UNC Basketball Moments After – UNC vs NC Central 97-53 Win
UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Smacks Down the NC Central Eagles in Another Early Season Tune-up
by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn
The North Carolina basketball team faced off against NC Central on Friday night as they continued their non-conference slate of their schedule. After being in foul trouble for most of the last game, UNC forward Caleb Wilson was much more assertive and aggressive offensively to start this game, scoring 10 of Carolina’s first 14 points. NC Central came out in a zone defense, so the Tar Heels had to make sure to keep the ball moving and had 12 assists on 14 made baskets in the first half. North Carolina forced Central into some tough shots in the first half and held the Eagles to just 28% from the field. The Tar Heels were swarming around defensively, applying extreme ball pressure and using their size and length to disrupt NC Central’s offense on the perimeter and in the paint. Carolina should’ve been up more going into halftime, but had 10 turnovers, being very sloppy, careless, and lackadaisical with the ball as NC Central guards were small, quick, and very active in the passive lanes and getting deflections. The Heels also missed some wide-open shots, and not enough players were aggressive when they had an advantage offensively. Caleb Wilson was the catalyst for the Heels’ offense with 17 points in the first half, imposing his will on the game, attacking the basket in transition, catching lobs, and hitting his patented midrange jumpshot.
In the second half, Carolina just overwhelmed NC Central on both ends of the floor. The Tar Heels were tremendous with their dribble penetration and excellent at moving the ball to the open man for the best quality shot on offensive possessions. UNC’s size, length, and athleticism bothered NC Central all game long, and they were never comfortable offensively, with the Eagles only shooting 24% from the field. The Heels locked down the paint and finished the game with 13 blocks, including 5 from Henri Veesaar and 4 from Caleb Wilson. North Carolina had more blocks in this game than they did in the first three games combined. It was just an all-around team effort for the Tar Heels with several guys contributing. Carolina had 58 points, 8 made threes, and 0 turnovers in the second half. Four Tar Heels finished in double figures, including Caleb Wilson, Henri Veesaar, Luka Bogavac, and Zayden High. UNC just dominated this game from start to finish, outrebounding the Eagles 51-30, outscoring Central 36-12 in the paint as the Heels got whatever they wanted on both ends of the floor. The Tar Heels cruise to victory in this one and move to 4-0 on the season.
UNC Stats
| 1 | 2 | T | |
| NC Central 1-4 | 24 | 29 | 53 |
| 18 N. Carolina 4-0 | 39 | 58 | 97 |
| Starters | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| C. Wilson | 21 | 13 | 3 | 7/8 | 1/1 | 6/8 | 2 | 29 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| L. Bogavac | 13 | 2 | 2 | 4/7 | 2/5 | 3/3 | 2 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| H. Veesaar | 12 | 11 | 2 | 4/5 | 0/0 | 4/6 | 3 | 24 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| K. Evans | 7 | 3 | 7 | 2/5 | 1/3 | 2/2 | 2 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| J. Stevenson | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2/6 | 1/4 | 0/0 | 0 | 21 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Bench | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| Z. High | 11 | 2 | 1 | 3/7 | 0/1 | 5/6 | 2 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| D. Dixon | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 0/0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Powell | 9 | 4 | 1 | 2/6 | 2/6 | 3/4 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| I. Denis | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2/2 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| E. Smith | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 1/2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Brown | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| J. Holbrook | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Young | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| I. Matlekovic | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| E. Davis | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0/2 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 97 | 51 | 21 | 30/55 | 11/28 | 26/35 | 15 | 200 | 1 | 14 | 10 |
| Starters | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| G. Lattimore | 12 | 2 | 3 | 4/19 | 4/12 | 0/0 | 2 | 38 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| K. Carvey | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3/7 | 0/1 | 0/2 | 5 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| D. Johnson | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0/3 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| J. Dunn | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| K. Davis | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0/4 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Bench | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| R. Battle II | 14 | 3 | 0 | 4/8 | 2/4 | 4/4 | 2 | 25 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| R. Archey | 6 | 0 | 2 | 3/6 | 0/0 | 0/2 | 5 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| T. Carpenter | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1/5 | 1/4 | 3/4 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Slack | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0/2 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| K. Okworogwo | 3 | 7 | 0 | 1/7 | 0/2 | 1/2 | 1 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| J. Edwards | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 2/2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Ellison | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| G. Olubi | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0/2 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Daniels | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| K. Arnold | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Total | 53 | 24 | 10 | 16/66 | 7/26 | 14/20 | 21 | 200 | 6 | 2 | 9 |
UNC Bright Spots
Caleb Wilson had 21 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 blocks.
Luka Bogavac had 13 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists.
Henri Veesaar had 12 points, 11 rebounds, 5 blocks, and 2 assists.
Zayden High had a career high 11 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist.
Needs Work
The Tar Heels must do a better job of protecting the basketball, not being sloppy or lackadaisical with the ball, trying to make the spectacular or difficult pass, or having careless turnovers.
They also must work on being better from the free-throw line. Since they are a team that likes to attack the basket and play physical in the paint, they will need to capitalize on their free-throw opportunities.
Final Observations
The Tar Heels improve to 4-0. With Seth Trimble out with a broken bone in his forearm, the Tar Heels players are still adjusting to their roles without Trimble in the lineup. More players will need to be more aggressive offensively, especially with their dribble penetration, and we saw some of that in the second half of this game. The flow of the offense will continue to be a work in progress as players become more comfortable on the court and with the offensive system. The Heels will also need to shoot better from the three-point line. They’ve shot only 29% from three, which is unacceptable with the shooters they have on this team, but the good thing is they are taking quality shots from the three-point line. The one thing we know this team will do from night to night is defend and establish their dominance in the paint.
This team really gets after it defensively. They swarm their opponents on the perimeter and protect the rim at a very high level because of their size and length inside. It is great to see because over the last couple of years, there just wasn’t enough pride defensively. This team is totally different. They play hard defensively every single night, and they use their size and length to their advantage. As the season continues to progress, Coach Davis will need to instill confidence in his players off the bench so his starters won’t have to play so many minutes. The Tar Heels need more from Jarin Stevenson, Zayden High, Jonathan Powell, Jayden Young, Derek Dixon, Isaiah Dennis, and James Brown. You just want to see consistency from those guys. They have enough games on the schedule where those guys can build confidence, and with Seth out, there will be minutes to go around. It will allow them to establish the depth they need later in the season. Next up is Navy on Tuesday, November 18, at 7:00 P.M. on the ACC Network.