UNC Basketball Moments After – UNC vs. Oklahoma 81-69 Win
UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Pounces on the Oklahoma Sooners Early and Holds Off Any Opportunities for Them to Make a Comeback
by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn
The North Carolina basketball team faced off against the undefeated #7th ranked Oklahoma Sooners on Wednesday night in the Jumpman Invitational. The game got off to a slow start with both teams being held scoreless for the first three minutes of the game. North Carolina would get on the board first after a made three by RJ Davis. Over the next few minutes, the Tar Heels would go on a 14-4 run.
After the last game’s poor defensive performance against Kentucky, you could tell that defense was a major priority for the Heels in this game. UNC held Oklahoma to just 32% from the field and forced 10 turnovers. Carolina had 7 steals and 6 blocks in the first half alone. The Heels were relentless with their ball pressure forcing the Sooners into very difficult shots. They were very disruptive and active with their hands in the passing lanes, fighting over screens hard, and playing great help-side defense. UNC’s defensive intensity set the tone for the game and helped fuel their offense, allowing them to push the pace and giving them several fast break opportunities. The Tar Heels led by as much as 12 in the first half and were up 8 going into halftime.
In the second half, North Carolina’s outstanding defense continued to be the story of the game. The Tar Heels forced 18 turnovers and had a season-high 10 steals in the game. UNC set the tone early and completely overwhelmed Oklahoma with their physicality, toughness, defensive energy, and intensity. Offensively, the Heels played fundamentally sound basketball, moving the ball around and leading to quality shots in the paint and around the perimeter. Although Oklahoma would never go completely away making a couple of runs to keep the game within reach, it always felt like North Carolina had complete control of the game and would put away the game late after a couple of huge baskets from RJ Davis and Harrison Ingram.
Four players including Harrison Ingram, Armando Bacot, Cormac Ryan, and RJ Davis finished the game in double figures. RJ Davis led the team in scoring for the seventh straight game with 23 points as he continued his streak of 20-point games. North Carolina led this game from start to finish and got a very impressive 81-69 win, handing Oklahoma their first loss of the season.
UNC Game Stats
| 1 | 2 | T | |
| 11 North Carolina 8-3 | 36 | 45 | 81 |
| 7 Oklahoma 10-1 | 28 | 41 | 69 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| R. Davis | 23 | 4 | 5 | 7/18 | 5/9 | 4/4 | 3 | 35 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| A. Bacot | 14 | 8 | 1 | 4/9 | 1/1 | 5/7 | 1 | 34 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| C. Ryan | 13 | 7 | 0 | 4/10 | 1/5 | 4/5 | 1 | 35 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| H. Ingram | 11 | 7 | 2 | 4/6 | 1/2 | 2/2 | 4 | 30 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| E. Cadeau | 7 | 2 | 1 | 2/7 | 0/1 | 3/4 | 3 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| S. Trimble | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2/4 | 1/2 | 0/2 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| J. Washington | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Withers | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1/2 | 0/1 | 2/2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Z. High | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| P. Wojcik | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Farris | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| J. Okonkwo | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| R. Landry | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| C. Lebo | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 81 | 34 | 9 | 26/60 | 9/22 | 20/26 | 18 | – | 10 | 6 | 9 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| O. Oweh | 23 | 5 | 1 | 6/10 | 1/2 | 10/11 | 3 | 33 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| J. McCollum | 14 | 2 | 3 | 6/17 | 2/5 | 0/0 | 5 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| M. Uzan | 10 | 5 | 2 | 4/8 | 1/3 | 1/4 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| J. Moore | 9 | 5 | 0 | 4/6 | 1/2 | 0/2 | 1 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| S. Godwin | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 2/2 | 5 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| L. Darthard | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2/7 | 2/7 | 0/0 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| R. Soares | 5 | 8 | 0 | 1/4 | 0/2 | 3/3 | 3 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| L. Northweather | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Hugley IV | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0/3 | 0/2 | 0/2 | 3 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| J. Moser | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Y. Keita | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| K. Cooper | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| R. Lovelace | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| J. Cole | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| M. Klanjscek | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 69 | 34 | 6 | 23/57 | 7/23 | 16/24 | 20 | – | 3 | 2 | 18 |
UNC Bright Spots
RJ Davis had 23 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals.
Armando Bacot had 14 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 1 assist.
Cormac Ryan had 13 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 steals.
Harrison Ingram had 11 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 assists, and 1 block.
Needs Work
North Carolina need to make sure when they have a double-digit lead to not let up defensively and offensively. Late in the game, they stopped playing defense and started to settle for bad shots on offense, which allowed Oklahoma to hang around.
UNC’s defense against the three and on the perimeter must be better. They need to do a better job of forcing the opponents off the three-point line and be better at rotating out to shooters.
Final Observations
North Carolina improves to 8-3 on the season. Over the last few games, we have been lamenting North Carolina’s defense, particularly paying attention to detail such as closing out on shooters, boxing out to finish the defensive possession, simple help-side rotations, and overall communicating defensively. It seemed like teams were doing whatever they wanted offensively against the Tar Heels and players on the other team were coming in and getting their career highs every other game.
In this game, the Tar Heels arguably put together their best defensive game of the season, the last few minutes of the game notwithstanding. They were locked in from the start on defense and it changed the entire feel of the game. The Tar Heels were the aggressor, the more physical team, and were playing with an intensity and energy on defense that we just haven’t seen this season. Their play on defense made it easier to get their offense going because they were able to get out in transition and play at a fast pace, which they excel at. As the players continue to buy into their roles and identity as a team, this team will only get better, but you can definitely see that this team has the potential to be special with glimpses of the high level of play we have seen early in the season. Next up is Charleston Southern on Dec. 29 at 8:00 P.M. on ACC Network.
Great win!! The starters are still playing a ton of minutes. I would have thought that Hubert would have developed his bench enough to give the starters more rest.