Seemingly nothing could go right for the North Carolina Tar Heels on Wednesday night, as they lost 94-79 to Alabama in the ACC-SEC Challenge.
UNC (4-4) played great defensively for the first three minutes, then trailed off. North Carolina couldn’t make anything from deep, turned the ball over too many times and struggled against the Crimson Tide’s (7-2) size.
If there was one positive takeaway for the Tar Heels, though, it was a breakout game from star freshman Ian Jackson.
Jackson scored a career-high 23 points in 28 minutes off the bench, making 10 of his 17 shot attempts, including a 3-of-5 mark from the perimeter. Jackson led all scorers with his point total, plus he was the only UNC player with multiple 3-point makes.
“I feel like this year, I’ve shot it pretty well,” Jackson said in postgame interviews. “My teammates are great players themselves. They draw a lot of attention. RJ (Davis) draws a lot of attention. That kind of leaves me free to be open to make shots. I put in a lot of work, I’ll be out there shooting and getting shots up. I go out there and make shots.”
Hubert Davis is increasing Jackson’s minutes as North Carolina’s season progresses – and it’s paying off.
Jackson played a career-high 28 minutes on Wednesday against Alabama, breaking his previous high of 21 minutes against Michigan State. Jackson also scored 14 points against the Spartans in Maui, his second-straight game in double-digits – and fourth overall in 2024.
With Jackson’s big game on Wednesday, combined with struggles from RJ Davis, Seth Trimble and Elliot Cadeau, don’t be surprised to see Jackson in UNC’s starting lineup going forward.
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