UNC Basketball Moments After – UNC vs. Campbell 97-81 Win 

UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Cruises Against Campbell After the Christmas Break

by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn

After being off for the holidays, the North Carolina basketball team returned to action against Campbell on Sunday night. The game started with a few lead changes between the two squads in the opening minutes before the Tar Heels went on a 15-3 run to open the game up. RJ Davis game up firing and had 11 of the Heels’ first 17 points. It was not necessarily the best-played half for UNC, but Carolina was excellent in the paint when they decided to attack the basket and get downhill. The Heels shot 51% from the field but shot poorly from the free-throw line (50%) and three-point range (24%). The better quality of shots UNC took the more success they had offensively. Defensively, North Carolina was good overall other than a couple of defensive lapses, and held Campbell to just 31% from the field. However, Campbell never allowed the game to be completely out of reach with their tough hard-nosed style of play as the Tar Heels led by just 11 going into halftime. 

In the second half, Carolina took complete control of the game. Elliott Cadeau and Jalen Washington occupied a few consecutive offensive possessions in a row with their two-man pick-and-roll game where either Jalen Washington finished off the roll or Cadeau took it himself and scored. This set would get the offense going and once Campbell’s defense started to key in on the pick and roll, Elliott Cadeau was able to find other guys for open shots. UNC’s lead went up to as much as 29 in the second half with their offense flowing and their increase in intensity, effort, and energy defensively. Campbell had no answers for Carolina when the Heels were able to get consecutive stops and get out in transition leading to easy baskets.

Ian Jackson was excellent throughout the game and had a career-high 26 points with 18 points in the second half. Elliott Cadeau was also tremendous and controlled the tempo and flow of the offense with his playmaking, finishing the game with a 12-point 12 assists double-double. With just over 6 minutes left in the game, the Heels were up 78-49 over Campbell and were playing terrific basketball. However, in the game’s waning minutes, Carolina got lazy, lackadaisical, and nonchalant on both ends of the floor, especially defensively. The Tar Heels allowed a 29-point lead to get cut down to 16 against an inferior opponent because of their lackluster play defensively. UNC gave up too many points (81) to Campbell including a barrage of threes, and allowed one of Campbell’s players to have a career-high 32 points against them. That is a problem. North Carolina came out with a convincing 16-point lead over Campbell but didn’t finish the game in impressive fashion. 

UNC Game Stats

Final

	1	2	T
CAM	29	52	81
UNC	40	57	97

 

UNC Bright Spots  

Ian Jackson had a career-high 26 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 assist. 

RJ Davis had 23 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds. 

Elliott Cadeau had 12 points, 12 assists, 3 rebounds, and 1 steal. 

Jalen Washington had 10 points and 5 rebounds. 

Needs Work  

Coach Hubert Davis must do a better job of running plays for the Bigs, incorporating them more in the offense for more than just setting screens and rolling and crashing the offensive glass. Jalen Washington and Ven Allen Lubin are skilled enough offensively to have specific plays designed just for them. This will make them a more consistent offensive threat that opposing defenses will have to account for and it will make it easier for the guards and wings to get more quality shots at the rim and on the perimeter. 

Defensively, this team needs to be much better on the perimeter defending against the three-point line. Their focus as a team should be to limit threes as much as possible and to run their opponent off the line. They must be better at navigating screens, contesting shots, and defending the paint as well. Their help-side defense, intensity, and effort need to be at a high level for longer stretches of the game. 

Final Observations 

The Tar Heels improve to 8-5 on the season. This was their last non-conference game before they enter into conference play. Carolina is at an interesting point in their season. They haven’t played their best basketball yet as a team, but they have shown flashes of a great team. To ultimately reach their potential, they must be consistent with attention to detail on both ends of the floor. Their shot selection and decision-making have to improve. The coaching staff must emphasize using the bigs more in the offense and make sure this team is playing at the fastest pace possible because that’s where their strength is at as a team with their speed, length, and athleticism.

Defensively, they need to add different schemes to be disruptive on that end of the floor, whether that means implementing zone defenses or full-court pressure, traps, and presses. This team must find a way to use their speed and athleticism more to wreak havoc on the defensive side of the floor. It will allow them to cause turnovers, get out in transition, and force them to bring the right type of energy to each game. That will be the recipe for success for this team. Next up is Louisville on Saturday, January 1^st at 6:00 P.M. on ACC Network.