UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Has Slow Start But Finishes Strong

by Derrick Clyburn

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The Tar Heels basketball team were sleepwalking for the first 5 minutes of the game in the Maui Classic and saw themselves down 13-0. Once North Carolina woke up they went on a 37-17 run to end the first half. UNC picked up their intensity on defense, moved the ball, and took better shots.

In the second half, the Tar Heels dominated the glass, played stifling defense, and shot better from the 3 point line to blow the game open. UNC had four players in double figures led by Freshman guard R.J. Davis with 16 points.

UNC Game Stats

1	2	T
#14 North Carolina	37	41	78
UNLV			30	21	51

North Carolina
		FG	3PT	FT	REB	AST	TO	PTS
A. Bacot	4-4	0-0	4-4	5	1	3	12
G. Brooks	5-13	0-0	4-8	7	1	1	14
R.J. Davis	5-9	3-4	3-3	6	1	1	16
C. Love		2-9	0-5	2-4	3	4	3	6
L. Black	1-9	1-3	2-2	10	2	0	5
D. Farris	0-0	0-0	0-0	1	0	0	0
W. Kessler	3-3	0-0	1-1	6	0	0	7
D. Sharpe	0-0	0-0	1-4	6	1	4	1
R. McAdoo	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	1	0
W. Miller	0-1	0-0	2-2	1	0	0	2
C. Lebo		0-1	0-1	0-0	0	0	0	0
P. Johnson	0-1	0-1	0-0	1	0	1	0
K. Walton	1-2	1-2	0-0	2	1	0	3
K.J. Smith	0-1	0-0	1-2	1	0	0	1
A. Platek	4-6	2-4	1-2	3	0	2	11
TEAM		25-60	7-20	21-32	55	11	16	78
 		41.7%	35.0%	65.6%

UNLV
		FG	3PT	FT	REB	AST	TO	PTS
C. Diong	2-2	0-0	0-0	5	0	0	4
C. Grill	3-10	3-9	1-3	4	1	2	10
M. Coleman	2-4	1-3	1-4	0	3	1	6
B. Hamilton	7-19	1-6	0-1	4	2	3	15
D. Jenkins Jr.	1-9	1-8	1-2	2	0	3	4
D. Tillis	0-3	0-2	0-0	1	0	1	0
R. Brown	0-0	0-0	0-0	1	0	1	0
E. Del Cadia	0-0	0-0	2-3	3	0	1	2
M. Wood		1-8	1-5	0-0	6	0	1	3
N. Blake	2-5	1-3	2-2	3	0	2	7
D. Yap		0-2	0-1	0-0	0	1	0	0
TEAM		18-62	8-37	7-15	35	7	17	51
 		29.0%	21.6%	46.7%

UNC Bright Spots

R.J. Davis had 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 1 assist.

Garrison Brooks 14 points, 7 rebounds, and 1 assist.

Armando Bacot had 12 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 assist.

Andrew Platek had 11 points and 3 rebounds.

Needs Work

The Tar Heels need to be locked in from the tip. They had a horrendous start and didn’t score for five minutes.

The team needs more time on the court together developing their chemistry and the freshmen need to keep learning the system.

Final Observations

This North Carolina team has a lot of depth. It looks like several players can lead the team at times during the season. Each game they should get better learning to play with one another and start defining the roles for this season.

This is a work in progress for Roy. He is integrating six freshmen into his system. So it may be a little choppy at times, but they will grow into a more refined team as they get games under their belts. Next up tomorrow is the winner of the Alabama – Stanford game.