UNC men's basketball on first five-game win streak of the season after win over Miami

Junior forward Ven-Allen Lubin doesn't know exactly when it happened, but he has a guess. Junior guard Seth Trimble imagines it happened sometime last month. Graduate forward Jae'Lyn Withers thinks it happened in practice.

But each North Carolina player knows something has shifted. 

Trimble questioned his teammates and their fire after an embarrassing loss to Clemson in February. Now, he thinks the team has done a complete 180 in just a month. 

"Guys have really put their focus on what they need to focus on," Trimble said. "Guys put their focus on each other and they put their focus on what Coach Davis has to say."

And North Carolina's win against Miami further shows that the Tar Heels have changed. The UNC men's basketball team overpowered Miami, 92-73, on Saturday afternoon in the Dean E. Smith Center. Six Tar Heels scored in double figures for the second consecutive game since the 1988-89 season as North Carolina is now on its first five game win streak of the season. The Tar Heels also recorded their second-best shooting day of the year, going 58.9 percent from the field and 55.6 percent from three. 

Almost three weeks ago, UNC was at its lowest point standing in the depths of Littlejohn Coliseum. After losing by 20 to the Tigers, each player exited the arena alone to the bus. The Tar Heels had lost five of their last seven games. Their chemistry was called into question. They didn't know each other well enough to play like a team. 

So, North Carolina went back to the basics. The type of things reserved for pre-season rather than February and early March. 

"We just took it upon ourselves to build a chemistry and a bond on and off the court," Lubin said.

They don't know who sparked it, but one of them began communicating. Jokes in the locker room started flowing. They went out more as a group. If they saw each other across campus, the players made it a point to go out of their way to speak to one another. 

Head coach Hubert Davis noted that there's more conversation in the huddles and in the locker room. Davis' team is livelier. 

"To be a good team, you have to communicate," Davis said. "You got to get to know each other. You got to know how to communicate with each other, and I think we're really starting to find that now." 

 Although it seems like a simple fix to a season riddled with mistakes, it was just enough for a team desperate to cling onto anything that might turn things around. 

Against the Hurricanes, UNC recorded five assists on its first eight field goals. Four UNC players had three or more assists. Withers tallied his third double-double this season and third consecutive game in double-figures. 

And with over 17 minutes remaining in the second half, Lubin sent the ball inside to first-year forward Drake Powell. Facing a double team, Powell passed the ball out to sophomore guard Elliot Cadeau, who snapped it quickly to Withers. The graduate forward found a wide-open Lubin inside for the easy score. 

The Tar Heels led by 21.

"Because we're so connected now, it definitely shows and translates to the game," Lubin said. "I think that we were very connected before but there was obviously some miscommunication on the court."

While it's true that UNC's competition hasn't been strong in the last five games — with Miami having a 6-23 record and two of the last five opponents unlikely to make the ACC tournament — the change is undeniable. 

North Carolina is different from the team that stood in Littlejohn. They're closer than ever before. 

@_emmahmoon

@dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com

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