After earning a dominant home win over SMU earlier this week, the Tar Heels hit the road once again today, this time they travel to NC State, looking to win their third straight game in conference play. Carolina routed SMU 82-67 on Tuesday night, in a game that wasn’t even that close, as RJ Davis put together arguably his best game of the season, scoring 26 points, on an efficient 8-15 shooting. The win improved Carolina to 10-6, and 3-1 in the ACC, giving the feeling that the team is on the verge of putting together a long winning streak and building legitimate momentum for the first time this season.
NC State enters today’s game at 9-6 overall, and 2-2 in the ACC, and like UNC, beat Notre Dame in dramatic, come-from-behind fashion earlier this week. For whatever reason, State hasn’t been able to build off last season's magical run to the Final Four, even though players like Jayden Taylor, Michael O’Connell, and Ben Middlebrooks are back. Marcus Hill leads the team in scoring at 12.8 points per game. Scoring hasn’t come easy for the Wolfpack, as they are 14th in the conference, averaging just over 72 points per game.
Dontrez Styles opted to transfer out of the UNC program after the 2022-23 season and initially landed at Georgetown. After one season with the Hoyas, Styles transferred back to closer to home, landing at NC State. This will make the second straight season Carolina has faced off against a former player, they played against Tyler Nickel and Virginia Tech. Hubert Davis downplayed the feelings that go into to preparing for a former player, and to a point he’s right, with how transactional college athletics have become, this is just part of it. But Styles transferring out of the program, and ultimately landing at NC State, isn’t the same as Tyler Nickel landing at Virginia Tech.
On Tuesday night, Seth Trimble returned from an upper-body injury, and instead of starting him, Hubert Davis brought him off the bench and played him 26 minutes. When he met with the media yesterday, Davis was non-committal to starting Trimble today but made it known that his role and his minutes won’t be affected even if he comes off the bench.
Hubert Davis is 5-2 against NC State, but lost the last time against the Wolfpack, in the 2024 ACC Tournament Final, which sent State to the NCAA Tournament, and on their way to the Final Four. With that loss, it feels like energy is back in the longtime rivals, which is a good thing for both programs and for the ACC. Here’s how Carolina can take the first of two matchups between the two schools, and in the process continue their recent stretch of improved play:
Embrace the Environment: This is the biggest home game of the year for State, and the environment will reflect just that. Carolina can’t get caught up in all that, and just focus on playing high-level basketball. In the last two games, Carolina has been able to build double-digit leads, having blown one at Notre Dame, but they didn’t blow it on Tuesday night, leading by as many at 25 in the blowout win over SMU. It’s important for Carolina not to get behind double-digits in this game, because they’ll have to come back against the team on the court, and the crowd, which wants nothing more than to celebrate back-to-back wins over UNC.
Outplay Their Backcourt: Both teams go as their guards go, which means Carolina needs their quartet of guards ready to play at a high level. RJ Davis and Ian Jackson combined to score 44 points on Tuesday night, while Elliot Cadeau set the tone with the first 5 points of the game. Seth Trimble failed to score a point, but his defensive presence was welcomed back, helping Carolina contain the dribble drive. State’s top three scorers are all guards, just as Carolina’s top four scorers are all backcourt players. To say this game will have a March feel to it would be a stretch, but in terms of the guards determining the outcome, it isn’t one. As Carolina is still adjusting to play through Ian Jackson as opposed to RJ Davis, they need to do so at an efficient level, to put themselves in a position to win.
Dominate the Glass: There won’t be many times that UNC will enter a game with the rebounding advantage, but that is the case in this game, as Carolina is the better rebounding team on paper. The Heels held their own against the best rebounding team in the ACC, losing the battle of the boards 41-39 to SMU earlier this week. However, after outrebounding them in the first half, it served as evidence that despite their size, if they commit to that area of the game, they can rebound with any team in the conference. In the wins against State last year, they overwhelmed them on the glass, and that needs to be the theme in today’s game as well. If Carolina can win the rebounding battle, they can control the tempo of the game, and if Tuesday night was any indication, when this team is dictating the way the game is being played, they play at a high level.
Series History:
Carolina is 166-81 all-time against the Wolfpack, having won 38 of the 45 matchups over the last 21 seasons. The 166 wins are the most against a single opponent. In Raleigh, Carolina is 69-48, and they are 19-6 in the Lenovo Center.
KenPom:
North Carolina - 29th overall. Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 117.2 (26th) Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 98.1 (50th)
NC State - 91st overall. Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 111.2 (82nd) Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 103.5 (119th)
NET:
North Carolina - 40th.
NC State - 109th.
TV Info:
Today's game will tip at 4 PM on the ACC Network.
The Four Corners Podcast:
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