UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Shake Off the Rust to Beat Elon
by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn
After a week off to take their final exams the North Carolina basketball team faced off against Elon on Saturday night. The Tar Heels got off to a rough start and looked rusty and out of sorts for most of the first half, which allowed Elon to keep the game within single digits. The Heels shot just 29% from the field in the first half and looked completely out of rhythm on that side of the floor. However, the Heels were able to get to the free-throw line often and knocked down 13 of their 14 free throws.
In the second half, UNC came out and was able to get out in transition to get some easy baskets. This allowed Carolina to settle in offensively and finally get some good offense going. North Carolina was then able to extend their lead to 17 and put the game out of reach.
Elon did fight all game long not to let the game get completely out of reach, but the Heels were ultimately just too much with their talent and size. The Tar Heels dominated Elon on the boards 48-23 and got to the free-throw line 35 times. Caleb Love was the best player on the floor tonight with 22 points and UNC also got great contributions from Dawson Garcia and Anthony Harris. Even though the Tar Heels didn’t shoot particularly well overall, they found ways to be somewhat effective offensively and get the necessary stops on defense to put this team away, which led to an 80-63 victory.
UNC Game Stats
1st 2nd TOT
North Carolina 37 43 80
Elon 29 34 63
North Carolina
| STARTERS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | ||||||||
| D. Garcia F | 32 | 6-12 | 2-4 | 8-10 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 22 | ||||||||
| A. Bacot F | 24 | 3-7 | 0-0 | 3-8 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 9 | ||||||||
| R.J. Davis G | 30 | 4-10 | 1-4 | 2-3 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 11 | ||||||||
| C. Love G | 34 | 7-14 | 4-7 | 4-4 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 22 | ||||||||
| L. Black G | 26 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||
| BENCH | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | ||||||||
| D. Farris F | 1 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||
| J. McKoy F | 5 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||
| R. McAdoo F | 1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| B. Manek F | 18 | 2-8 | 0-6 | 0-0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||
| J. Watkins G | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||
| R. Landry G | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| C. Lebo G | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| D. Dunn G | 5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||
| A. Harris G | 11 | 0-4 | 0-1 | 6-6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||||||||
| K. Walton G | 10 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||
| TEAM | 23-59 | 7-23 | 27-35 | 15 | 33 | 48 | 11 | 12 | 3 | 16 | 14 | 80 | |||||||||
| 39.0% | 30.4% | 77.1% | |||||||||||||||||||
Elon
| STARTERS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| M. Graham F | 18 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| C. Hannah F | 17 | 3-4 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 |
| D. Burford G | 34 | 5-11 | 0-1 | 2-4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 12 |
| H. McIntosh G | 33 | 6-13 | 4-9 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 16 |
| T. Watson G | 30 | 2-8 | 1-5 | 2-3 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| BENCH | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| S. Sherry F | 1 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| A. Junkin C | 8 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| R. Clark G | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| R. Noord G | 2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| C. Mendys G | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| H. Woods G | 21 | 0-4 | 0-4 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| B. Daugherty G | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Z. Ervin G | 19 | 3-7 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| K. Wooten G | 14 | 1-3 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| TEAM | 25-58 | 8-29 | 5-9 | 2 | 22 | 24 | 11 | 8 | 4 | 16 | 22 | 63 | |
| 43.1% | 27.6% | 55.6% |
UNC Bright Spots
Dawson Garcia had 22 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal.
Caleb Love had 22 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, and 1 assist.
RJ Davis had 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals.
Needs Work
The Tar Heels need to do a better job of taking care of the ball and cutting down on their turnovers. They had 16 in this game.
Their effort on the defensive end needs to be more consistent.
When the shots are not falling on offense, they need to find a way to be more effective offensively and not totally rely on their jump shots.
Final Observations
The Tar Heels move to 7-2 on the season. They are still trying to build habits that will help them reach their potential as a team with each game and that’s a good thing. Different players continue to step up each game and are carrying the scoring load each game.
Defensively, their effort on that side of the floor needs to be more consistent and they need to cut down on their turnovers. This will help them become more of a complete team, along with players like Kerwin Walton, Justin Mccoy, and freshmen D’Marco Dunn and Dontrez Styles contributing more often.
The coaching staff also needs to do a better job of getting those players more involved in the game so they can build up their confidence. The stronger their bench is, the better they will be later in the season if they are ever any injuries, foul trouble to the top players, or players just having an off night. Overall, the Heels are moving in the right direction but they are just scratching the surface of what they can become as a team. Next up is Furman on Tuesday at 7.