his career-high of 30 points and Trimble also tying his career-high of 12 points for Carolina. The Tar Heels outscored the Razorbacks 24-38 in the paint and shot 58.6% from the floor in the second half to not allow Arkansas back into the game.
The Tar Heels traveled back to Chapel Hill where they took on and defeated #10 Tennessee 92-100 in the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge in the Smith Center. The Tar Heels played their best first half of the season, leading by 22 points at the half. Bacot posted his 71st career double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Davis scored 27 points, Ingram 20 and Cadeau had a season-high 10 assists without a turnover. The Volunteers put up a fight in the second half, hitting 57.6% of their shots, but their efforts were not enough to defeat the Tar Heels who posted their first 100-point game of the season.
Carolina started December with its first ACC matchup against Florida State and defeated them 70-78 in the Smith Center. The Tar Heels trailed 29-35 at the half but went on a 22-0 run to overcome the deficit; in under five minutes of action Carolina turned an eight-point deficit into a 14-point lead. Davis scored 27 points, his fourth consecutive game with 20 or more points, and Bacot posted his 72nd double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Despite committing a season-high 18 turnovers and only shooting 22.7% from three-point range, the Tar Heels were able to use a full-court press to swing the game their way and win.
Just three days later, UNC traveled to New York City to take on Connecticut, the reigning national championship team, in the Jimmy V Classic in Madison Square Garden. Connecticut rebounded from its previous loss to Kansas and handed Carolina its second loss with a final score of 76-87. Davis posted 26 points against the Huskies and Bacot broke his school-record 73rd career double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Ingram tied his season high with 20 points along with four rebounds and five assists. Despite UNC’s second-half rally, they were still outplayed by Connecticut who shot 55% from the floor in the second half.
Photo Credits: Anthony Sorbellini/ UNC Athletics
Takeaways:
Davis leads the team with 189 points and has posted five consecutive 20-point games, becoming the fifth Tar Heel ever to score 26 or more points in four straight games.
Bacot leads the team with 33 rebounds and continues to outplay himself every game, breaking the double-double record and showing that staying for his fifth year was the right decision.
Cadeau continues to impact this team with his talents and leads the team with 37 assists.
Carolina is 7-2 and number nine in the nation but might fall in the Week 6 rankings due to the loss to Connecticut.
UNC is currently on break for fall final exams but will return to action on Dec. 16 at the CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta to take on Kentucky.