UNC Basketball Moments After – UNC vs. Tennessee 100-92 Win
UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Pounds the Volunteers in the First Half Then Stiff-Arms Them to Finish the Game
by Derrick Clyburn
The North Carolina basketball team was finally back home in the confines of their own arena after three challenging games in the Battle 4 Atlantis on Thanksgiving Week. There’s no place like home. The ACC/SEC Challenge started tonight for UNC whose opponent was Tennessee. Who is just the first of a five-game gauntlet including Florida St, Connecticut, Kentucky, and Oklahoma. The next three weeks will show what the Tar Heels are made of.
The Tar Heels started the game on fire moving the ball with crisp passes and all five starters hitting open shots. North Carolina had four players in double-figures in the first half led by Harrison Ingram with 16 points including four 3-pointers. UNC applied great pressure on the defensive end to stymie the Volunteers causing 8 first-half turnovers. The Tar Heels shot 60% in the first half leading by as much as 24 points. This was their best half of the season as they dominated both sides of the ball where the Tar Heels went into intermission 61-39.
In the second half, Tennessee came out trapping and pressing desperately trying to cut into that big 22-point halftime deficit. The Tar Heels got sped up a little and became careless with the ball. This allowed Tennessee to build some confidence and they outscored UNC 34-16 to cut the lead to eight points. Dalton Knecht became unguardable during that stretch scoring 22 points in the second half and 37 points for the game.
The Heels had to start double-teaming Knecht to try and slow him down and make someone else shoot the ball. RJ Davis made some huge shots and Elliot Cadeau controlled the floor with 10 assists and zero turnovers. North Carolina shot 84% from the free-throw line making 32 freebies. Armando Bacot showed up with a strong floor game with 22 points and 11 rebounds for the 71st double-double of his career and RJ Davis poured in 27 points to lead the Heels to a 100-92 victory.
UNC Game Stats
| 1 | 2 | T | |
| 10 Tennessee 4-3 | 39 | 53 | 92 |
| 17 North Carolina 6-1 | 61 | 39 | 100 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| R. Davis | 27 | 4 | 2 | 8/17 | 5/11 | 6/6 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| A. Bacot | 22 | 11 | 3 | 6/8 | 0/0 | 10/13 | 3 | 31 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| H. Ingram | 20 | 6 | 0 | 6/12 | 4/8 | 4/4 | 1 | 38 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| E. Cadeau | 5 | 2 | 10 | 0/5 | 0/1 | 5/8 | 3 | 31 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Withers | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| C. Ryan | 15 | 2 | 1 | 3/9 | 2/6 | 7/7 | 5 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| J. Washington | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3/3 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| S. Trimble | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2/5 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 3 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Z. High | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| P. Wojcik | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Farris | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| J. Okonkwo | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| R. Landry | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| C. Lebo | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 100 | 32 | 19 | 28/61 | 12/28 | 32/38 | 18 | – | 6 | 1 | 8 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| D. Knecht | 37 | 6 | 3 | 13/17 | 4/8 | 7/8 | 1 | 38 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| J. James | 20 | 5 | 0 | 8/11 | 2/4 | 2/2 | 2 | 38 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| J. Aidoo | 13 | 4 | 0 | 5/7 | 0/0 | 3/3 | 5 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Z. Zeigler | 9 | 3 | 7 | 3/8 | 2/6 | 1/3 | 3 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| S. Vescovi | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 4 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| J. Gainey | 11 | 2 | 0 | 5/15 | 1/9 | 0/0 | 3 | 32 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| J. Mashack | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1/3 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 2 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| C. Carr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Phillips | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| J. Estrella | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| G. Hurst | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| C. Coyne | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| T. Awaka | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| D. Jefferson | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| K. Makan | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| F. Dilione V | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 92 | 28 | 13 | 35/63 | 9/28 | 13/16 | 24 | – | 5 | 7 | 12 |
UNC Bright Spots
RJ Davis had 27 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal.
Armando Bacot had 22 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 block.
Harrison Ingram had 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals.
Cormac Ryan had 15 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist.
Needs Work
The Tar Heels must do a better job slowing down the hot player by double-teaming and trapping that player to make someone else shoot much earlier in the game. They have to learn how to finish games when they get big leads on their opponents.
Final Observations
The Tar Heels are now 6-1 on the season. They have shown more toughness and grit this year. The Tar Heels have more weapons on offense and they are playing solid team defense. They need to find a way to stop their opponents from having career-high games. Coach Davis must deploy the trap, press, and double-team players if he sees them getting hot.
North Carolina is still building chemistry and defining roles for the players coming off the bench. We need to see Washington, Withers, and Wojcik build more confidence and minimize the miscues and turnovers. There are some promising signs about this team. They fight and don’t back down. Different players step up when plays need to be made. Next up is Florida St. on Saturday at 2 pm.
Overall great game by the Heels, regardless of letting the other team come back. We have to get tougher on defense by staying with our man on drives, or getting the right help to stop the other team’s drives to the basket. Jalen Washington and Elliot Cadeau are starting to gain confidence.