UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Get Into a Groove With a Tuneup Against the Bulldogs

by Derrick Clyburn

The North Carolina basketball team needed a tune-up game like tonight against The Citadel. They continued to move the ball and make the extra pass which will be required for them to get where they want to be at the end of the season. Hubert Davis was able to get his bench some much-needed playing time to build confidence and add depth to his rotation.

Tyler Nickel and Dontrez Styles took full advantage of their opportunity by scoring 16 and 9 points respectively. The Tar Heels continued to play inside-out basketball and looked for the open man which is Carolina Basketball. UNC hit a season-high 15 three-pointers which were due to the unselfish play and ball movement.

The Biscuit Boys were able to get into the game late and rewarded the team and the fans with Bojangles Biscuits scoring seven points to reach the 100-point mark. What a way to send the fans home for the evening with a 100-67 win.

UNC Game Stats

	1	2	T
The Citadel 5-5	33	34	67
North Carolina 7-4	48	52	100

North Carolina

STARTERS	PTS	REB	AST	FG	3PT	FT	PF	MIN	STL	BLK	TO
C. Love	17	3	6	6/10	4/6	1/1	1	29	0	0	0
P. Nance	16	7	1	5/6	3/4	3/4	2	21	1	1	2
A. Bacot	14	11	2	5/9	0/0	4/6	1	26	0	2	3
R. Davis	6	2	3	2/6	2/4	0/0	2	21	0	0	1
L. Black	5	3	2	1/2	0/0	3/4	2	14	1	0	2
BENCH	PTS	REB	AST	FG	3PT	FT	PF	MIN	STL	BLK	TO
T. Nickel	16	3	1	5/10	3/8	3/3	0	19	2	0	1
D. Styles	9	6	1	3/4	1/2	2/2	0	15	1	0	1
J. Washington	6	0	0	2/4	0/0	2/3	1	6	0	0	0
J. Watkins	3	0	1	1/1	1/1	0/0	0	2	0	0	0
J. McKoy	3	2	0	1/3	1/3	0/0	0	7	0	1	1
S. Trimble	2	3	5	0/5	0/1	2/2	1	21	2	1	1
C. Lebo	2	0	1	1/2	0/1	0/0	0	1	0	0	0
P. Johnson	1	2	0	0/2	0/1	1/2	0	7	2	0	0

The Citadel

STARTERS	PTS	REB	AST	FG	3PT	FT	PF	MIN	STL	BLK	TO
J. Price	15	6	0	6/12	3/5	0/2	2	24	0	0	1
S. Clark	15	5	3	7/16	0/1	1/2	2	34	2	2	6
A. Ash	8	6	3	3/11	2/7	0/0	1	34	2	0	1
E. Morgan	7	1	1	3/9	1/6	0/0	1	31	1	0	0
M. Durr	4	1	2	2/6	0/1	0/1	4	23	0	0	3
BENCH	PTS	REB	AST	FG	3PT	FT	PF	MIN	STL	BLK	TO
A. Smith	9	2	0	4/7	1/2	0/0	3	11	1	0	1
B. Spence	6	3	0	3/4	0/0	0/0	1	10	1	0	0
D. Maynard	3	3	2	1/2	1/1	0/0	2	14	0	0	0

UNC Bright Spots

Caleb Love had 17 points, 3 rebounds, and 6 assists.

Peter Nance had 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 1 assist.

Tyler Nickel had 16 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 assist.

Armando Bacot had 14 points, 11 rebounds, and 2 assists.

Dontrez Styles had 9 points, 6 rebounds, and 1 assist.

Needs Work

The Tar Heels have to do a better job defending the three-point line. Their screen defense has to be much better. They need to do a better job of fighting over screens and running the opponent off the line.

Final Observations

The Tar Heels seem to be getting into a flow that will lead to success moving forward. They are now building confidence and creating an identity that will be a problem for opponents. North Carolina is now 7-4 on the season and they are getting players healthy and adding depth that can take this team a long way. Hubert is building bench depth and has them playing unselfish ball. They had 24 assists with very few one-on-one possessions. Next up is another big test against Ohio State on Saturday at 3 pm.