GAME INFO:
January 24, 2022
8:00pm pm Tip Off
Dean Smither Center (Capacity: 21,750)
Chapel Hill, NC
TV: ACCN
UNC is given a 57.6% chance to win by ESPN
Records:
UNC: 12-6 (4-3 in ACC)
Virginia Tech: 10-8 (2-5 in ACC)
Last Time Out:
UNC: Lost at Wake Forest 76-98
Virginia Tech: Lost at Boston College 63-68
SERIES INFO:
Carolina has won the previous two matchups with the Hokies, both in the ACC Tournament.
Carolina leads the all-time series, 70-15. The first game of the series was played on Feb. 15, 1912 in Blacksburg.
Virginia Tech has won two of the last five meetings, but both have come in Blacksburg.
The Hokies last won in Chapel Hill on Feb. 13, 2007, an 81-80 overtime victory.
Team Leaders
Points:
UNC: Bacot (16.9 PPG)
Virginia Tech: K. Aluma (15.7 PPG)
Rebounds:
UNC: Bacot (11.3)
Virginia Tech: J. Mutts (7.1)
Assists:
UNC: Davis (3.5)
Virginia Tech: J. Mutts (2.8)
Wake Forest Notes
Brady Manek had 22 points on 8-17 shooting, 3-7 from 3, 3-4 FT, 8 rebounds
RJ Davis had 18 points on 6-12 shooting, 2-4 from 3, 4-5 FT, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 TOs
Armando Bacot had 12 points on 4-12 shooting, 4-8 FT, 12 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 TOs
Caleb Love had 9 points on 3-15 shooting, 1-6 from 3, 2-2 FT, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 TOs
Dawson Garcia had 7 points on 3-10 shooting, 0-3 from 3, 1-2 FT, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 TO
TEAM STATS:
33.3% FG (27-81)
21.4% 3PT (6-28)
69.6% FT (16-231)
50 rebounds
9 assists
11 turnovers
2 blocks
6 steals
Jake LaRavia was the second goofy white guy that we made look like Larry Bird. He had 31 points on 9-13 shooting, 12-15 FT and 10 rebounds.
Add Alondes Williams to the long (and growing) list of guards that have torched our front court. He had 23 points on 9-15 shooting, and went 3-5 from 3.
Add Daivien Williamson to that list as well. He had 19 points on 7-9 shooting, 3-5 from 3 and 2-2 from the charity strike.
Wake Forest had 40 points in the paint. Beat us in fast break points 30-2 and turned our 11 turnovers into 21 points.
Wake Forest shot 54.2% from the field for the game.
The Wake Forest game showed us a couple of things. These weren’t things we didn’t already know, but things that can now be confirmed. This team just isn’t very good. Plain and simple. We may have some good individual talent, but no matter how much you try, those individual talent pieces aren’t fitting into this puzzle. Hubert searched for answers in the first half, and wasn’t really able to find any. Puff Johnson was probably the highlight being the first man off the bench. Hubert played 10 guys in the first half and no lineup provided more chemistry or overall energy than the next.
Wake Forest’s fans stormed the court after the game. That’s wholeheartedly pathetic on so many levels, but so is the effort that this current Carolina team shows. Wake rushing the court showed that this game mattered to them. It should have mattered to the Tar Heels, but it just didn’t seem to. Carolina will continue to get everyone’s best shot because despite the recent down years, we are still Carolina. Beating Carolina still feels good, and it probably feels even better now since we had been so dominant in the ACC in previous years. Teams want to beat us. We don’t really care.
Wake outscored us in fast break points 30-2. Gone are the days that you didn’t want to run with Carolina. This program has forgotten how to win. Hubert Davis is going to have to figure out how to get this program back there. Tough love may be needed.
3 games in 6 days is not ideal by any means. But 3 straight home games is a very good chance for the Heels to get back on track. Until the next road game. Anyway the next 3 games are against teams that are in the bottom tier of the ACC (Virginia Tech, Boston College and NC State).
The Heels kick things off against Virginia Tech on Monday night. This game was a rescheduled game from earlier in the season. Virginia Tech is coming off a loss at Boston College. So good news, the Hokies lost to Boston College. Bad news, the Hokies lost to Boston College. They are 2-5 in conference and are in need of a win against a mid tier team. Carolina is coming off back to back blowouts, but losses don’t seem to motivate the Heels quite as much as other teams.
The Hokies only conference wins are against NC State (who we have on Saturday) and Notre Dame (who we already lost to). They got blown out by Wake Forest (by less than we did), lost to Duke, lost their other meeting with NC State, lost to UVA, and the above mentioned loss to Boston College. The 19 point loss to Wake Forest was the only game that was decided by double digits. The biggest margin of defeat in conference outside of that was a 9 point loss to Duke.
