CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina got the response it needed in its 91-71 win over Clemson on Saturday after the weight literally got lifted from their collective shoulders.
UNC head coach Hubert Davis brought two, 15-pound weighted jackets into Thursday’s practice. He pointed out select players to rotate wearing the jacket during their drills and scrimmages. The players wondered if it was some kind of punishment for something they did. Davis used the tactic to prove a point.
“I was just thinking about something just to kind of give them a picture of what they were playing with,” Davis said. “Whether it’s the beginning of the year, the expectations, whether it’s the comments from the phone, the family and the friends — like you can’t play with that weight. You can, but you can’t jump as high, you can’t run as fast, you can’t be as efficient. And I just wanted them to play free and they played free (Saturday), and I’m just really proud of them.”
The Heels ended their three-game losing streak by doing just about all the things they’ve been inconsistent in doing this season:
They ran a nine-point halftime lead out to 25 in the second half, bucking their tendency to let teams hang around.
They tied a season high with 15 made 3-pointers, marking just the second time in ACC play — and the fourth time this season — they reached double figures. (Entering the game, UNC was shooting 30.5 percent from 3-point range, on pace to be the second-worst season in program history.)
They buckled down defensively and outscored the Tigers 30-22 in points in the paint. The 22 points tied the fewest they’ve allowed in ACC play.
The Tar Heels (16-9, 8-6 ACC) had a heartfelt locker room discussion following their loss at Wake Forest on Tuesday. Then junior guard R.J. Davis called a players’ only meeting on Thursday. Unlike previous meetings that were focused more on basketball and execution, Davis said he wanted to take a different approach and make it more on a personal level.
“We just kind of opened up and let our walls down,” said Davis, who scored 17 points including four 3-pointers. “I felt like once we were able to do that and just just to hear personal stories and how we see the season, I think it really brought us together. And I was super happy with it because you kind of felt like the energy there.”
UNC junior guard Caleb Love played energized against the Tigers with one of his most efficient games shooting. He scored a game-high 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting and added five assists. Love also connected on a career-high-tying six 3s.
“I was trying to take the right shots,” Love said. “And I did take one bad one in transition, it was like a heat check, but I limit myself to one bad shot, I feel like I’m good.”
It wasn’t just his shooting. Love ripped a rebound out of 6-foot-10 center P.J. Hall’s hands early in the first half. He also drew a charge on Brevin Galloway early to set the tone for his play. And Love held Clemson guard Chase Hunter to 3-for-16 shooting including an 0-for-8 performance in the second half.
The game seemed like a bit of a statement from both Love and R.J. Davis, coming off a week during which Love took to social media to refute speculation of a rift between the pair.
“Rumors, I’m sure y’all have seen it, that’s just what it was — none of that was true as far as me and R.J.’s situation,” Love said. “I texted R.J. and I asked him first before I posted it just to make sure he was good to respect his privacy. But that’s my brother, I love him and we don’t have nothing going on, no beef, none of that that they’re trying to label onto us. And so I told him just tune out that noise and let’s hoop.”
Overall, the Heels bore little resemblance to the team that came out listless against Wake on Tuesday and faced its largest deficit of the season at 26 points. That led to a prolonged postgame locker room scene, where forward Armando Bacot challenged his teammates to come out fighting, or don’t come back to the team.
Carolina answered the call in a way it hadn’t for much of the season.
“It was a huge step; I thought today we really played with each other and played for each other,” said Bacot, who had 19 points and 11 rebounds. “We had a lot of fun out there. We were connected, talking to each other, but like I said, after the Wake game we had a lot of talks and kind of did some soul searching I think that helped us.”
Clemson (18-7, 10-4) entered the game tied for first place in the ACC with Pitt. The Tigers held the lead midway through the first half, but watched the Heels use an 11-2 spurt to grab the lead for good.
UNC guard D’Marco Dunn and forward Jalen Washington helped spark the run and punctuated it by teaming on a Dunn drive and pass that led to a Washington dunk.
Hall, who scored 12 of the Tigers’ first 21 points and finished with a team-high 18, picked up his second foul with 6:40 left in the half. Fearing Carolina was going to run away with it, coach Brad Brownell inserted him back in the game two minutes later and he picked up his third foul when he was called for a charge after getting Davis defending him on a switch.
The Heels will have a short-lived celebration, with No. 19 Miami traveling to Chapel Hill on Monday. It’s an opportunity for UNC to get a coveted Quad 1 win in the NCAA Net rankings, as they are currently just 1-8 in those opportunities.
