By Adam Lucas
1. Oklahoma is no longer one of four undefeated teams nationally as Carolina secured another good non-conference win with a 79-69 win.
2. The win was exactly what the Tar Heels needed before a short Christmas break. The Heels finish the toughest part of nonconference play with wins over Arkansas, Tennessee and Oklahoma, power conference opponents that will play well in March.
3. RJ Davis continues to drive the Tar Heels offensively. The senior guard led the Heels with 23 points for the seventh straight game. This is the first Carolina player to lead the team in scoring seven straight games since Tyler Hansbrough in the 2008-09 season. Davis had the biggest basket of the game, a three-pointer on a set play after Oklahoma had gotten within five with three minutes left.
4. Carolina's defense in the first half was impressive. The Tar Heels collected seven steals and six blocks, all of which helped get the transition offense going. The Tar Heels had a 13-0 advantage in fast break points in the first 20 minutes. They finished the game with six blocks and 10 steals and had an overall advantage of 22-9 in fast-break points and 23-11 in points after turnovers. Harrison Ingram was a key part of this defensive effort as he had four steals to go along with his 11 points.
5. Even as Christmas approaches, the Tar Heel rotation continues to evolve. Carolina gave Jae'Lyn Withers some early action on Wednesday, which was largely limited by foul trouble – some of which was admittedly of his own making, as he twice fouled a three-point shooter. Partly due to Withers' foul trouble, the Heels also used Zayden High for six minutes in the first half. Withers and High have something in common: They are active and will always be on the ball on the court. High had three rebounds in his 12 minutes. Seth Trimble saw long minutes late when the Heels needed his defense.
6. Carolina cut off a Sooner offensive stronghold very effectively. OU came into the game ranked in the top 10 in the country in two-point shooting and had a shooting percentage of over 60 percent. The Heels limited them to just 9 of 21 in that category in the first half and 15 of 32 in the game. Add to that the fact that the Sooners had major problems from three-point range in the first half before going in caught fire in the second half and it was very difficult for them to continuously go on offense until the end of the game.
7. It's fun to watch Cormac Ryan enjoy being the bad guy. He put in an energetic scene in the second half, tackling Otega Oweh defensively before being called for a questionable block. As the crowd at the Spectrum Center booed, Ryan waved his arms to cheer them on, earning him a reprimand from officials. He finished with 13 points and five rebounds.
8. Carolina's bench quietly had a productive evening, with several reserve players giving the Heels good minutes. In addition to High, Carolina got solid defense and a three-pointer from Seth Trimble (including forcing a late turnover with a minute left), a pair of rebounds and two second-chance points from Jalen Washington, and four points in four minutes from Withers. UNC won the bench points category 13-11.
9. Congratulations to Armando Bacot, who passed Antawn Jamison for eighth place on Carolina's all-time scoring list. Bacot scored 14 points to go with eight rebounds. These rebounds were a team record, as Carolina was outrebounded for the third straight year and the final score was 39-31 in favor of the Sooners.
10. Wednesday night marked the first time Carolina played five non-conference opponents in a row (Arkansas 20, Tennessee 10, UConn 5, Kentucky 14 and Oklahoma 7). There have only been two instances in which the Tar Heels played five non-conference opponents in an entire regular season (1982–83 and 1988–89).
11. At the game in Charlotte, in front of a very friendly UNC crowd, there was a nice selection of former Tar Heels in attendance, including Phil Ford, Brendan Haywood, Al Wood, Dave Hanners, Matt Doherty, George Lynch and Larry Brown. Numerous other notables were in attendance, including Eric Church in a See Ya Later Big Grits shirt with Eric Montross' name and number on the back.
12. There were numerous other nods to the big guy, including a minute's silence before the game and several 00 jerseys spotted in the crowd.