UNC men's basketball channels experience in gritty win over N.C. State

RALEIGH — The pieces came together.

Even when it wasn’t pretty. Even with their backs against the wall on the verge of a late-game collapse. 

North Carolina survived. Again. 

UNC defeated N.C. State, 63-61, on Saturday evening at the Lenovo Center to win its third game in a row and seventh of its last nine. Late-game heroics from junior center Jalen Washington headlined the outing — from his game-winning dunk to the final block on the last defensive possession — but it was the under-the-radar instances of toughness that propelled UNC to that decisive moment. 

Instances that were made possible by the tough games that preceded Saturday’s. 

“Down the stretch, [we] had more experience,” first-year guard Ian Jackson said. “[We] were making the right play, knocking down open shots.”  

Junior guard Seth Trimble was sidelined with a concussion for three games. In that time on the bench, Trimble said he noticed changes in the team. 

In two previous games — the win over Campbell and the 83-70 loss to Louisville — the Tar Heels were “soft.” They weren’t establishing an identity. 

Then came Notre Dame. That 74-73 win over the Fighting Irish was a turning point.

“[In] that Notre Dame game, especially that first half, we really started to establish some type of defensive identity as a team,” Trimble said. “I think it’s carried over since.”

In an ugly first half, the Tar Heels were getting beat on the boards, allowing the Wolfpack to record 12 offensive rebounds to their six. They struggled to connect from three, going 2-9. They turned the ball over seven times. 

But N.C. State only scored nine points off turnovers and four second-chance points. The Wolfpack shot 22.5 percent from the field. They were even less successful from beyond the arc, shooting 1-12. 

North Carolina found a way. The Tar Heels entered the locker room at halftime with a gritty 26-20 lead. 

Head coach Hubert Davis still isn’t satisfied with the defense. There’s more to solidify in UNC’s identity. 

The Tar Heels gave up a once nine-point lead in the second half. N.C. State out-scored North Carolina, 41-37, in the final 20 minutes, shooting 60 percent from the field. He knows that isn’t sustainable.

But it didn’t matter. Experience did. 

North Carolina has played three games since December that required a last-minute defensive stop or basket on the offensive end. This season as a whole, the Tar Heels have competed in seven games decided by one possession. They lost two of them. 

Sophomore guard Elliot Cadeau made the game-clinching stop against then-No. 18 UCLA. Then he made a four-point play in the final five seconds to win it against Notre Dame. 

So in the two timeouts within the final minute of regulation, Hubert Davis kept the conversation light. He cracked jokes to put their nerves at ease. Then he boosted their confidence to step up and get it done. 

On a “broken play” that trapped Cadeau outside the lane with N.C. State’s Ben Middlebrooks reaching for a steal, the UNC sophomore hooked it over his head to a wide-open Washington for the winning dunk. 

Even with the game on the line, Cadeau didn’t panic. He didn’t turn the ball over. He’d been there before. 

“We have always been a tough team,” graduate guard RJ Davis said. “We always had it in us, but kind of just had to reveal it a little bit. It took a lot. It took a while.”

@carolinewills03

@dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com