CHARLESTON, S.C. -- No. 18 North Carolina rallied from a halftime deficit for a second straight game to defeat College of Charleston 94-83 in TD Arena on Tuesday night.
The Cougars (3-1) seemingly always had another run left in them to make the game tight in the second half. Carolina (3-0) never trailed after taking a 50-49 lead with 15:52 left in the game. But the Tar Heels couldn’t get too comfortable until they used a 17-6 run to turn a one-point lead with six minutes left into 89-77 advantage with just under two minutes remaining.
UNC forward Armanco Bacot led the Heels with a game-high 24 points and 12 rebounds. Guard Caleb Love had his second 20-point game of the season with 22 points.
Welcome the road hate
The biggest road crowd Carolina played in front of last season with COVID-19 policies limiting indoor attendance in most states was 2,850 at Florida State. TD Arena was sold out on Tuesday, with the capacity crowd of 5,100 bringing an intensity that most of the UNC roster was experiencing for the first time.
They didn’t handle it well early. The Cougars started the game with a lob dunk from Dimitris Underwood to Babacar Faye and ran out to a 26-15 lead. It was the biggest deficit the Heels faces in the game.
Playing a true road game the third game of the season could be beneficial for the Heels as the competition level goes up this weekend at the Hall of Fame Tipoff in Connecticut. Carolina will play No. 6 Purdue on Saturday and either No. 5 Villanova or No. 17 Tennessee on Sunday.
Turnover flashback
Carolina’s first half looked a lot like last season when its 20.3 turnover percentage ranked last in the ACC. The only two players who appeared in the game and didn’t turn the ball over at least once were Brady Manek and Dawson Garcia.
Some of their issues may have been the pace of the game, which it appeared took them some time to get adjusted to keeping up with the team with the No. 2 tempo nationally, according to KenPom.com.
Turnovers were definitely the reason why the Heels trailed at halftime 42-36. They committed 11 turnovers, which led to 15 points for the Cougars.
Carolina was much better at taking care of its possessions in the second half. It had six turnovers but not as many were live balls, so the Cougars only scored four points as a result.
Thinking B.I.G. with the lineup
UNC coach Hubert Davis is still tinkering with the versatility the roster possesses. For the first time this year, Carolina showed off a big lineup. Though it was a by-product of R.J. Davis picking up his second foul and Caleb Love just needing some rest, 6-foot-8 senior Leaky Black checked in at point guard. Combined with Justin McKoy (6-foot-8), Brady Manek (6-foot-9) and Bacot (6-foot-10) it made guard Kerwin Walton (6-foot-5) the shortest player on the floor for the Heels.
It turned out to be a good defensive unit. Cougars guard Reyne Smith found himself defended by Black, who is regarded as UNC’s best perimeter defender. The 6-foot-2 Smith had made his first three 3-point attempts, but missed his next three shots and didn’t score on Black. With Carolina’s big lineup on the floor, C of C went on a five-minute scoring drought.
