North Carolina began the season the No. 1 staff within the nation and entered the ACC match with an uncharacteristically low No. 7 seed within the playoffs.
The Tar Heels made a robust transfer again towards their preseason prominence with a convincing 85-61 victory over No. 10 Boston College within the second spherical of the ACC Tournament in Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C.
BC completed the season 16-17 total and 9-12 within the ACC. UNC improved to 20-12 and 12-9 within the ACC and can face No. 2 Virginia within the quarterfinals on Thursday evening at 7.
“We know this loss hurts but we had one hell of a year honestly, beating some top ranked teams,” stated BC guard Jaeden Zackery. “I know our record is below .500, but I don’t think that can express how well we played this season.”
UNC shot 55% from the ground with 10 made 3-point pictures, 16 assists and 33 rebounds. The Tar Heels’ backcourt tandem of Caleb Love and R.J. Davis mixed for 40 factors, eight rebounds and 5 assists. Makai Ashton-Lanford led BC with 16 whereas Zackery netted 15.
“For us, I don’t think we played our best game but we had exerted a lot of energy up to this point,” stated BC second 12 months coach Earl Grant. “I think they played one of their better games having watched the film and studying them. I thought they did a lot of things well.”
Ashton-Langford discovered his vary early, hitting a trey from the best of the important thing adopted by a pair of pullups to account for eight of BC’s opening 10 factors.
UNC’s sport plan turned obvious with massive males Armando Bacot and Leaky Black attacking the rim towards the undersized Eagles. Grant tried to offset the Heels’ play within the paint by placing 7-0 heart Quinten Post into the sport at 16:29. Post rolled his proper ankle early within the season finale towards Georgia Tech and didn’t play within the first-round win over Louisville.
“I give credit to our staff for getting me ready,” stated Post. “There was some pain but I felt good enough to play.”
UNC coach Hubert Davis reversed course and commenced attacking BC’s man-zone with perimeter capturing. Love buried a turnaround and 3-ball on the finish of a 12-4 run that gave the Heels an 18-10 lead into the second media timeout.
The Tar Heels prolonged the drive with Davis and Love dropping pictures from behind the arc to offer UNC a 33-16 lead into the third media timeout.
The Heels have been up 39-23 when Bacot rolled an ankle and needed to depart the sport. Carolina made 7-of-13 from downtown with 10 assists to take a 43-29 lead into the half.
“They made a lot of shots and kind of got us down pretty early,” stated Grant. “I thought we showed some fight at the end of the first half but they had another quick run at the start of the second.”
Bacot returned the ground and scored the opening basket of the second half. Bacot’s floater was the opening salvo of a 15-2 run that put the Heels up 58-31 with 15:25 to play. Davis added the run’s exclaimer with a 3-ball.
Chas Kelley and Mason Madsen mixed for eight factors, however UNC’s plan going ahead was to bleed the clock. The reprieve was brief lived and the Tar Heels rolled on to the ultimate buzzer.
Source: www.bostonherald.com