UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Get Their First Win of the Season Against the Pesky Seahawks

by Derrick Clyburn

The North Carolina basketball team started their quest for another run to the national championship game against a pesky veteran UNC-Wilmington team that gave them a dose of the zone press for the entire game. They intentionally denied the Tar Heels from successfully running the screen and roll offense which made it choppy for the Carolina offense.

This was a good test for the Tar Heels having to play without getting into a rhythm. They had to play through some adversity with Armando Bacot getting into foul trouble midway through the second half. Pete Nance was able to hold down the post while Bacot was out.

As choppy as the game was the North Carolina Tar Heels still had their top three scorers get into double figures. R.J. Davis and Caleb Love had 17 points, and Armando Bacot chipped in 16 points. There were only 7 assists combined in this game. UNC had 4 and UNC-W had 3. North Carolina held the Seahawks to 29% shooting from the field.

UNC Game Stats

1st     2nd     TOT

#1 North Carolina      32      37      69

UNCW                   21      35      56

North Carolina 

STARTERS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
A. Bacot F	—	5-10	0-0	6-11	4	5	9	1	0	1	2	4	16
P. Nance F	—	1-3	0-1	4-4	1	2	3	2	0	1	1	3	6
L. Black F	—	2-7	0-1	3-3	0	7	7	0	2	1	2	1	7
R.J. Davis G	—	6-11	1-3	4-4	0	4	4	1	1	0	1	2	17
C. Love G	—	6-12	1-4	4-5	1	2	3	0	2	0	2	2	17
BENCH	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
T. Nickel G	—	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
S. Trimble G	—	1-3	0-0	2-3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	3	4
D. Dunn G	—	1-2	0-1	0-0	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	2	2
D. Styles G	—	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
TEAM		22-48	2-10	23-30	7	25	32	4	5	6	9	18	69
		45.8%	20.0%	76.7%

UNCW

STARTERS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
T. WhiteF	—	5-16	1-4	8-9	2	5	7	0	2	0	3	2	19
A. KellyF	—	1-1	0-0	1-2	3	1	4	0	0	0	2	5	3
D. NewbyG	—	2-10	1-6	5-7	0	3	3	1	2	0	1	3	10
S. PhillipsG	—	4-13	1-1	2-2	0	3	3	1	1	0	0	3	11
M. Harden-HayesG	—	2-4	0-0	2-2	3	1	4	0	0	0	2	5	6
BENCH	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
K. McGriffF	—	0-0	0-0	0-0	1	1	2	0	0	1	1	0	0
E. Van Der HeijdenF	—	1-3	1-3	0-0	2	1	3	0	0	0	1	0	3
V. EnohC	—	2-3	0-0	0-0	5	2	7	0	0	0	0	4	4
J. ThomasG	—	0-5	0-1	0-2	0	3	3	0	0	0	0	2	0
J. HarveyG	—	0-3	0-1	0-0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
TEAM		17-58	4-16	18-24	16	21	37	3	6	1	11	24	56
		29.3%	25.0%	75.0%

UNC Bright Spots

Caleb Love had 17 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals.

RJ Davis had 17 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 assist.

Armando Bacot had 16 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 block.

Needs Work

The Tar Heels need to understand that they are going to get everybody’s best shot. So they must dictate the tempo and exploit their opponent’s weaknesses. They need to move the ball better and crash the boards more effectively.

Final Observations

This was the first game of the season for the Tar Heels and there was a little rust and nervousness shown on the floor with such high expectations but they played through it and had a strong defensive performance. The offense struggled because UNCW was determined to slow the game down and take Carolina out of their screen and roll offense.

Coach Hubert Davis can use this game as a teaching tool as he has a lot of things that he can work on with the team to help them stay focused. The target will be on their back all season so they can’t take any team lightly. Next up is the College of Charleston Friday at 7 pm.