CB3 Media Heel Prints

About CB3

Awards

Work Examples

Check back prior to the 2008 season for a preview and a program outlook.

Click here for Carolina baseball analysis.

Off the cuff:

North Carolina, with only five guys handling most of the duties, was not well positioned to win three games in three days in the ACC Tournament.

In the NCAA Tournament they'll have a day in between games so that should help. But I can't help but think that next year Coach Davis will do more to develop depth.

Early on in the season, the Heels lost two players who were getting good game minutes. Their time was never really absorbed by Puff Johnson, Justin McKoy and Kerwin Walton, among others.

The demise of Walton has been particularly vexing. I'm assuming that Brady Manek's ability to shoot threes, combined with insufficient progress on the defensive end led to Walton's downfall. I'm hoping he'll stick with the program as he could be a key cog, particularly shooting the ball, for the Heels next season.

Virginia Tech has ended the season hot and probably would have beaten the Heels even if they had an extra day of rest.

Carolina had defeated the Hokies twice already and Dean Smith taught us that it's difficult to beat the same team three times. And Coach Williams taught us that things look a lot better when the ball goes in the basket.

Well, Carolina played a good Virginia Tech team for the third time and the Heels did not see many balls going through their basket.

Virginia Tech 72, Tar Heels 59
VT rolls through Heels en route to finals

Virginia Tech barely escaped Clemson in the Hokies first game of the ACC Tournament, needing a last-second bucket to win. But the surging Hokies rolled over North Carolina 72-59 on their way to the tourney finals. (3/11)

The Tar Heels, sticking mainly to their starting give most of the game, looked tired after beating Virginia the day before. But it may not have mattered as Virginia Tech seems to be peaking at the right time.

"Virginia Tech is a really good, physical defensive team ," UNC coach Hubert Davis said. "We didn't handle their physicalness well."

Coach Davis admitted that his squad seemed tired and the Hokies long possessions on offense wore the Carolina Five's endurance down.

The biggest sequence of plays happened at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second half when Virginia Tech hit 11 of 13 shots.

After a Caleb Love three gave Carolina a 19-18 lead with about six minutes left in the half, the Hokies went on a 23-7 run to take command. Virginia Tech drained four threes during the stretch while the Heels countered with none.

The Hokies worked the lead up to 20 twice on three balls by super-sub Darius Maddox, who was the last-second hero against Clemson.

Meanwhile, desperately needing threes to catch up, the Tar Heels were dismal beyond the arc finishing just three of 26 on the night. Conversely, the Hokies hit nine of 20.

Armando Bacot was the lone bright spot for the Tar Heels hitting nine of 10 shots for 19 points. The rest of the Heels combined for a 13 of 50 shooting night. Bacot also pulled in 14 rebounds.

Carolina, now 24-9 overall, look toward redemption in the NCAA Tournament, which starts next Thursday, March 17.

The seventh-seeded Hokies, led by Maddox' 20 points and Keve Aluma's 18 points, likely punched their ticket to the big dance with the victory but they'll have a chance at improving their seed with an ACC championship win over Duke.

Box Score

UNC's Leaky Black, who hit two of his five shots on the night, gets an open look in a loss to Virginia Tech. (UNC Sports Information photo by Maggie Hobson.)

Check out the other game articles.
Read my Tar Heels' season preview on by clicking here.