Renewed defensive effort helps UNC in win against App State ahead of ACC play

In college basketball, progress isn’t linear, and its end result is unclear. 

Twelve games into head coach Hubert Davis’ first season, it’s hard to tell where the North Carolina men’s basketball team is heading and difficult to understand the team’s identity. 

On Tuesday, the Tar Heels beat Appalachian State, 70-50. Three days earlier, they suffered a 98-69 embarrassment at the hands of Kentucky. There’s an undeniable talent gap between these two teams — the Wildcats are a top-25 team and the Mountaineers were slated to finish fourth in the Sun Belt at the preseason — but performance gaps haven’t been unusual for the Tar Heels this season. 

“We all know how to play basketball,” graduate forward Brady Manek said. “We need to know how to play, but we also need to come ready to play. And that’s gonna be our biggest challenge, being here ready to go.”

On Nov. 23, the Tar Heels led UNC-Asheville by just seven points with 12 minutes to play before finally pulling away for a double-digit victory. In their next game, they beat a then-ranked Michigan team by 21 points. 

Now entering ACC play, finding consistency will be key in determining just how much progress this North Carolina team can make from the previous two year’s disappointment. To hear Davis tell it, the key to progress comes down to a mantra of three simple nouns: 

“Energy, effort and toughness,” he said. “I think that’s the only way that we can have a chance to achieve all of our individual and team goals.”

Against App State, the Tar Heels’ performance largely followed that mantra.

Fifty points is the lowest scoring total a North Carolina opponent has had all season. UNC held App State to respective 31.3 and 13.3 percent marks from the field and 3-point line and effectively switched off of screens and applied pressure throughout the game. 

The opponent also has to be taken into consideration — the Mountaineers have shot just 30 percent from beyond the arc this year — but to force any team to that level of inefficiency is impressive. 

“All (Davis) asked for us was to compete,” said sophomore guard RJ Davis. “For him to get on us and push us, I think that’s what’s best for the team… if we continue to play like this and play together and just compete every game, it’ll take care of itself.”

Despite the scoreline and defensive success, the lingering issues with consistency were still present. The Tar Heels were ahead for the vast majority of game time — more than 36 minutes — but for much of the first 25, UNC couldn’t pull away.  

Before the five-minute mark of the first half, UNC’s lead never reached double-digits. After that, the difference hovered around 10 until the 15 minute mark of the second frame. Then, the Tar Heels finally seemed to slam their foot on the gas. 

The team fed the post, took advantage of fastbreak opportunities and thoroughly shut down the Mountaineers offense; guarding the perimeter so well that App State went 1-15 from deep in the second half. 

Simply out, something  shifted. 

“Sometimes you get into a game and the other team hits first and they hit way harder,” Manek said. “But we bounce back. All we can do is look forward and try to keep it up.”

This won’t be so easy to do from now on, with the Tar Heels heading into the heart of ACC play starting with a Dec. 29 bout against Virginia Tech. 

Still unranked and entering a rare conference campaign where there won’t be many opportunities for quality wins — just three other ACC teams are in the top-50 of the NET rankings — there won’t be much room for error if the Tar Heels hope to improve their resume before March. 

Progress is inconsistent and hard to come by. But with the margin for error beginning to shrink, UNC will have to find a way to make consistency a part of its identity. 

“By the end of the year or through the ACC, I want us to have the reputation of being a very tough team, a team that always brings max effort and energy out there on the floor,” Davis said. 

@zachycrain

@dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com