Unstoppable and aggressive.
Those were the terms used by sophomore wings Theo Pinson and Justin Jackson to describe the play of junior forward Isaiah Hicks so far this season.
Although he wasn’t totally unstoppable in the No. 7 North Carolina men's basketball team's 80-69 victory over Clemson on Wednesday night, Hicks proved to be more than a handful for the Tigers.
The junior scored 14 points, grabbed six rebounds and distributed two assists — one of which led to a fast-break slam dunk by senior guard Marcus Paige.
On the season, Hicks leads the Tar Heels (12-2, 1-0 ACC) in field goal percentage, shooting 69 percent. And in the game versus Clemson (7-6, 0-1 ACC), Hicks made five shots and missed only one basket.
“He’s really been consistent the entire year,” Coach Roy Williams said. “He’s been consistent since the first game of the year. He’s shooting the ball well and defensive grades have been good. Last year, he really took giant strides defensively, and I think he’s continued that.”
Entering Wednesday’s contest, Hicks averaged 17.8 minutes per game. But due to the absence of junior forward Kennedy Meeks (bruised knee) and senior Brice Johnson's foul trouble, Hicks saw his game action increase to 24 minutes against Clemson.
With Johnson on the bench, Williams opted to play a smaller lineup in certain stretches. The strategy pushed Hicks to the center position, but the lineup shift didn’t bother Hicks’ play. In his minutes as the tallest player on the floor, Hicks made two jumpers and one free throw.
“I was very comfortable,” he said. “We already go through those situations in practice. Coach (Williams) will always sub for somebody different like that and go little. We work through it.”
