UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Stiff-Arm the Dukes for Another Victory
by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn
The North Carolina basketball team faced off against James Madison on Sunday afternoon. The Tar Heels got off to a much better start than the previous 3 games, especially offensively. North Carolina was much more aggressive on both ends of the floor and it set the tone for the game. Offensively, UNC did a great job with their ball movement and player movement. The Heels shot 51% from the field, 43% from 3, and had 10 assists on 15 made baskets. Carolina was also outstanding on defense holding James Madison to just 29% from the field and to just 26 points. UNC got a great spark off the bench from Puff Johnson, Seth Trimble, and D’Marco Dunn and allowed the Heels to play with much more energy and intensity on the floor. The Tar Heels led by as much as 21 in the first half and led by 19 going into halftime.
In the second half, North Carolina came out a little sloppy and didn’t handle James Madison’s full-court pressure well. UNC’s shot selection was terrible as they settled for jump shots and got away from the success that they had in the paint in the first half. James Madison’s defense and aggressiveness on both ends of the floor bothered North Carolina and the Dukes were able to get the game back within single digits two separate times in the second half.
However, the Tar Heels did respond to those James Madison runs and pushed the lead back to double digits. Armando Bacot was outstanding throughout the game with his dominance in the paint and had 19 points and a career-high 23 rebounds. Overall, the Tar Heels had a solid performance as the defense was very good throughout holding James Madison to 34 percent from the floor while the offense was good in spurts. North Carolina moves to 4-0 on the season after getting the 80-64 victory over the Dukes.
UNC Game Stats
1st 2nd TOT
#1 North Carolina 45 35 80
James Madison 26 38 64
North Carolina
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | PF | MIN |
| R. Davis | 21 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 34 |
| A. Bacot | 19 | 23 | 1 | 4 | 35 |
| P. Nance | 11 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 32 |
| C. Love | 9 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 30 |
| L. Black | 5 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 37 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | PF | MIN |
| P. Johnson | 6 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 13 |
| S. Trimble | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 12 |
| D. Dunn | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| T. Nickel | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
James Madison
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | PF | MIN |
| T. Molson | 19 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 32 |
| M. Offurum | 12 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 31 |
| V. Morse | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 37 |
| J. Amadi | 3 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 23 |
| T. Edwards | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 10 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | PF | MIN |
| J. Wooden | 11 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 19 |
| A. Sule | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 17 |
| X. Brown | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| N. Freidel | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 22 |
UNC Bright Spots
Armando Bacot had 19 points, 23 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 block
RJ Davis had 21 points, 5 assists, and 2 rebounds.
Peter Nance had 11 points 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal.
Needs Work
The Tar Heels’ shot selection needs to be better when teams play zone defense against them. Too many times they settle for jump shots, which makes the offense stagnant and allows teams to stick around. They have to do 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.
The Tar Heels need to find a way to put two halves together where they play well and play with the same intensity and energy throughout the game to put teams away. They cannot get lazy when they have double-digit leads.
Final Observations
The Tar Heels are now 4-0 on the season. They finally played a good first half but didn’t play as well in the second half. UNC is finding different ways to win early in the season which is a good thing. This is without everyone playing to their best abilities. There have been games where a couple of players have played well but there has yet to be a game where everyone has played well.
Whenever that happens this team will be extremely dangerous. For now, the Heels are still working on establishing their identity and finding a definite rotation where everyone is comfortable in their roles. Each game will be a building block toward becoming that championship-caliber team. This team has what it takes so it will be interesting to see how they develop over the next few months. Next up is Portland on November 25th at 1:00 P.M.