North Carolina heads into Saturday’s showdown with No. 6 UCLA winners of its last five games after Tuesday night’s 74-61 victory over Furman.
The Tar Heels (8-2) broke a tie game at halftime with a 15-4 run to start the second half and never let their lead dip under 11 points the remaining 14 minutes of the game.
Here’s what we learned from the Tar Heels’ victory:
Back to the boards
Carolina isn’t the dominant team it was under Roy Williams when it typically ranked in the top 10 nationally in offensive rebound percentage. The Heels entered the game with a 29.7 offensive rebounding percentage, which ranked 126 nationally according to Ken Pomeroy. Last season, UNC was No. 1 with a 40.9 percentage.
But the Heels exploited the four guard lineup the Paladins used which put them at a decisive height disadvantage. Furman’s starting lineup only had one player over 6-foot-4 and Jalen Slawson is just 6-foot-7.
Carolina outscored the Paladins 13-0 in second chance points in the first half. The Heels finished with 12 offensive rebounds — which accounted for 40 percent of their missed shots — and 19 second chance points.
Needless to say, Carolina’s frontcourt dominated the game. Forward Dawson Garcia, who is 6-foot-11, scored the first nine points of the game and had 16 in the first half. Garcia finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Armando Bacot recorded another double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Forward Brady Manek, who is 6-foot-9, came off the bench to score 13 points.
Backcourt struggles
It was a good thing for the Heels that the big men took over, because their backcourt of Caleb Love and R.J. Davis struggled shooting from the field. The pair combined to shoot just 5 of 18 from the floor. Love had 10 points and Davis chipped in six.
But that’s not to say they played poorly. Davis had a season-high seven assists and Love added four. Carolina had just 11 assists total in their win over Elon on Saturday. The pair paced an effort and the Heels finished with 18 total assists as a team.
Homecoming for Hunter
Furman guard Alex Hunter seemed rejuvenated from playing close to home. The fifth-year super senior played at Leesville Road High School and took advantage of the NCAA waiver from last season allowing him an extra year to play.
Hunter has played in every game for Furman — 134 to be exact — since his freshman year the 2017-18 season. During that stretch, the only Triangle school he played against was Duke and he played just six minutes of a 92-63 loss on Nov. 20, 2017.
Hunter made the most of getting to play in Chapel Hill. He scored 14 of the Paladins first 28 points including making his first four 3-point attempts. He scored despite getting the Leaky Black treatment from Carolina, assigning its best perimeter defender to guard him. Hunter finished with a team-high 21 points.