UNC basketball’s Leaky Black lives up to nickname in Tar Heels’ win vs Wake Forest

CHAPEL HILL – For a three-minute stretch in North Carolina basketball’s 88-79 win against Wake Forest, Leaky Black lived up to his nickname.

Black hears the moniker from his teammates whenever he rips the net with a jumper, but he’s not particularly fond of it.

“Every time I make a shot, they call me Steph, and it’s like, ‘Bro, stop,’” Black said Wednesday, referring to Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry.

“I’m just happy we got the win and I made a few shots.”

Black is not to be confused with arguably the greatest shooter in NBA history, but the graduate student scored a career-high 18 points against the Demon Deacons, including 14 points in the first half.

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In nearly 34 minutes on the court, Black made six of his eight shots, including 3 of 5 shots from long range, and knocked down three of his four attempts from the free-throw line.

“There’s times where they leave him open. Leaky can make shots, and I like when he’s aggressive. If he’s wide open, I tell him all the time, ‘I want you to shoot the ball. If you don’t want to shoot it, then drive it and create a shot for somebody else,’” UNC coach Hubert Davis said.

“I felt like early, he hit a couple and then his confidence continued to grow. I love when it attacks the basket, because he can score and – if he gets fouled – he gets to the free-throw line. I love when he’s aggressive offensively. The more aggressive offensively he is – it becomes more of a factor – we become more dangerous, so I love it. He was huge in the first half for us.”

The Concord native made five of his six shots, including a trio of 3-pointers in a three-minute stretch, to pace UNC’s offense in the first 20 minutes. Black’s scoring provided a much-needed boost for the Tar Heels (10-5, 2-2 ACC), who failed to make a shot in the final five and a half minutes and trailed 38-37 at halftime against the Demon Deacons (10-5, 2-2).

RJ Davis, who scored 27 points to lead UNC, said he was “super proud” of Black. During a 10-minute stoppage in the second, Davis reminded Black of the nickname.

“Right when we were waiting to get back on the court … I said, ‘Leak, you look like Steph right now,’ ” Davis said with a smile.

In addition to his scoring, Black added four rebounds and three steals.

“He was a huge impact for us,” Davis said. “His ability to make those timely shots – the 3s, being aggressive on the offensive end – that’s something we’re gonna need from him. … Hopefully, he uses this as a step to continue to do what he’s doing.”

Armando Bacot, who scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds, also pointed out Black’s “aggressiveness.”

“They had a lot of undersized guys on him and I thought he did a good job of just attacking and finishing,” Bacot said. “He also shot the ball well, too, which is great.”

But the success didn’t come as a surprise to Black, who mentioned his practice habits and how he’s started to see that success filter into games. He's averaging 7.5 points and shooting 39% from 3-point range.

“It’s just a matter of just capitalizing on my opportunities,” Black said.

“If I see one go in, I’m gonna keep shooting it. That’s something y’all haven’t really got to see, but y’all seen it today. I’m gonna try to build off this.”

Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com or @RoddBaxley on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: UNC basketball: Leaky Black 'huge' for Tar Heels in win over Wake Forest