UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Use Second Half Explosion to Cruise Past the Cougars
by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn
The North Carolina basketball team played their second game of the season against the College of Charleston on Friday night. Charleston came out and gave North Carolina everything it could handle in the first half. Charleston was physical, fundamentally sound, and made sure to play to its strengths early on.
The Cougars played as well as they could and were completely confident that they could play with the number-one team in the country. College of Charleston shot 52% from the floor, and 42% from 3, in the first half, while holding UNC to just 30% from the field. North Carolina was down by as much as 8 in the first half and was unable to stop the Cougars’ exceptional play on offense. UNC was even outrebounded in the first half and gave up 8 offensive rebounds. The Tar Heels struggled on both ends of the floor and were completely outplayed, but only found themselves down by 7 at halftime.
In the second half, UNC came out with a lot of energy and went on a 9-2 run to tie the game at 52. For the first 10 minutes of the game, it was a close back-and-forth game between the two squads. North Carolina scored 27 points in the first 9 minutes of the second half. After taking the lead 69-68, they would go on a run led by Armando Bacot, who had 27 second-half points.
The Heels would never relinquish the lead again in the game and extended their lead to as much as 18 due to their great defense and transition offense. After allowing six threes in the first half to Charleston, the Tar Heels made adjustments and ran them off the line in the second half. Carolina held them to just two threes and picked up their intensity defensively to fuel the second-half runs that gave them complete control of the game. UNC finished the game shooting 60% from the field dominating in the paint and outscored College of Charleston 59-36 in the second half, which led to their second win of the season.
UNC Game Stats
1st 2nd TOT
#1 North Carolina 43 59 102
College of Charleston 50 36 86
North Carolina
| STARTERS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| A. Bacot F | 34 | 10-13 | 0-0 | 8-12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 28 |
| P. Nance F | 33 | 2-5 | 0-2 | 3-4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| L. Black F | 29 | 6-6 | 2-2 | 1-3 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| R.J. Davis G | 35 | 4-8 | 1-4 | 2-2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 11 |
| C. Love G | 38 | 8-17 | 1-9 | 8-11 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 25 |
| BENCH | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| T. Nickel G | 8 | 1-3 | 1-2 | 5-6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| S. Trimble G | 11 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| D. Dunn G | 8 | 2-3 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| D. Styles G | 4 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| TEAM | 35-58 | 5-20 | 27-38 | 8 | 24 | 32 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 14 | 102 | |
| 60.3% | 25.0% | 71.1% |
Charleston
| STARTERS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| C. Lampten F | 6 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| J. Scott G | 30 | 3-5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| D. Bolon G | 24 | 7-14 | 2-6 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 16 |
| R. Smith G | 19 | 1-4 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| R. Larson G | 26 | 2-9 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 4 |
| BENCH | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| A. Brzovic F | 15 | 6-8 | 3-5 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 15 |
| B. Faye F | 17 | 3-7 | 0-2 | 1-2 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| B. Burnham F | 20 | 4-6 | 1-1 | 0-1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| R. Horton F | 24 | 3-6 | 0-1 | 4-4 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 10 |
| P. Robinson III G | 19 | 6-11 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 14 |
| TEAM | 36-73 | 8-24 | 6-9 | 15 | 20 | 35 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 14 | 26 | 86 | |
| 49.3% | 33.3% | 66.7% |
UNC Bright Spots
Armando Bacot had 28 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks.
Caleb Love had 25 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block
RJ Davis had 11 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists.
Rechon Leaky Black had 15 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 block.
Needs Work
The Tar Heels have to be better on the glass. They were outrebounded for the second straight game, which is totally unacceptable. They are also getting killed on the offensive glass, which is something they must address. Everyone needs to make a more concerted effort to crash the boards.
The Tar Heels also have to come out with more of a sense of urgency and energy in the first half because teams are giving them their best shot every time they step on the floor. They must be prepared for that.
Final Observations
The Tar Heels improve to 2-0 on the season. The first two games have been a good test for Tar Heels because they have not been cakewalks. In both games, their opponents made them work to pull out those wins. The Tar Heels must know going forward that they will get everyone’s best shot because they are the number one team in the country, but it will be good for them in the long run.
Even though the Heels bring most of their players back from last year’s team, it will take time for them to get their rhythm back and get back to the team that was playing so well in the NCAA tournament last season. They are still defining roles and are building each game to mold themselves into a championship-caliber team. Next up is Gardner Webb on November 15 at 8:00 P.M.
We take everyone’s best shot