North Carolina won their third straight and second straight on the road to get their fifth win in conference play this season. The Tar Heels took an early lead over the Yellow Jackets and though they didn’t blow past them, they kept that lead steady for most of the game as they led by 15 at halftime, and got it up to around 20 before winning by 16.
So what can we learn from North Carolina’s recent win over Georgia Tech?
Ball movement was key
The Tar Heels finished with their most assists in an ACC game since they had 21
in a loss to SMU in their second game of the conference season. North Carolina was led by Caleb Wilson who had five assists as the freshman seems to just keep getting better at passing out of double teams to wide open shooter and alley-ooping big men. Derek Dixon and Kyan Evans also combined to give the Tar Heels six more assists to just one turnover. The ball moved around the court seamlessly at times as players passed up their own shots to get better shots for teammates. Good ball movement will continue to keep defenses honest and on their toes opening up the lane for more Caleb Wilson dunks.
Henri Veesaar played like a seven-footer
Henri Veesaar doesn’t always play like a big man. Sometimes he gets pushed around and can get into foul trouble early. However, today he played big. The seven-foot transfer from Arizona finished with 20 points and a game high 12 rebounds for his tenth double-double of the season. He also had a conference season high four blocks (his career high is 5 which he set earlier this year against NCCU). When Veesaar plays big it opens everything else up for the Tar Heels as teams can’t double team Caleb Wilson who finished with a team high 22 points.
Luka is finding his place
Luka Bogavac continued to be a consistent presence off the bench finishing the game with a conference season high 16 points, hitting three three-pointers, and dishing out three assists. In his past five games the international junior is averaging nearly 12 points per game while making 37.5% of his threes. Bogavac seems to have adjusted finally to playing in the States and is getting use to being a consistent scoring threat off the bench.
