UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Holds Off NC Central
by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn
North Carolina Central’s Deven Palmer (5) and C.J. Keyser (22) defend against North Carolina’s Armando Bacot (5) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020, at the Smith Center in Chapel Hill, N.C. (Robert Willett/The News & Observer via AP)
The Tar Heels basketball team is still learning how to win. After the cancellation of their game against Elon due to Covid-19, North Carolina basketball was in a search of another game to add to their schedule. They found one in NC Central on Wednesday and were ready to go on Saturday afternoon. UNC had a very sloppy and slow start to the game, which consisted of several turnovers, missed free throws, bad shot selection, and other miscues.
The Heels even had more turnovers than field goals for a stretch of the first half. Meanwhile, NC Central capitalized on the Heels miscues and had the lead for most of the first half, which was as large as 11 points. The Eagles got whatever they wanted offensively and took advantage of the Heels’ bad rotations on defense. However, UNC would settle down late in the first half by cutting down on their turnovers and getting better shot selections on offense. This would allow them to go on a 10-0 run and take a 30-28 lead going into halftime.
In the second half, the Heels played much better. They ramped up their intensity of both ends of the floor and were finally playing Carolina basketball. UNC dominated the defensive and offensive boards and outrebounded the Eagles 37-25. The Tar Heels never relinquished the lead in the second half and would go on to win 73-67.
UNC Game Stats
1 2 T
#16 North Carolina 30 43 73
NC Central 28 39 67
North Carolina Pts FG 3FG FT REB A TO Min +/-
1 BLACK 3 1-3 0-2 1-2 7 1 2 23 -1
2 LOVE 12 4-9 0-2 4-5 3 4 6 32 15
4 DAVIS 6 2-10 0-5 2-2 1 3 3 33 -1
5 BACOT 19 6-7 0-0 7-10 11 0 1 27 9
15 BROOKS 5 1-3 0-0 3-4 4 1 1 23 -3
3 PLATEK 11 4-6 2-3 1-1 0 1 1 14 9
11 SHARPE 12 4-8 0-0 4-4 6 2 0 22 10
13 KESSLER 5 1-2 0-1 3-3 1 0 3 8 -4
14 JOHNSON 0 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 6 -3
24 WALTON 0 0-1 0-1 0-0 1 1 1 11 -1
TOTALS 73 23-50 2-15 25-31 37 13 18 200
Shooting FG FG% 3FG 3FG% FT FT%
1st Half 9-23 39% 0-7 00% 12-18 67%
2nd Half 14-27 52% 2-8 25% 13-13 100%
Game 23-50 46.0% 2-15 13.3% 25-31 80.6%
N.C. Central Pts FG 3FG FT REB A TO Min +/-
0 MOULTRIE 10 4-6 2-4 0-0 1 0 4 18 3
12 PERKINS 0 0-4 0-0 0-0 2 4 2 17 -9
22 KEYSER 19 9-18 1-3 0-0 5 2 3 33 -18
24 FENNELL 11 4-8 1-1 2-2 4 1 2 26 -2
25 KABEYA 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 5 -4
1 MELVIN 6 2-3 0-0 2-2 2 3 2 22 3
2 WRIGHT 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 9
3 GRAVES 0 0-3 0-1 0-0 2 0 0 15 -12
5 PALMER 3 1-3 1-3 0-0 1 0 0 13 6
13 WHATLEY 13 4-7 2-4 3-4 2 4 0 25 7
21 AYETEY 3 1-1 1-1 0-0 1 0 0 5 0
23 MAXWELL 2 1-5 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 19 -13
TOTALS 67 26-58 8-19 7-8 25 14 15 200
Shooting FG FG% 3FG 3FG% FT FT%
1st Half 12-28 43% 4-8 50% 0-0 0%
2nd Half 14-30 47% 4-11 36% 7-8 88%
Game 26-58 44.8% 8-19 42.1% 7-8 87.5%
UNC Bright Spots
Armando Bacot had 19 points, 11 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block.
Caleb Love had 12 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 steals, and 1 block.
Dayron Sharpe had 12 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, and 1 steal.
Andrew Platek had 11 points, 1 assist, and 1 steal.
Needs Work
The Tar Heels have to start the game better. This is the fourth time out of their sixth games that they have trailed by more than double digits in the first half.
They need to continue to cut down on their turnovers. They had 18 turnovers for the game.
UNC needs to do a better job of taking and hitting perimeter shots. They also need to get into their offense quicker, make better entry passes to their Bigs, and have better shot selections.
They also need to rotate better on defense. Opponents are getting entirely too many wide-open shots and layups.
Final Observations
This was a much-needed game for the Tar Heels because they needed another game under their belt against a team with less talent than them. Now, this win was not pretty, but it was another opportunity for the Tar Heels to learn and get better. The Tar Heels still need to work on the little things such as shot selection, ball movement, rotations on defense, cutting down on turnovers, and overall decision-making on offense and defense.
This game allowed the UNC to continue to build their team chemistry and help their freshman build up their confidence on the court. Each game the Heels will continue to get better, have a chance to learn different ways to win, and define the roles for each player on the team. It will pay huge dividends for them later in the season. This team has the potential to be really good this season and has yet to play a great game where everyone plays well. The next game will be next Saturday against 22nd ranked Ohio State.