UNC basketball pulls away from NC State, takes over first place in ACC

RALEIGH – Another road test, another ace for UNC basketball.

With their 67-54 win at NC State, the seventh-ranked Tar Heels earned their third ACC road win in a row to take over sole possession of first place in the conference standings.

UNC (12-3, 4-0 ACC) brought another impressive defensive effort and closed with an impressive flurry against the Wolfpack (11-4, 3-1) at PNC Arena. In each of the Tar Heels’ road wins, they’ve limited their opponents to below 40% shooting. RJ Davis scored a game-high 16 points for UNC.

UNC limited NC State to 26.9% shooting, the fourth-lowest field goal percentage against an ACC opponent and the lowest against the Wolfpack since at least 1954. It’s the fewest points allowed against NC State since 2001. UNC held a team to below 60 points in three straight road games for the first time since 1998-99.

Here are some other observations from UNC’s win against NC State in Raleigh.

RJ Davis keys UNC basketball’s final surge

NC State had the momentum after trimming UNC’s lead to 46-44 midway through the second half, but the Tar Heels responded with a 15-4 run to take a 13-point lead with six minutes left and never looked back. Davis provided the dagger 3-pointer to give UNC a 17-point lead with four minutes left. After missing seven of his nine shots in the first half, Davis had 11 points in the second half.

DIFFERENT TAR HEELS: Inside the huddle with Hubert Davis, UNC basketball and what's changed for the Tar Heels

Harrison Ingram was everywhere for the Tar Heels

Harrison Ingram had 11 rebounds in the first 16 minutes and finished with a career-high 19 boards (the most ever for a UNC player against NC State). After grabbing 15 rebounds in the win at Pitt, Ingram has double-digit rebounds in two of the last three games. Last season at Stanford, Ingram didn’t have a game with double-digit boards. He has three through 15 games at UNC.

Elliot Cadeau, Seth Trimble get it and go

After failing to record a fast-break point at Clemson, UNC had a 18-8 advantage in transition against NC State. After the Wolfpack trimmed its deficit to two points midway through the second half, sophomore guard Seth Trimble had a personal 5-0 run, including two layups on the break. Freshman guard Elliot Cadeau had 11 points and six assists as the Tar Heels pushed the pace to pull away from the Pack.

Offensive offense for UNC, NC State

During a media timeout in the first half, a dog made two of three baskets on a mini hoop. The dog was far more efficient than the Tar Heels or Wolfpack as the teams combined to shoot 32%. After finishing with 10 turnovers at Clemson, UNC had seven in the first 20 minutes against State. The Wolfpack missed its first 10 3-point attempts, but made 10 free throws to hang around as UNC carried a 30-28 lead into halftime.

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

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Harrison Ingram helps UNC basketball take over 1st place in ACC