The Hokies are an experienced team starting 3 seniors and 2 juniors. Their rotation is as follows:
STARTERS:
K. Aluma F (SR 6-9) (16)
J. Mutts F (SR 6-7) (8)
H. Cattoor G (JR 6-3) (9)
N. Alleyne G (JR 6-4) (8)
S. Murphy G (SR 6-0) (7)
BENCH:
D. N’Guessan F (SO 6-9) (2)
J. Ojiako C (JR 6-10)
S. Pedulla G (FR 6-1) (1)
D. Maddox G (SO 6-5) (2)
They start a standard lineup of 2 forwards and 3 guards. They don’t have much height. Ojiako, their tallest player, averages under 10 minutes a game. The trouble comes when our forwards have to guard their forwards out on the perimeter. Aluma isn’t a great 3 point shooter but that doesn’t mean he won’t shoot from deep. He has 43 attempts even though he has only made 10 of them. Mutts shoots a respectable 35.7% from 3. We have seen what happens when our forwards have to guard out on the perimeter. It’s not pretty. Wake nor Miami were good 3 point shooting teams, but they shot pretty well against us. It’s easier to make a shot when the other team doesn’t play defense.
If you look at the number in parenthesis besides each player, you will see the amount of double digit games for each player so far this season. Aluma is obviously their biggest scoring threat. This is a team that has struggled to scores at times this season. But after Aluma the scoring is pretty even. They haven’t gotten a lot from their bench in recent games with N’Guessan and Maddox being the biggest threats to score off the bench.
I don’t know if it needs to be said, but just so we are all perfectly clear… Cattoor is the 3 point shooter on this team. He is a 3 point specialist. That is almost exclusively his role. He has had an up and down year as far as game to game production, but his 3 point shooting percentage is still up there. He shoots 45.6% from 3 and has made 41 of his 90 attempts. The scouting report should read to not help off of him, but that will depend on the ability to stop dribbling penetration and if our defensive IQ has improved any. The rest of the 3 point percentages are as follows:
3 POINT PERCENTAGES:
Alleyne 35.2% (32-91)
Mutts 35.7% (10-28)
Cattoor 45.6% (41-90)
Murphy 36.3% (29-80)
Maddox 48.3% (14-29)
N’Guessan 37.5% (3-8)
Pedulla 61.1% (11-18)
Aluma is 10-43
Cattoor leads the team in minutes at 33.2. Alleyne averages 32.7 and is another player that can be dangerous behind the 3 point line. Aluma averages 30.3 minutes a game. Mutts and Murphy each average over 28 minutes a game. Maddox and N’Guessan average around 13 minutes. Pedulla and Ojiako average under 10.
K. Aluma F (SR 6-9)- Bacot (JR 6-10)
J. Mutts F (SR 6-7) - Manek (GRAD 6-9)/Garcia (SO 6-11)
H. Cattoor G (JR 6-3) - Black (SR 6-8)/Love (SO 6-4)
N. Alleyne G (JR 6-4) - Black (SR 6-8)/Love (SO 6-4)
S. Murphy G (SR 6-0) Davis (SO 6-0)
The matchups for starters are above. Bacot most likely gets the assignment of Aluma. Aluma will shoot the 3 but his percentage isn’t great. He does a lot of his work in the paint. Bacot needs to keep him in front on drives. Aluma is quicker, but Bacot has the size average.
I put Manek and Garcia up there because I’m really not sure who will start. Manek had a good game offensively, but was terrible defensively. Garcia wasn’t much better. For some reason no one could stop LaRavia. Either way one of them gets the task of guarding Mutts. Mutts shoots at a higher percentage than Aluma but has fewer attempts. Again our forwards need to keep their post players in front.
Love and Black are a toss when it comes to who guards Cattoor and Alleyne. Cattor is the more dangerous 3 point shooter, but Alleyne is just as likely to shoot it from deep. Alleyne is more of a driver than Cattoor though. Black is the team’s best defender. Now that doesn’t mean he is an amazing defender, but he is the best defender we have. Harris’ absence is definitely being felt. Black probably starts out Cattoor.
That leaves Davis on Murphy. It’s a senior on sophomore matchup. He has 48 assists to 31 turnovers. Both those numbers are good for second on the team in both categories. Davis should be able to keep Murphy in front. If he chooses to do so. Murphy is a transfer from Wofford.
Bacot is on a roll with double doubles and he should continue that streak against the Hokies. There is real potential for another 20+ point game if he can finish around the rim. But again this game comes down to defense and if we decide to participate on that side of the floor.
Latest KENPOM: UNC is 43rd, Virginia Tech is 37th
Latest NET: UNC is 51st, Virginia Tech is 52nd
THINGS TO WATCH:
Rotation (Puff Johnson was the first man off the bench against Wake Forest and was a bright spot in another ugly game. Styles didn’t really see any meaningful minutes but Dunn saw some first half minutes. How does the rotation continue to evolve to make up for losing Harris?)
Home Court Energy (it’s no secret the fan base isn’t happy with the team’s performances at the moment. This is a game that was rescheduled to a Monday night at 8pm. How big of a crowd will there be after 2 bad away losses?)
Home Court Advantage (It’s also no secret we play better at home. Is there more effort and energy Monday night? How do we bounce back from back to back blowouts away from the Smith Center?)
Not Lovin’ It (Love hasn’t looked good the past 2 games. He is a combined 5-27 from the field, 2-11 from 3 with 6 assists and 6 turnovers. He has 14 points combined in the 2 games. He has looked like he is playing too fast at times and is trying to force things. People have dubbed it “hero ball.” His defensive effort has reflected his poor offensive showings. We need 100% Caleb Love.)
Valuing the Basketball (In the past 2 games, we have 22 assists to 25 turnovers. You aren’t going to win many games when you turn the ball over more than you share it. We can’t give away possessions. Especially not against Virginia Tech. Their pace is slower than ours.)
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