UNC vs. Miami - Player of the Game: Brandon Robinson

Throughout the losing streak, a theme that stuck was that there many of the games would have had a different result if just one thing were different. Against Virginia Tech that one thing was that UNC probably would have won if Brandon Robinson had played.

Robinson and Garrison Brooks have generally been trading off as the Tar Heels’ leading scorer and/or top performer over the last couple weeks. However in recent weeks, he’s missed some time due to the effects of a car accident where he was struck by a drunk driver. It was an unfortunate event in a season that’s been full of them.

On Saturday, the Tar Heels, and Robinson in specific, put in one of the more cathartic performances you’ll see in UNC’s 94-71 win over Miami. The senior scored a career high 29 points, going 11-16 from the field, including 6-10 from three. He also added four assists and three rebounds as the Tar Heels cruised over the Hurricanes.

Fifteen of his points came in the first half as Carolina played arguably their best 20 minutes of the season and went into the break up 24. He then came out and scored 12 of the Tar Heels’ first 14 points in the second half, as the lead hovered around 30 points. It stayed their for most of the rest of the game before Miami lowered that in garbage time.

The other super impressive Tar Heel performance came from Armando Bacot. The freshman finished with 19 points on 8-11 shooting while also grabbing 12 rebounds. Most incredibly, he also finished with a team high seven assists. He was extremely effective passing against the zone that the Hurricanes played.

Of course, it should be noted that the reason the Hurricanes played zone was that they were down to six scholarship players. Among those missing was Miami point guard and leading scorer Chris Lykes. As a UNC fan base, we’re not going to be out here feeling sorry for beating an injury riddled team considering what been’s happening to the Tar Heels recently, and all the players they’re also still missing. It still should be noted as a factor in the lopsidedness of the game.

However, they way the win did come had to feel especially good for Brandon Robinson and the Tar Heels.