UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Finds There Defense and Throttles the Wolverines

by Derrick Clyburn

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The North Carolina basketball team finally bought into the defensive effort that Coach Hubert Davis has been preaching about from the first day of practice. It resulted in a blowout win over the 24th ranked Michigan Wolverines and held them to just 51 points.

The Tar Heels kept the defensive intensity from start to finish. It took almost 3 minutes before either team scored the first points of the game. It was a back and forth first half with both teams feeling each other out. Both teams were trying to figure out their identity to move forward with the rest of the season. They both had two losses with one embarrassing loss. So, this felt like a defining moment for both programs this year.

North Carolina decided in the second half that they were going to step it up and take the game by the reigns. Caleb Love put on a second-half show running the offense and controlling the tempo. Whether he was hitting rainbow threes or driving and dunking or dishing it for dunks and open shots. That is the way Tar Heel Fans envision how he would play when he arrived. Caleb led all scoring with 22 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists.

UNC Game Stats

1       2       T

North Carolina 29      43      72

#24 Michigan   27      24      51

North Carolina

STARTERS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
D. Garcia F	—	6-12	2-2	0-0	2	2	4	0	0	0	1	1	14
A. Bacot F	—	5-10	0-0	1-1	3	11	14	3	1	2	1	2	11
R.J. Davis G	—	4-11	1-3	0-0	0	2	2	1	1	0	1	1	9
C. Love G	—	9-16	4-7	0-0	0	4	4	4	3	0	2	2	22
L. Black G	—	2-4	0-1	1-1	2	3	5	3	1	1	0	0	5
BENCH	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
J. McKoy F	—	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0
B. Manek F	—	4-9	1-4	0-0	2	3	5	1	0	0	0	0	9
D. Dunn G	—	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
D. Styles G	—	0-0	0-0	0-1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
A. Harris G	—	1-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2
K. Walton G	—	0-4	0-2	0-0	0	2	2	1	0	0	0	1	0
TEAM		31-67	8-19	2-3	10	28	38	13	6	3	6	8	72
		46.3%	42.1%	66.7%

Michigan

STARTERS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
M. Diabate F	—	5-9	1-1	2-2	2	1	3	0	0	1	0	1	13
C. Houstan F	—	2-9	2-4	2-2	1	6	7	0	0	0	3	0	8
H. Dickinson C	—	2-5	0-1	0-0	0	5	5	0	0	0	3	4	4
D. Jones G	—	2-8	0-1	0-0	4	1	5	3	1	0	3	1	4
E. Brooks G	—	5-11	1-3	0-0	1	5	6	3	2	0	1	2	11
BENCH	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
T. Williams II F	—	0-2	0-1	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
I. Barnes F	—	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
B. Johns Jr. F	—	2-8	1-4	0-0	0	2	2	2	0	0	1	0	5
J. Faulds F	—	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
K. Bufkin G	—	1-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
F. Collins G	—	1-4	0-1	2-2	0	4	4	1	0	0	1	0	4
Z. Jackson G	—	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
TEAM		20-57	5-16	6-6	8	27	35	9	3	1	13	10	51
		35.1%	31.3%	100.0%

UNC Bright Spots

Caleb Love had 22 points, 4 rebounds, 4assists, and 3 steals.

Dawson Garcia 14 points and 4 rebounds.

Armando Bacot had 11 points, 14 rebounds, and 3 assists.

R.J. Davis had 9 points, 1 assist, and 2 rebounds.

Brady Manek had 9 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 assist.

Needs Work

North Carolina needs to continue to move the ball better on offense. They were stagnant on several possessions which led to some tough shots. Coach Davis needs to continue to find more minutes for his talented bench. They will be needed at some point in the season.

Final Observations

This was the type of game that the Tar Heels needed. They played with passion and with effort on both ends of the court. This was a signature win over #24 Michigan that can catapult them into the ACC season.

It looks like they are buying into what Coach Davis wants to do. We knew it would take some time to build chemistry and define roles. Which is still in progress with a new coaching staff and new players. It takes time to learn about what is needed to build a successful team but it seems that they have taken a positive step tonight. Next up they are on the road at Georgia Tech at 3 pm on Sunday.