UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Battles With Purdue But Comes Up Short

by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn

• 

The North Carolina basketball team played their first ranked opponent of the season in Purdue on Saturday afternoon. Purdue got off to a hot start and got an early lead on the Heels in the first few minutes of the game. UNC was very sloppy early with several bad turnovers, bad shot selections, and failing to guard the three-point line.

In addition, Armando Bacot got in early foul trouble and Purdue capitalized extending their lead to as much as 10 in the first half. However, Dawson Garcia had a huge first half with 15 points and helped the Heels only be down by 6 going into halftime.

The second half was a game of runs. The Tar Heels came out after halftime with more energy and looked more comfortable out there on both ends of the floor. They would then go on a run that helped them take their first lead of the game with just over nine minutes left in the game. After that, Purdue went on a 10-0 run and took a nine-point lead led by Purdue big man Trevion Williams, who was unstoppable throughout the game.

Carolina did fight back and made another run getting the game within two. However, the Heels could never regain the lead. The Tar Heels did outrebound Purdue 37-31 and even made more threes than them, but the Heels failed to make enough shots and get enough stops down the stretch of the game, which led to their 93-84 loss.

UNC Game Stats

                       1       2       T

#18 North Carolina     35      49      84

#6 Purdue              41      52      93

North Carolina

STARTERS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
D. Garcia F	33	10-13	3-5	3-3	4	4	8	1	1	1	4	5	26
A. Bacot F	17	1-6	0-1	0-0	1	4	5	1	0	0	1	5	2
K. Walton G	31	2-9	2-6	0-0	2	0	2	0	0	1	1	2	6
R.J. Davis G	35	6-12	2-5	4-4	0	7	7	4	0	0	1	2	18
C. Love G	36	7-16	2-7	2-3	0	3	3	4	1	1	3	0	18
BENCH	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
J. McKoy F	8	1-2	1-1	0-0	0	2	2	1	0	1	1	1	3
B. Manek F	27	2-7	1-3	1-2	1	3	4	2	1	1	1	4	6
A. Harris G	13	2-4	1-1	0-0	0	1	1	0	0	0	2	1	5
TEAM		31-69	12-29	10-12	12	25	37	13	3	5	14	20	84
		44.9%	41.4%	83.3%

Purdue

STARTERS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
C. Furst F	32	3-5	2-3	0-0	0	5	5	0	1	2	0	2	8
Z. Edey C	19	4-7	0-0	1-2	0	3	3	2	0	0	4	3	9
J. Ivey G	34	8-17	2-6	4-5	0	10	10	6	2	0	1	1	22
I. Thompson G	16	1-2	1-2	0-0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	3
S. Stefanovic G	35	7-13	5-11	4-4	0	2	2	8	0	0	1	1	23
BENCH	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
T. Williams F	13	8-10	0-0	4-7	1	3	4	1	1	0	2	4	20
B. Newman G	11	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	1	0
E. Morton G	16	1-4	0-1	0-0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	2	2
E. Hunter Jr. G	24	2-2	0-0	2-4	0	2	2	0	2	0	0	0	6
TEAM		34-61	10-23	15-22	4	27	31	21	6	2	9	16	93
		55.7%	43.5%	68.2%

UNC Bright Spots

Dawson Garcia had 26 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 block

R.J. Davis had 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists.

Caleb Love had 18 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 block.

Needs Work

The Tar Heels must be better defensively on the perimeter, especially guarding the three-point line. Leaky Black being out, didn’t help since he is our best perimeter defender.

Their post defense also has to be better. One of Purdue’s big men Trevion Williams got whatever he wanted inside today and had 20 points on 80 percent shooting.

The Tar Heels must do a much better job of limiting their turnovers. They had 11 turnovers alone in the first half and 14 for the game.

Final Observations

This was the Tar Heels’ first loss of the season and a tough one at that. They had their chances to take the lead and take control of the game but failed to overcome their miscues. As we have stated after the last 3 games, the defense needs to continue to be an emphasis for this team to focus on getting better as a team and individually.

Teams are scoring with ease against them and if they don’t address this issue now it will continue to plague the Heels going forward. Offensively, Carolina is fine. They continue to get multiple guys who can score in a variety of ways in every game.

In this game, Dawson Garcia was the one to step up with 26 points. However, if this team wants to reach its potential, it must get better defensively and cut down on the turnovers. Another thing the Heels need to be better at is making in-game adjustments.

The coaching staff has to be able to recognize when changes need to be made on the court to personnel, defensive and offensive schemes, etc. This will take time since this is a brand-new team with a brand-new coaching staff. Carolina fans ought to be excited with what they have seen with this team so far. This team isn’t the same team as the last two years. They play and fight hard for 40 minutes every game. You can tell they are giving their all on the court each game and if they reach their potential they will be special. Next up is Tennessee on Sunday.