UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team First Game in the Battle 4 Atlantis

by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn

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The Tar Heels basketball team played their first game of the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament against Alabama on Wednesday afternoon. UNC had another slow start to the game with more turnovers than made field goals in their first few possessions of the game.

North Carolina and Alabama both shot poorly from the field in the first half, both shooting under 40% from the field. The Tar Heels were very careless with the ball in the first half with 10 turnovers, which allowed Alabama to keep the game close and trail only by 6 going into the halftime, 37-31.

In the second half, UNC played much better and would go on a 14-2 run that would extend the lead to double figures, and never relinquish the lead for the rest of the game. Alabama struggled to handle the inside play of Armando Bacot and Garrison Brooks. The Heels dominated on the glass and in the paint, outrebounding Alabama 60-31 and outscoring them 40-28 in the paint. North Carolina got huge contributions from multiple players with four players scoring in double figures, leading to their 76-67 win.

UNC Game Stats

                                     1          2          T

#6 North Carolina    37        39        76

Alabama                    31        36        67

North Carolina

                        FG       3PT     FT       REB    AST    TO       PTS

G. Brooks       7-13    0-0      6-8      6          1          5          20

A. Bacot         5-7      0-0      2-4      15        1          2          12

C. Anthony    4-13    1-3      4-7      7          6          6          13

L. Black          4-9      1-1      0-0      9          2          2          9

B. Robinson  4-11    3-6      1-1      6          2          1          12

C. Keeling     1-6      0-1      0-1      3          1          1          2

J. Pierce         2-7      0-2      0-0      2          1          1          4

A. Platek        2-5      0-1      0-0      2          1          2          4

TEAM             29-71  5-14    13-21  59        15        20        76

                        40.8% 35.7% 61.9%

Alabama

                        FG       3PT     FT       REB    AST    TO       PTS

A. Reese        3-10    1-5      0-2      9          0          1          7

J. Davis          2-3      0-0      1-2      5          1          0          5

H. Jones        2-7      0-0      1-2      1          1          3          5

J. Petty Jr.      7-11    7-10    2-2      3          1          1          23

K. Lewis Jr.    9-23    2-7      0-0      5          4          5          20

G. Smith         0-1      0-0      0-0      0          0          2          0

J. Bolden       1-4      1-3      0-0      1          3          1          3

J. Forbes        0-1      0-1      0-0      0          0          0          0

J. Shackelford 2-8    0-5      0-1      2          1          1          4

TEAM             26-68  11-31  4-9      31        12        14        67

                        38.2% 35.5% 44.4%

UNC Bright Spots

Garrison Brooks had 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 1 assist.

Cole Anthony had 13 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists.

Brandon Robinson had 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists.

Armando Bacot had 12 points, 15 rebounds, and 1 assist.

Leaky Black had 9 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 assists.

Needs Work

The Tar Heels must do a better job of starting the games with more energy and urgency. They seem to struggle to find a rhythm on the offensive end early in games.

They also need to do a better job of taking care of the ball. They had 20 turnovers for the game.

Final Observations

The Tar Heels are now 5-0 on the season. They seem to be getting better each game. UNC is still trying to find their identity, but it does seem that they are understanding their roles better in each game they play.

It was good to see a more balanced scoring attack with four players scoring in double figures instead of relying solely on Cole Anthony to score most of the points. We will need to see more of that as the season goes along to get the best out of this team.

Brandon Robinson was huge in his return to the court with his leadership and play on the court and should be a key player to this team going forward. The Tar Heels play 3 games in 3 days so it will be interesting to see what type of energy and urgency they come out with in the next two games and how their level of play is overall with little rest.