UNC holds off Boston College to stay undefeated in conference play

Saturday’s game may not have been beautifully executed or beautifully officiated, but UNC fought off a pesky Boston College team late with a 76-66 win in Chestnut Hill. The double digit victory is not really indicative of how close the game was throughout, however, Carolina holding BC to 35% shooting for the game certainly helped their cause.

Although the Heels had a lead for the majority of the game, it didn’t feel all that comfortable. Some of that was definitely due to the free flowing nature of the whistles, especially in the first half when UNC was whistled for 12 team fouls. Those fouls limited Armando Bacot’s minutes and forced Hubert Davis to rely heavily on his bench to make up for it. The 26 fouls for the game gave Boston College 29 free throws, of which they made 25. Things did even up eventually, thankfully, with UNC going 21-26 from the line.

Boston College only turned the ball over four times all game while Carolina gave it 11 times. Unfortunately for the Eagles, they only turned those 11 turnovers into seven points. UNC was also a force on the boards, out-rebounding BC 43-28, including doubling them up on the offensive glass.

Four of the five starters for Carolina finished in double figures with RJ Davis leading the way with 16. He was just 2-7 from long distance, but made up for it elsewhere. Cormac Ryan had 14 points and was a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line. Harrison Ingram was the lone Tar Heel to record a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds while Bacot finished the game with 10 points and nine rebounds. Elliot Cadeau had eight points and five assists. Much like last game, Carolina got solid minutes from Jae’Lyn Withers, who finished with nine points off the bench.

A major difference in the game came down to the fact that UNC made five of their last six shots from the field and the Eagles did not make a shot from the field for the final three minutes. That allowed UNC to finally push the lead to double figures and hang on for the victory after having their lead trimmed to as few as four down the stretch.

Carolina moves to 7-0 in conference play and extend their win streak to eight games. It’s their longest win streak since the 2018-2019 season. They lead Florida State by a game and a half in the conference pending the rest of today’s games.

UNC will try to extend their win streak to nine games on Monday against Wake Forest in Chapel Hill.