UNC Basketball Moments After – UNC vs. Kentucky 67-64 Win
UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Squeaks Out a Win Against the Kentucky Wildcats on the Road
by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn
The North Carolina basketball team played their first true road game of the season against Kentucky when it traveled to Rupp Arena on Tuesday night. Both teams came out and played a physical style of basketball early on, trying to impose their will on the game. Kentucky was much more efficient on offense than the Tar Heels and shot 50% from the field after making sure they got paint touches and quality shots in the paint on most of their possessions. 28 of the Wildcats’ 31 first-half points came in the paint as Carolina made it too easy for them to score inside. The Tar Heels played a little too erratically offensively on certain possessions and took some ill-advised shots along with careless passes that led to turnovers.
Kentucky took full advantage of UNC’s turnovers and had 10 fast-break points. When the Heels settled down and took their time offensively, they were able to move the ball to the open man for a quality shot. It was a back-and-forth game in the first half between the two Blue Bloods as neither team had a larger lead than 6. Even though Carolina only shot 38% from the field, had 7 turnovers, and hardly had a rhythm offensively, the game was still tied going into halftime.
In the second half, Carolina was still trying to find a rhythm offensively. There weren’t many easy baskets made for the Tar Heels, and they were stagnant for long stretches of the game. Most of UNC’s points came from plays run in the half-court or second-chance opportunities, but nothing was easy for the Heels on that end of the floor. Henri Veesar, Caleb Wilson, and Jarin Stevenson were the main ones scoring during this time with their shots made in the paint. Throughout the game, Kentucky couldn’t buy a basket from behind the arc but was excellent at attacking the basket and making shots around the basket or drawing fouls and getting to the free-throw line. The Wildcats were 16-22 on layups or dunks and helped Kentucky control the lead for most of the game.
The Heels knew the Wildcats were struggling from outside and started to pack the paint, forcing Kentucky into tough 2s around the basket and contested jump shots. North Carolina’s defense suffocated the Wildcats’ players with their size and length and took them completely out of their rhythm offensively, holding them without a field goal for over 10 minutes of play. However, even with how great UNC was playing defensively, they struggled as well to score and couldn’t regain the lead during that scoring drought from Kentucky. Carolina’s relentlessness on the glass helped keep the game after 20 offensive rebounds that resulted in 22 second-chance points. With the game in the balance late and both teams playing great defense, it would come down to who could hit more shots down the stretch.
The Tar Heels were down for most of the second half, but were very resilient to keep the game close, and after a Zayden High layup in transition, tied the game with just under 4 minutes left in regulation. That layup by High gave UNC some momentum because the offense really started to flow after that play. Henri Veesar made a thunderous dunk off a pick-and-roll play, and Luka Bogavac made a three-pointer off dribble penetration to give the Heels a 2-point lead. Kentucky kept battling and attacking the basket every time down the floor and was rewarded with free throws on their offensive possessions in the last couple of minutes.
After a UNC timeout, Carolina had the ball and was down one with just under a minute left. There was a play that was going nowhere because Kentucky was locking it down, and Derek Dixon had to make a play with the shot clock going down. Dixon broke down the defense and hit a step-back three to give the Tar Heels a 64-62 lead, but on the next possession, Kentucky guard Collin Chander made a tough layup to tie the game back at 64. However, once again, UNC guard Derek Dixon would come up clutch again and drove the ball to the basket for a layup to put the Heels up 66-64. North Carolina forced a tough shot on the next Kentucky possession, and Caleb Wilson would seal the game with a free throw. After a close, hard-fought game, Carolina would pull off a very impressive win over the Kentucky Wildcats.
UNC Stats
| 1 | 2 | T | |
| 16 North Carolina 7-1 | 31 | 36 | 67 |
| 18 Kentucky 5-3 | 31 | 33 | 64 |
| Starters | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| H. Veesaar | 17 | 10 | 0 | 8/12 | 0/1 | 1/1 | 3 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| C. Wilson | 15 | 12 | 6 | 5/19 | 0/2 | 5/8 | 3 | 35 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| L. Bogavac | 12 | 4 | 2 | 4/11 | 3/6 | 1/4 | 5 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| J. Stevenson | 4 | 5 | 2 | 2/5 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 1 | 34 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| K. Evans | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1/5 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 3 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bench | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| D. Dixon | 9 | 3 | 2 | 3/8 | 1/4 | 2/2 | 1 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| J. Powell | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2/3 | 2/3 | 0/0 | 2 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Z. High | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| J. Young | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| I. Denis | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| I. Matlekovic | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| J. Brown | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| E. Davis | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| J. Holbrook | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| E. Smith | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 67 | 37 | 13 | 26/64 | 6/20 | 9/15 | 19 | 200 | 5 | 2 | 12 |
| Starters | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| O. Oweh | 16 | 4 | 2 | 6/11 | 0/1 | 4/6 | 3 | 33 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| C. Chandler | 12 | 2 | 1 | 4/9 | 0/2 | 4/4 | 3 | 34 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| D. Aberdeen | 10 | 4 | 4 | 4/13 | 0/3 | 2/2 | 1 | 35 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| M. Moreno | 8 | 9 | 0 | 2/2 | 0/0 | 4/6 | 3 | 31 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| K. Williams | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1/4 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 2 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Bench | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| B. Garrison | 6 | 1 | 0 | 2/3 | 1/1 | 1/2 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| A. Jelavic | 6 | 4 | 0 | 3/6 | 0/3 | 0/0 | 3 | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| J. Johnson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1/4 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| T. Noah | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 2/2 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| W. Horn | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| B. Hawthorne | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Z. Tow | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 64 | 27 | 8 | 23/53 | 1/13 | 17/22 | 18 | 201 | 8 | 7 | 6 |
UNC Bright Spots
Henri Veesaar 17 points and 10 rebounds
Caleb Wilson had 15 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block.
Luka Bogavac had 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists.
Needs Work
The Tar Heels must be better at moving the ball on offense, with their shot selection, and limiting their turnovers. They need to take their time with the ball and make better decisions. It will help the flow of the offense if they are playing inside out more, getting more paint touches, getting the ball inside to the bigs, and using dribble penetration to create advantages offensively. It’s too easy to defend if you are just passing it around the perimeter and settling for jump shots. When you get downhill, attack the basket, and get two feet in the paint, it allows you to find better shots offensively. It starts with the guard play, who have to be aggressive offensively, be better at initiating the offense and getting the best possible shots on each possession.
The Tar Heels also need to play faster, pick up the pace after missed shots and made baskets to create easy offense, and not put so much pressure on themselves to execute their sets perfectly.
Final Observations
North Carolina improves to 7-1 on the season. That was a great win for the Tar Heels, and they won without even playing nowhere near their best basketball and without Seth Trimble. You have to love the fight, toughness, and grit this team plays with. This is a game that the Tar Heels would’ve lost the past couple of years. It goes to show the type of players they have on this roster. Everyone who touched the floor made positive contributions to the game, and to have the two biggest shots of the game be made by your freshman point guard, Derek Dixon, is a big deal. The execution late in this game on offense was also better than it has been in past years. They actually ran a play that wasn’t one-on-one basketball at the top of the key and got a quality shot that helped propel them to victory. These types of games in tough environments against good teams are only going to help this team late in the season. The good thing is this team is only going to get better as guys continue to get more comfortable in their roles and Seth Trimble returns to the lineup. Next up is Georgetown on Sunday, December 7 at 5:00 P.M. on ESPN.
Great win!! I think we’ve found our point guard. Also, for us to take it to the next level, we’re gonna have to make our free throws down the stretch. But a great win nonetheless!!