UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Cruise in the Season Opener Against College of Charleston

by Derrick Clyburn

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The Tar Heels basketball team won their first game of the season against the College of Charleston. Roy knew adding six freshmen to his rotation would be an unknown since they didn’t get a chance to scrimmage. UNC had choppy moments on both ends of the court in the first half trying to understand how to play together.

North Carolina showed flashes of what the team could be with their trapping defense that led to a 17-0 run in the second half, which put the game out of reach. Freshmen Caleb Love and Day’Ron Sharpe led the way for the Tar Heels scoring 17 and 13 points respectively.

UNC Game Stats

1       2       T

#16 North Carolina     39      40      79

College of Charleston  32      28      60

North Carolina

               FG    3PT    FT   REB  AST  STL  BLK  TO   PTS

A. Bacot       4-5     0-0    4-6     8       0       0       3       1       12

G. Brooks      3-10   0-0   0-0     11      1       0       2       4       6

R.J. Davis     4-9     1-3     2-4     4       1       1       0       1       11

C. Love        4-11    1-4     8-8     1       4       2       0       1       17

L. Black       2-8     0-2     0-0     2       1       1       1       1       4

D. Farris      0-0     0-0     0-0     0     0       0       0      0       0

W. Kessler  3-4     0-1     0-0     4       0       0       0       1       6

D. Sharpe     4-8     0-0     5-6   10      2       2       1       0       13

R. McAdoo   0-1     0-1     0-0     0       0       0       0       0       0

W. Miller      1-2     0-0     0-0     0       0       0       0       0       2

C. Lebo        0-0     0-0     0-0     1       0       0       0       0       0

P. Johnson     1-1     1-1     0-0     0       0       0       0       0       3

K. Walton      0-3     0-1     0-0     2       2       0       0       0       0

K.J. Smith     0-0     0-0     0-0     0       0       0       0       0       0

A. Platek      2-9     1-5     0-0     3       1       4       2       0       5

TEAM     28-71   4-18  19-24   49    12      10      9       9       79

               39.4%   22.2%   79.2%

Charleston

               FG   3PT   FT  REB   AST  STL   BLK   TO   PTS

L. Edwards     1-4     1-4     0-0     4       3       3       2       2       3

O. Smart       3-4     0-0     0-2     12      1       0       0       1       6

Z. Jasper      4-9     1-3     0-0     6       3       0       0       1       9

B. Galloway    6-14    3-6     0-2     2     3       2       1       2     15

P. Willis      4-10    2-6     3-4     3       2       0       0       2       13

K. Harvey      0-1     0-1     0-0     0     0       0       0       0       0

D. King        3-4     1-1     0-0     0       0       0       0       0       7

D. Epps        1-4     0-1     0-0     0       0       0       0       3       2

S. Ndiaye     0-0     0-0     0-0     0     0      0       0       0       0

B. Tucker      1-8     0-0     0-0     2       0       0       0       2       2

D. Houston     0-1     0-1     1-2     1       0       0       0       0       1

C. Copeland    1-1     0-0     0-0     1       1       0       0       0       2

TEAM      24-60  8-23  4-10   34     13      5       3       15      60

            40.0% 34.8% 40.0%

UNC Bright Spots

Caleb Love had 17 points, 4 assists, and 1 rebound.

Day’Ron Sharpe had 13 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 assists.

Armando Bacot had 12 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks.

R.J. Davis had 11 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 assist.

Needs Work

The Tar Heels need to work on making it easier to find the sweet spots for the bigs so that they can pound their opponents.

The team needs more time on the court together learning how to mesh and understand their strengths and weakness. Only playing games will iron that out.

Final Observations

The objective for the first game of the season is to win and learn from your mistakes. The Tar Heels have a lot of potential for growth and improvement. They won by 19 points and Garrison Brooks only had 6 points and struggled for most of the night. That’s a good sign that they have several players that can help with the scoring load. Four Tar Heels scored in double figures with Brooks having an off night.

The Freshmen all look good as advertised so far. Roy just has to find playing time for them to develop. They are aggressive on offense and they can hit their free throws. As they learn Roy’s offensive and defensive schemes they will get even more comfortable on the court.

North Carolina dominated the boards in the second half and block 10 shots. They have so much size to throw at teams. This should be a staple for the Tar Heels all year.