‘Guys, I see it’: UNC’s beatdown of Georgia Tech brings growth into focus for Hubert Davis

North Carolina’s Armando Bacot dunks against Georgia Tech during Saturday night’s game at the Smith Center.
North Carolina’s Armando Bacot dunks against Georgia Tech during Saturday night’s game at the Smith Center.
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CHAPEL HILL — During part of his postgame address after North Carolina clobbered Georgia Tech on Saturday night, first-year coach Hubert Davis took a moment to recognize a certain kind of court vision from his own vantage point.

“Guys, I see it,” Davis said he told the Tar Heels. “I said, ‘You guys may not see it or may not see it clearly, but I see it.’ We’re getting better and we have so much more that we can improve on, on both ends of the floor. But I like where we are. I like how much we can improve as a team. I see where we can be, and I think it’s starting to resonate with them.”

Plenty of positives for North Carolina to note on this night, while flattening the Yellow Jackets 88-65 in Atlantic Coast Conference basketball at the Smith Center.

Armando Bacot furthered his dominant groove, delivering 29 points and 12 rebounds, matching the career high in scoring that he set one game prior and collecting his seventh straight double-double in the process.

RJ Davis supplied 21 points and six assists to bounce back from an unproductive outing. Caleb Love scored 14 points, Brady Manek added 11 points, and Dawson Garcia grabbed 11 rebounds in his return from a concussion that caused him to miss all but the last three games.

And behind Leaky Black’s lockdown defense, the Tar Heels (12-4 overall, 4-1 ACC) suffocated Georgia Tech standout Michael Devoe, who arrived as the No. 2 scorer in the league at 20.5 points per game, and managed to make just one bucket for a season-low two points.

“He held one of the best scorers in the country to two points,” Bacot said, praising Black’s effort. “He did a tremendous job, and it would’ve been a lot closer game if he didn’t take Devoe out of the game. It was huge. That was big-time.”

Jordan Usher’s 22 points and seven rebounds and Deivon Smith’s 16 points topped the visiting Yellow Jackets (7-9, 1-5), who had no answer for combating Bacot around the basket and couldn’t keep up as North Carolina’s lead ballooned. The loss dropped Georgia Tech to last place in the ACC standings.

The Tar Heels went up by 18 in the first half and led by 30 with more than 9½ minutes remaining in the game, effectively reaching cruise control ahead of Tuesday night’s showdown at ACC leader Miami that waits next on the schedule.

North Carolina coach Hubert Davis greets forward Armando Bacot as the Smith Center crowd applauds while Bacot checks out of Saturday night’s game against Georgia Tech for the final time.
North Carolina coach Hubert Davis greets forward Armando Bacot as the Smith Center crowd applauds while Bacot checks out of Saturday night’s game against Georgia Tech for the final time.

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Bacot, the junior power forward, pumped in 20 points during the second half. His first five baskets were dunks, and finished 10-for-16 from the field and 9-for-9 on free throws. He became the first North Carolina player to pile up 29 points or more in consecutive games since Tyler Hansbrough, the all-time great, did so 14 years ago in the 2007-08 season.

After racking up 21 points and 17 rebounds at Notre Dame and then wrecking Virginia with 29 points and 22 rebounds, Bacot feasted again for a third straight game. When he checked out Saturday night for the final time with 6:12 left and the Tar Heels leading 77-50, the home crowd here saluted him with an appreciative ovation.

“One of our keys to the game was having the maturity to go out there and play hard,” Bacot said, “and not be fat and happy with our win we had versus UVa, which was a big win. I feel like we took a step in the right direction, just showing maturity to go out there and play.”

Here are more takeaways from Saturday night in Chapel Hill:

Leaky Black digs in on defense

Black said there was a juncture in the second half when Devoe, the crafty lefty scorer, grabbed at Black’s leg in frustration. The North Carolina senior swingman called it a telling moment.

“I just kind of knew at that point what we had did,” Black said.

The Tar Heels shut down Georgia Tech’s top option to such a degree that Devoe proved to be a non-factor. He entered Saturday night having compiled five games with 25 points or more, including 37- and 33-point outbursts. Previously, he had scored in single digits only once this season, an eight-point showing last month against Georgia State.

Devoe went scoreless here against North Carolina until the second half nearly was seven minutes old, when he hit a jumper off an inbounds pass. He finished with more turnovers (six) than shot attempts from the field (five), and didn’t register an assist.

Coming out of a timeout in the last minute of the first half, Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner drew up a set play for Devoe. That promptly was rejected by the Tar Heels’ Justin McKoy, whose blocked shot denied Devoe’s curling drive. Love also chipped in defensively on Devoe, but Black handled the primary assignment.

“For him defensively, it’s just fun to watch,” Hubert Davis said, commending Black. “Michael Devoe is one of the better guards in the country. To hold him to 1 of 5 field goal attempts and zero assists and six turnovers, it’s just absolutely unbelievable.”

North Carolina’s Leaky Black, left, and RJ Davis, right, and Georgia Tech’s Jordan Usher try to corral a loose ball Saturday night.
North Carolina’s Leaky Black, left, and RJ Davis, right, and Georgia Tech’s Jordan Usher try to corral a loose ball Saturday night.

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RJ Davis calls his shots

Hubert Davis said he sent RJ Davis an encouraging text message last weekend, de-emphasizing the sophomore guard’s 0-for-10 shooting struggle from the field in North Carolina’s beatdown of Virginia, and instead highlighting his defensive contributions and the four assists he handed out while committing zero turnovers.

“I told him he was great,” Hubert Davis said, “and then he texted me back and he goes, ‘I’ll hit the shots next time.’ ”

RJ Davis backed up those words Saturday night against Georgia Tech, connecting on 8-for-11 from the field, including 4-for-6 from 3-point range, and surpassing the 20-point mark for the third time this season. He got off to a fast start, pouring in 13 points across the game’s first 14½ minutes.

“I know my confidence is at a high level,” RJ Davis said, “so coming into this game it was just more so being who I am and not worrying about what happened last game, because that was last Saturday. It was a new week and I attacked the week this whole week.

“Once I saw one go in and then another one, I kind of found my groove. I just kept it going. That was my main thing, just to remain hot and instill my confidence. Just take the open shots and take the good quality shots that were there, and I think I was able to execute that.”

North Carolina guard Caleb Love, right, fouls Georgia Tech guard Deivon Smith as he dunks in the first half Saturday night.
North Carolina guard Caleb Love, right, fouls Georgia Tech guard Deivon Smith as he dunks in the first half Saturday night.

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Anthony Harris ‘unavailable’

Garcia and reserve guard Kerwin Walton returned to North Carolina’s lineup Saturday night and played for the first time since Jan. 2, and the often-injured Puff Johnson made his season debut, appearing in a college game for the first time since Jan. 20 of last season.

Meanwhile, Anthony Harris, an energy source off the bench who had scored in nine straight games for the Tar Heels, wasn’t in uniform. Hubert Davis said Harris was unavailable and didn’t elaborate. The team didn’t provide specifics about Harris’s absence, such as listing him out due to injury or COVID-19 protocols, for example.

“I don’t know how long Anthony will be out,” Hubert Davis said. “I haven’t thought about that. My hope is that he’s back the next game on Tuesday against Miami. He was just unavailable (Saturday night).”

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Adam Smith is a sports reporter for the Burlington Times-News and USA TODAY Network. You can reach him by email at asmith@thetimesnews.com or @adam_smithTN on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Times-News: UNC vs. Georgia Tech: Win has Hubert Davis seeing growth