Carolina needs to be all business at Georgia Tech.
Just because the Tar Heels played a dominant last 25 minutes at Virgina, they have yet to prove they can put a complete ACC game together at home and especially on the road.
Despite an 11-10 record, the Yellow Jackets could be a trap game based on the upsets they pulled off like winning at N.C. State and losing by only 6 at Duke.
And all eyes will be on the lineup that Hubert Davis starts. The top six against Virginia have been playing like they deserve most of the minutes and not be looking over their shoulders for the next three or four coming off the bench.
With freshman Derek Dixon at point guard alongside Seth Trimble, Davis can split small forward between shooter Luka Bogavac and 6-10 Jarin Stevenson, who have been playing their best basketball of late and need to share enough time to get comfortable on the court.
Kyan Evans can still make some shots but has been beaten out by Dixon, who hits a higher percentage from the floor and arc, takes care of the basketball and is a rugged defender. Jonathan Powell has been an on-again-off-again shooter and is one of four subs who did not score at Virginia but battled on the boards with 7 rebounds. It will be surprising if Jaydon Young starts for a third straight game.
Georgia Tech is the fifth best 3-point shooting team in the ACC and the fourth best on defense. The Jackets are an average rebounding team and tied for last with a minus-2 turnover margin. Kowacie Reeves is 11th in the ACC with 16 points per game and Baye Ndongo and Mouhamed Sylla are in the top 12 rebounders behind leader Caleb Wilson and fifth-best Henri Veesaar, who dropped in the category with only 1 carom at Virginia.
The Jackets hung tough at Duke in their ACC opener and broke a losing streak with a comeback win at State, so they could be dangerous. And their small gym will be packed for the 16th-ranked Tar Heels, who represent a fading chance for Tech to get a Quad 1 win and stay in contention for a postseason berth.
But the 2 p.m. game will be close only if Carolina allows that to happen instead of building momentum from what should be the turning point of the season in Charlottesville.
Featured image via Chapel Hill Media Group/Chance Bragg
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.
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UNC played a dominant last 25 minutes at Virgina, but it has yet to prove it can put a complete ACC game together on the road.
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