UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Win a Tough Road Game Against the Cougars

by Derrick Clyburn

• 

The North Carolina basketball team played their first road game of the season against a hungry College of Charleston team looking to catch the Tar Heels sleeping in an early-season match-up. Most Blue Bloods wouldn’t dare go on the road in such a hostile environment so early in the season.

It has been a tradition that the Tar Heels schedule true road games early in the year to test the mettle of the team. The College of Charleston gave North Carolina all they could handle looking for an upset, but UNC would have none of it.

The first half had a lot of sloppy, lackadaisical, and nervous play. North Carolina had 11 turnovers, many unforced to give the Cougars easy fast-break baskets. Armando Bacot kept the Tar Heels close with a dominating 16 points before intermission.

In the second half, North Carolina played with more poise, confidence, and aggression to take command of the game. UNC got better contributions from multiple players that helped the Tar Heels make the full comeback and keep a five to eight-point stiff-arm from the 12-minute mark on.

Caleb Love stepped up, played aggressively, and took control of the tempo for UNC. Kerwin Walton hit three 3 pointers in a four-minute stretch that kept the Cougars at bay. Four Tar Heels scored in double-figures led by Armando Bacot 24 points, 12 rebounds, and 6 blocked shots.

UNC Game Stats

                         1	2	T
#18 North Carolina	36	58	94
College of Charleston	42	41	83

North Carolina
        Pts	FG     3FG	FT	REB	A     TO   Min	+/-
1 BLACK	4      2-4     0-0	0-0	4	3      2   33	16
2 LOVE	22    6-14     0-2	10-12	7	6      4   33	8
4 DAVIS	6      2-3     0-1	2-3	2	4      2   21	5
5 BACOT	24    10-12    0-0	4-9	12	3      3   35	16
13 GARCIA 7    1-5     0-2	5-6	8	1      1   19	-6
22 MCKOY 0     0-1     0-1	0-0	2	0      1    9	-1
24 WALTON 14   5-8     4-6	0-0	3	1      3   28	7
45 MANEK 17   6-12     3-8	2-2	9	1      1   21	10

TOTALS	94   32-59    7-20     23-32	49	19    17   200
	     54.2%    35.0%    71.9%

College of Charleston
	 Pts	FG     3FG      FT	REB	A     TO   Min	+/-
2 SMITH	 19	5-12	5-11	4-4	2	1      1    24	-7
11 UNDERWOOD 8	4-10	0-0	0-0	5	4      5    19	-2
12 MEEKS 7	2-14	0-4	3-4	5	0      0    26	0
34 LAMPTEN 0	0-0	0-0	0-0	3	1      0     7	4
35 FAYE   9	3-4	0-1	3-4	3	1      1    21	-16
0 ALI   13	4-14	1-5	4-5	2	4      1    22	-9
4 HORTON 0	0-1	0-1	0-0	0	0      0     8	-1
5 TUCKER 10	3-11	2-5	2-6	4	0      0    24	-13
25 BURNHAM 17	7-10	3-3	0-0	0	0      0    24	-8
30 FARRAR 0	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0      0     2	-2
33 SMART  0	0-0	0-0	0-0	5	2      1    22	-1

TOTALS	83	28-77	11-30	16-23	36	13     9   200
		36.4%	36.7%	69.6%

UNC Bright Spots

Armando Bacot had a career-high 24 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 6 blocks.

Caleb Love had 22 points, 6 assists, and 7 rebounds.

Brady Manek had 17 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 blocks.

Kerwin Walton had 14 points, 1 assist, and 3 rebounds.

Needs Work

The Tar Heels defense needs to be much better at the beginning of the game. They allowed too many easy baskets, open driving lanes, and wide-open shots.

North Carolina had too many turnovers on inbounding the ball. They turned the ball over 11 times which led to 18 fast-break points in the first half for the Cougars.

Final Observations

After three games, I see that the defense needs to be the focal point for this Tar heels team to reach their goals. They have to buy in on playing defense for two halves. North Carolina has allowed their opponents to get too many easy baskets.

North Carolina can score the ball. They just have to trust in the process that Hubert Davis has put in place. Armando was a beast tonight. He has been dominant in the post when he isn’t in foul trouble. They have to get him the ball more every game.

The Tar Heels will go as Caleb Love and R.J. Davis goes. They struggled in the first half tonight with only 6 points and 5 turnovers. That is not going to get it. Love and Davis did bounce back and play with more poise in the second half.

North Carolina has a challenging stretch coming up this Saturday and Sunday in the Hall of Fame Tipoff Tournament with Purdue then either Villanova or Tennessee for the Championship. We will see how this young team continues to develop, grow, and build chemistry as the season moves on.