UNC Basketball Moments After – UNC vs. American 107-55 Win
UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Was on Cruise Control Then Hit Overdrive to Blowout the American Eagles
by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn
The North Carolina basketball team faced off against the American Eagles in the first-ever matchup between the two programs on Friday night. It was a close game early between the two squads in the first ten minutes. American was able to find a rhythm offensively early, hit some threes and some tough shots, surprising Carolina with their offensive prowess. UNC lacked the defensive intensity and attention to detail against American’s offense and found themselves down by 5 at one point in the first half. Once the Heels picked up their energy and effort on defense, they took back control of the game. The Tar Heels shot 53% from the field in the first half and forced 10 turnovers that led to 14 fast-break points. Elliott Cadeau’s 15 first-half points and 3 steals were huge for the Heels leading the Heels to 43-34 advantage going into halftime.
In the second half, North Carolina completely overwhelmed American on both ends of the floor. The Heels came out on a mission after halftime outscoring American 64-21 for the remainder of the game. UNC was swarming around and suffocating the Eagle’s offense throughout the second half and was getting any shot they wanted offensively inside the paint and on the perimeter while shooting over 60% from the field. 5 Tar Heels finished in double figures including Jalen Washington, Elliott Cadeau, RJ Davis, Seth Trimble, and Cade Tyson, and every player that stepped on the floor except one scored in this game. One of UNC’s strengths is their ability to get downhill and attack the basket off the dribble and for the second straight game got to the free throw line at least 30 times and shot at least 80% from the stripe. North Carolina finished the game with 56 points in the paint and was also dominant on the glass, outrebounding 46-23. After a slow start for the Heels, UNC completely dominated the last 30 minutes of this game and scored more points in the second half than American did in the entire game as the Tar Heels picked up their second win of the season.
UNC Game Stats
| 1 | 2 | T | |
| American 1-4 | 34 | 21 | 55 |
| 10 North Carolina 3-1 | 43 | 64 | 107 |
| Starters | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| J. Washington | 18 | 3 | 0 | 6/6 | 0/0 | 6/7 | 3 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| E. Cadeau | 18 | 3 | 8 | 6/9 | 1/3 | 5/9 | 2 | 30 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| S. Trimble | 13 | 6 | 1 | 4/6 | 1/2 | 4/4 | 0 | 26 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| R. Davis | 13 | 3 | 3 | 5/13 | 1/7 | 2/2 | 1 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| J. Withers | 7 | 7 | 4 | 2/3 | 0/1 | 3/3 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bench | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| C. Tyson | 11 | 2 | 0 | 4/8 | 3/7 | 0/0 | 2 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| V. Lubin | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3/5 | 0/0 | 2/2 | 3 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Powell | 7 | 11 | 0 | 2/5 | 0/1 | 3/4 | 2 | 26 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| T. Claude | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2/2 | 0/0 | 3/3 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Mayo Jr. | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1/1 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Holbrook | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| R. Hawkins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Brown | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| E. Davis | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| I. Jackson | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 107 | 44 | 16 | 36/61 | 7/22 | 28/34 | 15 | – | 8 | 4 | 9 |
| Starters | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| M. Rogers | 15 | 7 | 0 | 5/11 | 2/6 | 3/4 | 3 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| G. Jones | 6 | 1 | 0 | 3/5 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 4 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| C. Smalls | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1/6 | 1/3 | 0/0 | 3 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| M. Mayock | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1/6 | 1/6 | 0/0 | 3 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| G. Sprouse | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1/7 | 0/5 | 0/0 | 2 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Bench | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| E. Stephens | 12 | 3 | 2 | 5/13 | 2/4 | 0/0 | 2 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| L. Ball | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 2/2 | 2 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| E. Michaels | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Iturbe | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1/3 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| A. Samuels | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 2/2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| W. Nausadis | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0/3 | 0/2 | 2/2 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| M. Whittaker | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| N. Jones | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| A. Daniels | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| G. Coleman | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| A. Holod | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| S. O’Reilly | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 55 | 22 | 6 | 19/61 | 7/31 | 10/11 | 23 | – | 3 | 1 | 12 |
UNC Bright Spots
Jalen Washington had a career-high 18 points and 3 rebounds.
Elliott Cadeau had 18 points, 8 assists, 4 steals, and 1 rebound
Seth Trimble had 13 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal.
RJ Davis had 13 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists
Cade Tyson had 11 points and 2 rebounds.
Needs Work
The Tar Heels need to start games with more energy, effort, and intensity on both ends of the floor. Their slow starts allow teams to get confidence early in games and it can become dangerous for the Heels if they get down by a lot early in the game.
Final Observations
North Carolina moves to 2-1 on the season and has won 19 straight non-conference home games at the Dean Smith Center. It’s early in the season, but when North Carolina locks in on both ends of the floor they are a very impressive team displaying their dynamic speed, athleticism, and ability to defend and score in a variety of ways. It was good to see Cade Tyson find some confidence with his shot in this game. His shooting ability will be a great asset to this team if he can shoot at a high clip consistently going forward.
RJ Davis still hasn’t played a good game this season, and the Tar Heels have still looked great in stretches. It shows the depth and talent of this team. Once RJ Davis does find his rhythm and the young talented freshmen Drake Powell and Ian Jackson find their stride, this team’s ceiling will be through the roof. One thing the Heels still need to work on is the lack of intensity, urgency, and effort early in games especially defensively. If they can get off to better starts, it will help the team tremendously and take the pressure off to not have to exert so much energy to get back in the game. Next up is Hawaii on Saturday, November 23rd at 12:30 A.M.