UNC Basketball Moments After – UNC vs Louisville 77-74 Win
UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Plays With More Passion and Intensity to Hold Off the Louisville Cardinals for Another ACC Win
by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn
The North Carolina basketball team faced off against Louisville on Monday night. The Tar Heels went down 23-13 in the early minutes of this game. Carolina’s perimeter defense was nonexistent early due to an inability to navigate screens, a lack of communication on rotations, and lazy closeouts that allowed multiple wide-open threes and twos. UNC allowed 5 threes about midway through the first and was also lazy, crashing the boards along with a couple of bad turnovers. Once the Heels locked in and got focused defensively, they were able to cut into Louisville’s lead. Seth Trimble was the catalyst for Carolina’s surge back into the game and was ultra-aggressive, attacking the basket in transition and in the halfcourt, finishing the first half with 16 points on 7-10 from the field. The Tar Heels outscored the Cardinals 26-16 to close out the final 10 minutes of the first half. There were 7 ties and four lead changes, and it was a back-and-forth game throughout the first twenty. UNC shot 61% from the field but allowed 8 threes and 7 offensive rebounds, causing them to be only up 39-38 going into halftime.
Coming out of halftime, Carolina continued to play one of their best stretches of basketball of the season, going on a 17-2 run, capping off an extended 43-17 run in this game. The Tar Heels were flying around defensively, increased their ball pressure, were extremely active in passing lanes, and forced Louisville into contested shots around the rim and on the perimeter. Carolina’s defense fueled their offense and allowed them to get out in transition for easy baskets. The Heels also continued to put extreme pressure on Louisville’s defense, relentlessly attacking the basket and getting into the paint to generate quality shots every time down the floor. UNC led by as much as 16 in the second half, but instead of extending their lead and putting the game away, the Heels left their foot off the gas. Louisville went on an 11-0 run to cut Carolina’s lead to single digits after the Tar Heels’ offense became stagnant and lost their focus defensively, allowing wide-open threes and easy baskets at the rim.
North Carolina’s effort and attention to detail on both ends of the floor just dropped over an extended period and allowed Louisville to climb back in the game. The Heels stopped attacking the basket aggressively, started to settle for tough shots, and were very sloppy with the ball. Not to mention, Carolina was in the midst of their worst game of the season from the free-throw line, shooting under 50%. Louisville cut UNC’s lead all the way down to two after getting hot from three and making timely baskets, but Carolina had multiple guys step up to make winning plays down the stretch. Jarin Stevenson hit two key threes late in the game and had a few key defensive stops. Henri Veesaar, Luka Bogavac, and Seth Trimble also had key baskets in the closing minutes, and Trimble hit two free throws to ice the game. Seth Trimble finished the game with a career-high 30 points and helped the Heels escape late with a win in a game that they were in complete control of for most of the second half.
UNC Stats
| 1 | 2 | T | |
| 24 Louisville 20-8 | 38 | 36 | 74 |
| 18 North Carolina 22-6 | 39 | 38 | 77 |
| Starters | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| S. Trimble | 30 | 4 | 4 | 11/16 | 1/3 | 7/11 | 3 | 37 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| H. Veesaar | 12 | 2 | 0 | 6/12 | 0/2 | 0/1 | 2 | 30 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| L. Bogavac | 12 | 3 | 1 | 5/10 | 2/5 | 0/0 | 2 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Stevenson | 9 | 7 | 1 | 3/6 | 2/4 | 1/4 | 2 | 34 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| D. Dixon | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2/4 | 2/4 | 1/2 | 1 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Bench | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| Z. High | 4 | 6 | 3 | 2/5 | 0/2 | 0/1 | 1 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| K. Evans | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1/2 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Young | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Powell | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| I. Denis | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| E. Davis | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| J. Holbrook | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| E. Smith | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 77 | 25 | 13 | 30/56 | 8/22 | 9/19 | 12 | 200 | 5 | 3 | 9 |
| Starters | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| M. Brown Jr. | 24 | 3 | 2 | 9/25 | 6/14 | 0/0 | 3 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| R. Conwell | 23 | 2 | 1 | 7/19 | 4/11 | 5/5 | 3 | 28 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| J. Hadley | 14 | 6 | 1 | 6/8 | 2/3 | 0/0 | 1 | 31 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| S. Fru | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 1/2 | 4 | 17 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| I. McKneely | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 0/0 | 1 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Bench | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| K. Rooths | 4 | 6 | 0 | 1/1 | 1/1 | 1/2 | 2 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| A. Wooley | 4 | 5 | 0 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| V. Zougris | 2 | 6 | 0 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| K. Rodgers | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| K. Pryor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| A. Khalifa | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0/3 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| S. Legg | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| C. Sherman | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| W. Hanke | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 74 | 37 | 9 | 26/67 | 14/39 | 8/11 | 20 | 200 | 9 | 4 | 9 |
UNC Bright Spots
Seth Trimble had 30 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 steal.
