Lucas: Crazy Fun

By Adam Lucas

BLACKSBURG—After Carolina's 91-59 blitzkrieg of Virginia Tech on Tuesday night, Seth Trimble could talk about anything. He could talk about the Tar Heels' offense, which has now shot over 50 percent from the field in ten of the last 11 halves. He could talk about the Carolina defense, which forced eight turnovers in 17 trips during a first half stretch that ignited what eventually became a 48-12 run. He could talk about making Carolina basketball history, as the Heels have now put five players in double figures for four straight ACC games for the first time in the history of the program.

But he wants to talk about the bench.

"The bench," he said on the Tar Heel Sports Network, "was crazy fun the whole game."

Trimble would know, because he only had to play 21 minutes. So he spent a sizable portion of the game—especially in the second half—sitting directly next to RJ Davis.

Davis played just six minutes out of the final 20, and Trimble played only eight. That left them, side by side, providing a running commentary on everything that unfolded for the Tar Heels. Trimble was mad he hadn't secured more than three rebounds and still wants to double-check the tape. Davis poured in 15 points on six shots to go with his three assists and thought maybe he had another three-pointer or two in him.

But mostly what they did was enjoy it. "This might be one of the last times I get to sit next to RJ on the bench like that and just have fun," Trimble said. So they did. Trimble looked across the court at Drake Powell and raised an eyebrow, trying to prompt the freshman to make a play. Powell just chuckled. He was already a whopping +30 in the game. He'd made plenty of plays.

Davis and Trimble's favorite moment of the second half came with under five minutes to play, when Ian Jackson missed a three-pointer but Carolina secured the offensive rebound. The Heels promptly fed Cade Tyson, who swished a corner three-pointer on a night when the Heels hit a sparkling 53.6 percent from three. But none of them were celebrated like this one.

As Tyson grinned going back up the court, Davis, Trimble, Ven-Allen Lubin, Jae'Lyn Withers and Jalen Washington stood and led the cheers on the UNC bench.

"We're just celebrating each other," Trimble said. And there was plenty of opportunity to do exactly that, because Carolina was excellent for the final 33 minutes of the game.

It was beautiful basketball. They flashed athleticism and ran the floor—Trimble had a soaring block on one end and then finished on offense at the rim less than ten seconds later.  They threw lobs—Elliot Cadeau found Lubin for a nice one that made it a 36-point lead. They hit teammates ahead of the defense—Powell found Jackson for a first half basket. They defended, they communicated, and they very simply just played excellent basketball.

This season may not need a highlight tape. You can just roll the Virginia Tech game. There was a gorgeous Cadeau-to-Lubin-to-Withers sequence early in the second half. There was Trimble polishing off the first half with a dunk. There was enough crazy fun for everybody.

Imagine if coming back from Clemson I'd told you the Tar Heels were about to do something for the first time in program history. You likely wouldn't have thought it would be a positive achievement. Instead, they suddenly transformed into the Showtime Tar Heels, are averaging 90.8 points per game, and just did what no Carolina team—not the team-first 1993 club, not the high-scoring 2012 team, not the versatile 2017 champions—has ever done with the five double-figure scorers in four straight ACC games.

"It's not any secret that we're playing our best basketball right now," Hubert Davis told Jones Angell on the THSN. "Since we went up to Syracuse, something has changed. We're more consistent at doing the little things. No one is perfect—coach, team or player. But we're building little habits and doing those things consistently well. We have a lot of guys comfortable in their role and playing well at the same time, and that puts a smile on my face."

It should. This was a Virginia Tech team that came into the game playing well. Multiple Hokies, including head coach Mike Young, described it as one of the most connected teams he's had in Blacksburg. And Carolina systematically took them apart for the program's first 30-point ACC road win since 2019.

I understand the metrics and comprehend the analytic problems Carolina created for itself in the first three months of the season. But I also know that the team that's played the last six games is absolutely an NCAA Tournament team. I feel bad for the Carolina fans who were understandably frustrated and proclaimed they wouldn't watch any further Tar Heel basketball this year. On Tuesday night, they missed a fun one—a crazy fun one.

The next ten days will determine the way we remember them. Are they a group that dug itself too deep a hole? Or are they a team that came together in the final month to rewrite a story even some fans had already conceded?

Right now, this is who they are:

"We recognize the name on the front of the jersey and who we're playing for," Trimble said, harkening back to a Hubert Davis locker room speech a couple of weeks ago. "Each and every one of us chose to come here and committed to the same goals. Now we're finally applying the things we talk about off the court and having unity. These last six games, we're just a whole family having the most fun we could have. We've taken a huge jump and it's because we're being as unselfish as we can be."

Players Mentioned

Elliot Cadeau

RJ Davis

Ian Jackson

Ven-Allen Lubin

Drake Powell

Seth Trimble

Cade Tyson

Jalen Washington

Jae'Lyn Withers

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