UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Wins Scrappy Game Against Louisville

by Derrick Clyburn

The North Carolina basketball team ground out a tough scrappy win against the Cardinals on Monday night at home. It was a physical game which was a one-possession game for 36 minutes of the contest.

The Tar Heels had to depend on their tough defense to stave off Louisville all night. Nothing came easy for UNC. They had to grind possession to possession. They could have had a little bit more breathing room but turnovers kept the Cardinals within one possession. Caleb Love struggled with 7 turnovers many unforced by himself, but the Tar Heels held off Louisville holding them to 6 points in the last 7 minutes of the game.

North Carolina had four players in double-figures led by Brady Manek with 17 points and 3 rebounds to squeeze out a 70-63 win.

UNC Game Stats

1st     2nd     TOT

North Carolina 36      34      70

Louisville     36      27      63

North Carolina

STARTERS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
A. Bacot F	—	6-8	0-0	0-2	5	10	15	1	0	0	4	2	12
B. Manek F	—	6-12	3-9	2-2	0	3	3	2	2	1	2	0	17
R.J. Davis G	—	5-11	2-5	4-4	0	1	1	2	3	0	0	4	16
C. Love G	—	6-14	1-7	3-3	0	4	4	5	2	1	7	1	16
L. Black G	—	3-5	1-2	0-0	0	2	2	0	0	1	0	1	7
BENCH	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
P. Johnson G	—	0-1	0-1	2-2	0	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	2
D. Styles G	—	0-1	0-1	0-0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
K. Walton G	—	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	2	2	1	1	0	0	1	0
TEAM		26-53	7-25	11-13	6	26	32	12	9	3	13	10	70
		49.1%	28.0%	84.6%

Louisville

STARTERS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
J. Withers F	—	4-9	2-6	0-0	0	7	7	0	1	0	2	1	10
M. Williams F	—	4-11	2-7	0-0	2	4	6	0	2	0	1	2	10
D. Davis G	—	5-8	0-1	0-0	0	4	4	1	1	1	1	0	10
E. Ellis G	—	3-10	1-5	0-2	2	2	4	3	0	0	2	1	7
J. West G	—	1-3	1-3	0-0	0	0	0	5	0	0	2	1	3
BENCH	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
S. Curry F	—	0-1	0-0	0-0	1	1	2	0	1	0	1	3	0
R. Wheeler F	—	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
J. Traynor F	—	1-2	0-1	0-0	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	2
S. Williamson F	—	3-5	0-0	1-2	2	1	3	0	1	1	0	0	7
N. Locke G	—	4-8	1-4	0-0	0	1	1	1	1	0	0	1	9
M. Faulkner G	—	2-3	0-1	1-1	0	0	0	0	1	0	3	1	5
TEAM		27-60	7-28	2-5	9	21	30	10	8	2	13	12	63
		45.0%	25.0%	40.0%

UNC Bright Spots

Brady Manek had 17 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block.

Caleb Love had 16 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals.

R.J. Davis had 16 points, 2 assists, 1 rebound, and 1 steal.

Armando Bacot had 12 points, 15 rebounds, and 1 assist.

Needs Work

The Tar Heels need to do a better job of cutting down on their turnovers. They had 13 in this game with Caleb Love having 7 which is unacceptable.

Final Observations

First of all, let’s give Hubert Davis props for winning 20 games in his first season as head coach at North Carolina in the ACC. He has had to deal with so much adversity and challenges with so many high expectations in this first season. Coach Davis is playing with Roy Williams’s players that don’t possess a true point guard, which has exposed some of Carolina’s weaknesses against high-level opponents.

The Tar Heels are still in striking distance for first place in the ACC, being only a game and a half back. They are 20-8 and 12-5 in conference play.

If Caleb Love can cut down his turnovers and play with great energy UNC has a chance to go far and achieve many of the goals that they have set for themselves. They are a much better team when Love is aggressive and attacking on the offensive end which helps him with energy on the defensive end.