Henri Veesaar had 12 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 steal.
Luka Bogavac had 12 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 assist.
Needs Work
The Tar Heels need to play hard for 40 minutes. They need to play with a sense of urgency to start games and not have stretches where they play lackadaisical basketball or just look uninterested out there on the floor.
Their perimeter defense needs to be better. They must be better at closing out on shooters, containing ball handlers, and even running their opponent off the three-point line when they’re hot from behind the arc. Their rotations must be faster, and their communication must be better to make sure everyone is on the same page when they are either switching, hedging, doubling, or going under or over on their pick-and-roll coverages.
The Tar Heels also need to make sure they are not allowing the defense to dictate what shots they take. The shot selection must be better. They must consistently play through the bigs and attack the basket aggressively to collapse the defense, which will generate better shots for them.
The Heels need to learn how to extend their leads. Too often, when they get up in the game, they relax and stop doing the successful things that gave them their lead. They must continue to execute at a high level on both ends of the floor, even when they have big leads.
Finally, the Tar Heels must be better at the free-throw line. Their free-throw shooting has been atrocious as a team. There should never be a game where this team shoots 47% from the line when you have as many good shooters as they have. That is unacceptable. You allow teams to hang around and are unable to close out games when you can’t make free throws consistently. They must be more focused in that area, and the coaching staff needs to continue to emphasize how important making their free throws is.
Final Observations
North Carolina improves to a 22-6 record and is 16-0 at home. They continue to protect home court and play at a high level against any team in the Dean Smith Center. This was an impressive win for the Tar Heels against a ranked Louisville team without Caleb Wilson. Caleb Wilson’s absence has caused guys like Seth Trimble and Luka Bogavac to be extremely aggressive offensively, particularly attacking the basket, and that has led to a lot of offensive success for the Heels. That offensive aggression from those guys will only make the offense more lethal when Caleb Wilson returns. Zayden High has also stepped up in Wilson’s absence. Zayden High went from a guy whom you would cringe when he entered the game to a guy who empties the tank when on the floor and can give this team significant minutes off the bench. High’s energy has been amazing since his minutes have gone up, and every time he has touched the floor, he just makes winning plays, such as rebounding, hustling after loose balls, and even making some timely baskets when needed.
The Tar Heels are now 3-1 without Caleb Wilson, and I think the biggest thing they have shown is that they don’t have to be overly reliant on one player to win games. Multiple guys have stepped up. I think now they are more confident in their roles and know what is expected from them in each game. This bodes well for Caleb Wilson because he will be returning to a much better team. They have been battle-tested and will only get better as we get closer to the end of the regular season. There can still be tweaks made, such as improving their free-throw shooting, improving their three-point defense, avoiding scoring droughts, and keeping their foot on the gas for entire games. However, even with some flaws, this team has put together some good wins over the course of the season. If they can address or correct any of their issues, holding them back from reaching their full potential, they can beat anybody in the country. Next up is Virginia Tech on Saturday, February 28 on ESPN 2 at 8:30 P.M.