UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Slugged It Out Against the Wolverines for the Victory

by Derrick Clyburn

The North Carolina basketball team found out that they were in for a fight from the start of the game against Michigan in the Jump Man Invitational. The game was very physical and the officials swallowed their whistle for much of the first half until Armando Bacot was elbowed in the mouth by Hunter Dickinson. Then two plays later Dickinson fouled Caleb Love driving to the basket and it led to four players being given technical fouls.

From that point forward the Tar Heels took control of the game by intentionally attacking the basket and feeding Bacot inside. Armando Bacot realized that he couldn’t be stopped and asserted himself on the offensive end moving without the ball and setting up low on the blocks finishing in traffic. He went into half-time with 16 points.

In the second half, North Carolina kept a stiff arm of a six to nine-point lead on Michigan. They traded baskets for most of the remainder of the game. Michigan got within two points on a couple of occasions down the stretch but the Tar Heels were able to answer with a basket or free throw to hold the Wolverines off. Armando would lead all scoring with 26 points.

UNC Game Stats

	1	2	T
Michigan 7-4	34	42	76
North Carolina 9-4	41	39	80

North Carolina

STARTERS	PTS	REB	AST	FG	3PT	FT	PF	MIN	STL	BLK	TO
A. Bacot	26	5	0	11/15	0/0	4/7	4	32	1	0	0
R. Davis	19	6	5	6/15	4/8	3/4	2	38	1	0	2
C. Love	18	5	4	6/13	1/5	5/7	1	35	2	0	5
L. Black	9	10	2	4/7	1/3	0/2	3	29	1	1	1
P. Nance	3	6	2	1/4	0/2	1/1	3	26	0	0	2
BENCH	PTS	REB	AST	FG	3PT	FT	PF	MIN	STL	BLK	TO
P. Johnson	3	6	0	1/3	1/1	0/2	3	21	1	0	0
S. Trimble	1	0	0	0/1	0/1	1/2	2	18	0	0	1
J. Washington	1	1	0	0/0	0/0	1/2	1	1	0	0	0
T. Nickel	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	1	0	0	0

Michigan

STARTERS	PTS	REB	AST	FG	3PT	FT	PF	MIN	STL	BLK	TO
K. Bufkin	22	3	1	7/10	2/3	6/7	5	32	0	0	0
J. Howard	17	3	2	6/12	3/7	2/3	3	33	2	1	2
H. Dickinson	9	8	0	3/9	0/0	3/4	5	27	1	1	3
T. Williams II	8	11	1	2/9	2/6	2/2	3	34	0	0	1
D. McDaniel	7	2	5	3/10	0/3	1/2	2	33	2	0	2
BENCH	PTS	REB	AST	FG	3PT	FT	PF	MIN	STL	BLK	TO
J. Baker	9	3	0	3/5	2/3	1/2	0	19	0	0	0
T. Reed Jr.	4	7	0	2/6	0/0	0/1	3	13	1	3	2
W. Tschetter	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	4	0	0	0
J. Howard	0	0	0	0/1	0/1	0/0	1	5	0	0	0

UNC Bright Spots

Armando Bacot had 26 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 steal.

R.J. Davis had 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists.

Caleb Love had 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists.

Leaky Black had 9 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 assists.

Needs Work 

The Tar Heels have to do a better job defending the three-point line. They have allowed too many wide-open threes due to over-helping in the paint or losing their man off the ball. Their screen defense has to be much better. They need to do a better job of fighting over screens and running the opponent off the line. 

The Tar Heels have to improve their shot selection and decision-making throughout the game. They have too many stretches where they settle for bad shots and do not play inside-out basketball offensively. They also have too many unforced turnovers that allow the other team to get out in transition.

North Carolina still needs more bench scoring. Someone needs to be more consistent in scoring off the bench. They also need to convert on their free throws. The Tar Heels shot 55% from the free-throw line which is unacceptable.

Final Observations 

North Carolina is now 9-4 on the season. They had another solid win tonight against a tough Michigan team. The Tar Heels are starting to play more unselfish basketball. They are running the offense through Armando Bacot which puts pressure on the opponent’s defense and allows more open shots from the perimeter. They’re playing more like the team that everyone expected from the preseason rankings. UNC now goes on Christmas Break before returning to play Pittsburgh on Friday, Dec. 30th at 12 noon.