‘I love his fire’: Has UNC found a new leader in transfer Brady Manek as Michigan arrives?

CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina knew it was getting a proven shooter, competent scorer and dependable defensive rebounder when forward Brady Manek arrived by way of the NCAA transfer portal for his final season of college basketball.

The Tar Heels might’ve found a fiery source of veteran leadership in Manek, too.

“He shows his passion,” senior swingman Leaky Black said Tuesday. “He leads by example. I feel like he’s just so passionate about everything he’s doing, and that shows. That makes everyone else rise up and not want to mess up while they’re out there.”

Manek is tied for the team lead in 3-pointers and ranks third in scoring and rebounding, as North Carolina (4-2) returns from a seven-day break between games and meets No. 24 Michigan (4-2) in an ACC-Big Ten Challenge matchup Wednesday night at the Smith Center.

The Tar Heels defeated UNC Asheville 72-53 in their last game, an unremarkable victory that didn’t register as particularly satisfying for Manek, the Oklahoma graduate transfer, who provided eight points and nine rebounds.

North Carolina then was coming off a winless weekend in the Hall of Fame Tip-off Tournament at the Mohegan Sun, and the frustration from high-profile losses to nationally ranked Purdue and Tennessee practically was burning off Manek when he met with reporters after the Asheville game. He didn’t hold back in speaking up and venting.

“We’ve got to get better, plain and simple,” he said that night in Chapel Hill. “I don’t know what it is, but we’ve got to play better. I don’t know if we’ve got to come together more, we’ve just got to play basketball, I don’t know. We’ve got to play better. We should’ve beat them by a lot more than what we did.”

From comeback to epic collapse: UNC football takeaways on shocking loss to rival NC State

'Put the cherry on top': What to watch as UNC can play spoiler role against rival NC State

Sam Howell at full strength? UNC star QB puts in rehab work ahead of rivalry game at NC State

'We've got to get better': Brady Manek vents frustration as UNC takes care of UNC Asheville

The Tar Heels dropped out of the Top 25 after stumbling against Purdue and Tennessee, now ranked Nos. 2 and 13, respectively.

North Carolina’s listless 89-72 loss to Tennessee was freshest when the Tar Heels defeated UNC Asheville, a victory during which their 20-point lead from the first half shriveled to seven during one juncture in the second half. North Carolina finished with more turnovers (18) than assists (15) that night for the third straight game.

From the feeling behind his tone to the no-nonsense details in his words, Manek’s postgame displeasure was palpable as he said “we can’t let teams like that stick around” and “we’ve got to play better for 40 minutes,” among a number of points made with emphasis.

“We’ve got some amazing talent,” Manek said. “We’ve got some good players. We’ve got a lot of guys that know how to play basketball. We’ve got to play basketball.

“I mean, we’ve got four McDonald’s All-Americans. The most I’ve ever had on a team is one. You put four on a team, we should be really good, and we’re not showing it. So we’ve got to play better, we’ve got to play harder, we’ve got to play smarter, and we need to make up for what happened and keep moving forward.”

'It will change': Hubert Davis promises improvements are coming after UNC’s lopsided loss to Tennessee in tourney

Superman for a night: UNC meets Purdue showing ‘everybody can put on the cape’ with scoring in early bunches

'This is his home': New coach Hubert Davis wants presence of mentor Roy Williams around UNC

BIG FOUR AND MORE: Ready to read more on the ACC and college sports? Join our ‘Big Four and More’ newsletter that’s delivered right to your email

New North Carolina coach Hubert Davis mostly has used the 6-foot-9 Manek off the bench this season. He started the season opener against Loyola (Md.), before shifting to a sixth man type of role. He’s supplying 14.8 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, while shooting 50 percent from the field, including 41.9 percent from 3-point range. He heated up for season highs of six 3-pointers and 24 points against Tennessee.

Manek started 111 of his 122 games at Oklahoma across the last four seasons. His 235 successful 3s rank fifth in school history, and he’s the only Sooners player ever to compile 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 200 made 3-pointers and 100 blocked shots during his career.

Davis applauded the spirit and conviction with which Manek vented after the Asheville game.

“I love Brady. I love his fire,” Davis said. “He’s our most experienced player. He’s played four years in the Big 12. He’s played in big games, big situations. And so even though he hasn’t been here he has a clear understanding of what it takes to be competitive, what it takes to win and be successful in big games and big situations. So I love when he speaks up. When he speaks, the team listens because of his experience, because of his play, and because of how wise he is out there on the floor. And so I like his fire.

“I always say this to the guys, ‘If you’re emotional and you show emotions, that’s good.’ If you’re emotional and you have emotions out there on the floor, on the bench, in the huddle, I’m 100 percent for that. That means you care. So you saying that Brady came into the interview room hot, that puts a smile on my face. That means he cares, and he’s right. This team can be really good, and he understands that. We’re very fortunate to have Brady Manek on this team and a part of this program.”

ACC-BIG TEN CHALLENGE TIP-OFF

Who: No. 24 Michigan (4-2) at North Carolina (4-2)

When: 9:15 p.m. Wednesday (ESPN)

Where: Smith Center, Chapel Hill

Series: Tied 4-4. Michigan has won the last two games, which were played in Ann Arbor, Mich., in November 2018, and The Bahamas in November 2019. The teams both have won at home in their previous ACC-Big Ten Challenge matchups. North Carolina is 10-12 all-time in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, including 1-1 against Michigan.

Up next: North Carolina plays on the road at Georgia Tech at 3 p.m. Sunday in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams

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.

Take advantage of our $1 for 6 months sale on digital subscriptions. For special offers, click here.

This article originally appeared on Times-News: UNC basketball finds leadership from Brady Manek as Michigan arrives