Brice Johnson, Isaiah Hicks Burrow into Eagles frontcourt

Brice Johnson and Isaiah Hicks provided the scoring in North Carolina’s 79-68 win over the Boston College. It was a big tweak because Hicks and Johnson had both slotted in at power forward spots previous to this game. It was Kennedy Meeks and Joel James who would get minutes at the center position.

However Roy Williams had seen something that he did not like during the two game losing streak to Louisville and Virginia and elevated Hicks to the starting lineup. He also played sophomore guard Nate Britt with the starters to try to add some ball handling and reduce turnovers. That had been a knock against JP Tokoto, who had a turnover problem.

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Johnson handled the move to the five spot well enough. He still had a few mental errors over the course of the game, but he put up twenty points and snagged ten rebounds against a weaker Boston College front line.

Hicks also showed aggressiveness in his minutes. He put in twenty one points and also collected four fouls over the course of the game. Hicks clearly got tired with the increased minute load and his foul shot fell off in the middle of the second half. As a team, the Tar Heels did pretty well from the foul stripe despite the downturn that Hicks’ game took.

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The guy who seemed to suffer the most from this benching was Kennedy Meeks. He never seemed to get in rhythm over the course of the game. He only had four points in a mere twelve minutes of action. Tokoto handled it better, with nine points and four assists and zero turnovers. Tokoto was also important in clamping down on Olivier Hanlan, who ate up mismatches against Marcus Paige and Nate Britt.

The lineup changes that Roy Williams used here may not be permanent. I think Williams was trying to reward hard playing players and reduce turnovers. The Heels still had a number of first half turnovers including two over and back violations in three minutes. Boston College is one of the few ACC opponents that offered an opportunity to experiment. There is a better chance that Britt will start again than Hicks, but Coach Williams might ride the hot hand.

The Tar Heels will have a full week of practice before they take on Pittsburgh on the road.