Harrison Ingram shuts down Pitt's Blake Hinson in ACC tournament semifinals

WASHINGTON — It doesn’t take much to get Harrison Ingram going, but he’s constantly in search of a motive. Something to make games “personal.” To give him an edge.

That goes for basketball or just about any board game — from Catan to heated Spades battles with his grandfather. Just ask his teammate, fellow transfer James Okonkwo, who's competed in some heated online chess battles against Ingram. The junior wing talks trash; he tries to get Okonkwo off his game. 

And on Friday night, in a slightly more serious context, Ingram found his motive: disrespect. His assigned man, Pitt’s Blake Hinson, entered the game as an ACC first-team selectee. As for Ingram, he filed in at third team, despite leading the conference in rebounding through ACC play.

And the junior took it personally, “100 percent."

In No. 4 UNC’s 72-65 win over the Panthers in the ACC tournament semifinals, Ingram held Hinson to five points — tying the senior’s season-low — on two field goals. Hinson entered the game leading the ACC in 3-point field goals, but on Friday he made none. The Pitt guard also paced the conference with 18 points per game (behind UNC’s RJ Davis). And on Friday? Well, he wasn’t anywhere close.

“A lot of teams guard me a lot of different ways,” Hinson told reporters in the locker room following the game. “They try their best not to let me score. It’s my job to score. I didn’t do my job tonight.”

And a big reason for that comes down to, not Xs and Os, but wants and desires. Passion — even if it comes from anger.

Sophomore guard Seth Trimble said “a lot of people had motives in this game.” He was quick to list them out. For one, Pitt has historically “bullied” the Tar Heels. Going back to 2020, North Carolina is 3-5 against the Panthers. Pitt’s Ishmael Leggett was named ACC Sixth Man of the Year. Trimble, UNC's own resident sixth man, “thought otherwise.” 

And as for Ingram’s beef with Hinson? The junior said it's not that deep.

"I mean, I don’t really care," he said. "It doesn’t really matter. But going into this game, I used that as fuel to get myself upset.”

"I'm just trying to find something to hype myself up."

But regardless of the depth of his feelings, Trimble was aware of Ingram's motive. UNC graduate center Armando Bacot was too.

“I think Harrison, he definitely wanted to be [ACC] first-team all-defense,” Bacot said. “We definitely thought he should’ve been higher too on the All-ACC team. We’ve got such a great team all year. Obviously, we run everything through RJ, but me, Cormac and Harrison — we all put up great performances too. We’re such a talented team it can really be anybody’s night.”

There was no question about it, Friday was RJ Davis' night. The senior guard delivered two triples and two trips to the line down the stretch, allowing the Tar Heels to finally pull away from the Panthers.

But in the shadows laid Ingram’s defensive performance. He contested Hinson’s shot from the jump and continued to apply the pressure.

Thanks to Ingram, the Tar Heels essentially eliminated Hinson from Pitt’s offensive scheme. The senior didn’t make a shot until just over 10 minutes remained in the contest — a tightly-contested step-back jumper over UNC graduate forward Jae’Lyn Withers, who assisted Ingram in the handling of Hinson.

After the game, Ingram and Hinson both nit-picked their performances. Hinson was blunt. He didn’t do his job. And as a result, at least in his mind, the Panthers are going back home. 

But Ingram, who will be competing on Saturday in the ACC tournament championship, was also not satisfied with his performance. He pointed out that he turned the ball over and “didn’t have [his] best offensive game.”

He entered the game with a motive, and similarly, exited with one. 

“He had a little bit to prove,” Trimble said. “I think he proved that tonight.” 

Trimble described Ingram's game as "elite" and "truly one of the greatest performances of defense I’ve seen from Harrison.” But was his effort enough for Trimble to hand over his title of UNC’s best on-ball defender? The sophomore pondered the thought for a second. He looked across the locker room at his teammate and, after quiet contemplation, cracked a smile.

“Definitely,” Trimble said. “I’ll give it to him.”

@shelbymswanson

@dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com 

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