UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Cruise to a Win on the Road

by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn

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The Tar Heels basketball team played their first true road game of the season at UNC Wilmington on Friday night. In the first half, UNC struggled early on to find any rhythm on the offensive end of the floor shooting only 30 % in the first half. UNC Wilmington kept the game close early until Carolina went 8-0 run to end the half with a 40-29 lead.

In the second half, North Carolina shot much better and went on a 10-0 run which blew the game wide open leading to their win. The Tar Heels defense was much better in this game as they held UNC Wilmington to shooting 34% for the game. Carolina got a huge contribution off the bench from Justin Pierce, who had 18 points and 12 rebounds. One major concern is Armando Bacot left the game in the first half with a head injury and never returned.

UNC Game Stats

1          2          T

North Carolina          40        38        78

UNC Wilmington      29        33        62

North Carolina

                        FG       3PT     FT       REB    AST    TO       PTS

G. Brooks       5-9      0-0      8-10    12        2          2          18

A. Bacot         0-1      0-0      0-0      1          0          1          0

C. Anthony    7-24    4-11    2-7      10        3          2          20

L. Black          2-5      0-0      4-6      7          2          0          8

C. Keeling     2-9      0-3      0-0      3          0          1          4

S. Rush         0-1      0-0      0-0      1          0          0          0

B. Huffman   2-3      0-0      0-1      4          0          1          4

R. McAdoo    0-1      0-0      0-0      0          0          0          0

K.J. Smith      0-0      0-0      0-0      0          0          0          0

J. Pierce         7-12    4-7      0-4      12        2          0          18

A. Platek        2-6      0-4      2-2      1          4          1          6

TEAM             27-72  8-25    16-30  54        13        8          78

                        37.5% 32.0% 53.3%

UNC Wilmington

                        FG       3PT     FT       REB    AST    TO       PTS

M. Linssen    5-9      0-0      0-0      4          0          1          10

J. Estime        2-8      1-7      0-0      5          3          2          5

M. Okauru     1-7      0-0      1-2      4          1          0          3

K. Toews        3-10    2-5      0-0      3          5          2          8

J. Sims           3-10    2-6      4-4      10        2          0          12

I. Dodd           2-3      0-0      0-0      5          0          0          4

J. Bowen       2-2      0-0      0-2      1          0          0          4

B. Tolefree     0-3      0-1      0-0      0          0          2          0

S. Phillips      5-7      0-0      2-3      5          1          2          12

B. Jenkins     0-1      0-1      0-0      1          0          0          0

J. Boggs         2-5      0-1      0-0      9          0          1          4

C. Skaggs      0-7      0-7      0-0      1          0          1          0

TEAM             25-72  5-28    7-11    48        12        11        62

                        34.7% 17.9% 63.6%

UNC Bright Spots

Cole Anthony had 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 assists.

Garrison Brooks had 18 points, 12 rebounds, and 2 assists.

Justin Pierce had 18 points, 12 rebounds, and 2 assists.

Leaky Black had 8 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists.

Needs Work

The Tar Heels need to work on their free-throw shooting. They shot 16-30 from the free-throw line in this game. UNC needs to continue to build their on-court chemistry as they continue to define roles on the team.

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Final Observations

UNC won its first road game of the year. They are continuing to find their identity as a team, which is expected early on with an entirely new team.

Injuries are starting to pile up as Armando Bacot left the game with a head injury, which makes him the 5^th player who has an injury. This leaves the team with a thin bench and even shorter rotation if he is out for any games.

However, UNC did look good with what they had on the court and it will be interesting to see how they play going forward as they continue to battle through all of these injuries.