Chansky's Notebook: First of two - Cheztalalrestaurant

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The Tar Heels are primed for a very big win tonight in Charlotte.

In the first of two crucial games this week, UNC has de facto home-field advantage at the Spectrum Center. The opponent is undefeated Florida, which is 10-0 and ranked No. 7, behind No. 2 Auburn and No. 6 Alabama, both of which beat the Heels by double digits.

The Gators had a far softer schedule than Carolina, which also lost to No. 8 Kansas and No. 20 Michigan State. The Tar Heels have the eighth-toughest schedule in the country, while Florida is ranked 52nd after playing four unranked power conference schools.

The match on the court is also favorable for the Heels. Florida starts with a three-guard lineup, which, like Carolina, represents the Gators’ strength with good, perhaps even better, outside shooting.

Their two best players are 6-3 senior Walter Clayton, who averages 19 points and shoots 92 percent from the foul line. The second highest scorer is 6-2 senior Alijah Martin, who averages 15 points. They shouldn’t be able to outplay RJ Davis, Elliot Cadeau and Seth Trimble.

Up front, their best rebounder with 7 per game is 6-11 sophomore Alex Condon, who won’t dominate against the changing and fresh postmen of Hubert Davis. Florida’s second-best non-starting big man is a 6-10 sophomore who averages more than 5 points and more than 6 rebounds per game. The UNC bigs combine for 15 boards per game.

The Gators are shooting slightly better from the floor and from 3-point range, thanks to the average accuracy of Davis, Cadeau and Trimble, all of whom struggled with inconsistency early in the season. Cade Tyson has shown that more minutes can help him feel comfortable.

Charlotte has always been the Tar Heels’ second home and a sellout is expected to provide a significant advantage. This is an important game for them, almost a must-win, and definitely their best chance to beat a top-10 Quad 1 team, which will be their biggest win of the season after the rocky start schedule.

Both teams like to run and average 86 points per game. So it should be a fast-paced contest, which Carolina prefers with a lot of noise in their favor. If the Tar Heels win, it will look huge given Florida’s record and ranking; Defeat will be just as damaging.

Coach Davis used the same starters in his first seven games, but has since switched to a four-man lineup with 6-6 freshman Drake Powell and 6-8 transfer Ven-Allen Lubin. And at least against La Salle, the Heels were more successful as all five players moved, penetrated and passed better to create ball screens and good looks.

Hubert also outlined a full-court press game he could test tonight and likely Saturday against 18th-ranked UCLA in New York City, another Quad 1 game.

Featured image by Todd Melet

Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including bestsellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has been a contributor to the WCHL for decades, making his first appearance as a student in 1971 The “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his opinion column “Art’s Angle” appears weekly on Chapelboro.

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