UNC Basketball Moments After – UNC vs. Radford 86-70 Win
UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Staves Off Radford in the Season Opener for Their First Win
by Derrick Clyburn
The North Carolina basketball team opened its season against an experienced Radford team that won 21 games in 2022 and returned four starters. The New Look Tar Heels started the game with Cormac Ryan, Paxson Wojcik, and Harrison Ingram joining Armando Bacot and RJ Davis. North Carolina is looking to get rid of that bad taste that was left in their mouth from the way last season ended.
UNC showed great ball movement and made a concerted effort to get the ball down low to Armando Bacot who cashed in around the basket very effectively. RJ Davis, Cormac Ryan, Paxson Wojcik, and Harrison Ingram all made 3-pointers in the first half to space the floor. The offense looks much more free-flowing.
Radford came in this game on a mission to try an upset North Carolina in the debut. They hit tough shots and actually outrebounded the Tar Heels and had a three-point lead late in the first half before North Carolina went on an 8-0 run to end the half with a 46-41 lead. Both teams shot over 50% from the field going into intermission.
In the second half, the Tar Heels started to impose their will on Radford getting the ball inside to Armando Bacot. Several players began driving the ball to the basket scoring the ball knowing that Radford couldn’t leave Bacot. North Carolina continued to move the ball to the open man for good shots and they picked up the pressure on defense to slow the Radford guards down. Radford shot 11-32 for the second half. This allowed UNC to build their lead to as much as 16 points and they kept it in double-figures for the remainder of the game. The Tar Heels had 4 players in double-figures led by Armando Bacot 25 points and 13 rebounds. North Carolina had 18 assists on 35 field goals.
UNC Game Stats
| 1 | 2 | T | |
| Radford 0-1 | 41 | 29 | 70 |
| 19 North Carolina 1-0 | 46 | 40 | 86 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| A. Bacot | 25 | 13 | 1 | 10/16 | 0/1 | 5/6 | 1 | 29 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| C. Ryan | 13 | 3 | 3 | 3/8 | 3/7 | 4/4 | 0 | 31 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| R. Davis | 13 | 3 | 2 | 6/14 | 1/5 | 0/0 | 1 | 28 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| H. Ingram | 12 | 4 | 3 | 4/9 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 1 | 27 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| P. Wojcik | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2/2 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 1 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| J. Washington | 8 | 4 | 0 | 3/3 | 0/0 | 2/3 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| E. Cadeau | 5 | 2 | 6 | 2/6 | 0/1 | 1/3 | 2 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| J. Withers | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 2 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| S. Trimble | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 1/2 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| J. Okonkwo | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Z. High | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| K. Giles | 18 | 2 | 1 | 8/17 | 1/5 | 1/1 | 2 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| D. Smith | 18 | 4 | 1 | 7/13 | 3/7 | 1/1 | 0 | 30 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| B. Antoine | 13 | 1 | 1 | 5/15 | 1/6 | 2/2 | 0 | 29 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| J. Archer | 6 | 9 | 0 | 2/3 | 0/0 | 2/2 | 4 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| C. Turner | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1/2 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 4 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| T. Harris | 7 | 3 | 1 | 2/5 | 0/0 | 3/4 | 3 | 21 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| D. Pierce | 4 | 5 | 0 | 2/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 5 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| K. Burns | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1/7 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Vidor | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| H. Castleberry | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| T. Walters | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
UNC Bright Spots
Armando Bacot had 25 points, 13 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 1 assist.
Cormac Ryan had 13 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists.
RJ Davis had 13 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists.
Harrison Ingram had 12 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks.
Needs Work
The Tar Heels need to continue to play with energy, effort, and urgency. They need to cut down on unforced turnovers and continue to move the ball and attack the rim.
North Carolina needs to continue to work on their help-side defense and crash the boards better. Also, they need to improve on their free-throw shooting. They shot 65% from the stripe.
Final Observations
This was the first regular season game and there was some sloppy play which is to be expected with Coach Davis having to integrate 7 new players into his system. He rotated 10 players freely for most of the game. It will take some time for Coach Davis to figure out his permanent starting 5 and his primary reserves coming off the bench but it will be fun to see how this team comes together.
The Tar Heels did a great job moving the ball to the open man. They played with energy and pace. North Carolina is a better shooting team and has more experienced players that will help them figure out how to navigate through this season. Bacot continues to be the solid rock of consistency for the Tar Heels. He had his 69th double-double of his career. Next up is Lehigh on Sunday, Nov. 12th at 2 PM.
In checking the game out, it’s pretty obvious that teams are going to attack our small guards on the defensive end of the floor. A lot of the shots that Radford made were their guards just pulling up and shooting right over the top of Cadeau and Davis. I hope we have some of strategy to defend that going forward.