UNC Basketball Moments After – UNC vs. USC Upstate 80-62 Win
UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Navigates Through the Final Exam Zone to Win Going Away Against the USC Upstate Spartans
by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn
After a week off for exams, the North Carolina basketball team returned to the court to face off against SC Upstate on Saturday afternoon. The Tar Heels jumped out to an early 7-0 lead and held SC Upstate scoreless for the first five minutes of the game. However, SC Upstate would settle in and make it a competitive game. The Heels looked fine offensively and were working the ball inside to the bigs, which either led to a quality shot at the rim or a quality shot on the perimeter. But defensively, Carolina started to struggle after getting off to a good start on that end of the floor. SC Upstate caught fire from the three-point line about midway through the first half, making five of their first eight three-pointers. UNC was lazy closing out on Upstate’s shooters and gave them easy attempts from behind the arc.
SC Upstate’s three-point shooting and UNC’s sloppiness with the ball that led to four turnovers sparked a run and even allowed the Spartans to take a one-point lead over the Heels. After a North Carolina timeout, the Tar Heels went on a 14-0 run, finally locking down the Spartans on defense, giving them their largest lead of the game at 11. Carolina was also playing efficient basketball offensively, shooting 54% from the field and 50% from three, thanks to excellent ball movement and constant rim pressure that led to great shots in the paint or open shots outside. The Heels would lead 37-28 at halftime with 12 assists on their 15 made baskets.
In the second half, the Tar Heels looked sluggish at times. They didn’t put together their best effort, intensity, and energy on either end of the floor, but their talent overwhelmed the Spartans. SC Upstate hung around for as long as they could by trying to outwork the Heels, attacking the offensive glass hard, and hitting threes and tough shots for certain stretches of the game. Luka Bogavac, Caleb Wilson, Henri Veesar, and Jonathan Powell would just be too much for them offensively as all four of them finished in double figures and hit timely shots to keep an 8-14 point lead over the Spartans. UNC shot 51% overall for the game and had 20 assists on 28 made field goals, closing out SC Upstate on a 12-2 run to give them their ninth victory of the season.
UNC Stats
| 1 | 2 | T | |
| SC Upstate 6-6 | 28 | 34 | 62 |
| 14 N. Carolina 9-1 | 37 | 43 | 80 |
| Starters | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| C. Wilson | 20 | 11 | 3 | 6/7 | 1/1 | 7/13 | 1 | 31 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| L. Bogavac | 15 | 5 | 5 | 6/11 | 3/6 | 0/0 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| H. Veesaar | 14 | 9 | 2 | 5/11 | 1/3 | 3/4 | 2 | 30 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Stevenson | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1/3 | 0/1 | 2/2 | 1 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| K. Evans | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1/5 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bench | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| J. Powell | 17 | 1 | 0 | 6/9 | 3/6 | 2/3 | 1 | 24 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Dixon | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1/4 | 1/3 | 0/0 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| J. Young | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| J. Brown | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Z. High | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| I. Denis | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| I. Matlekovic | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| E. Davis | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| J. Holbrook | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| E. Smith | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 80 | 36 | 20 | 28/55 | 10/23 | 14/22 | 5 | – | 5 | 3 | 6 |
| Starters | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| L. Davis | 14 | 3 | 0 | 5/8 | 2/5 | 2/2 | 5 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| M. Bendinger | 13 | 3 | 1 | 6/17 | 1/4 | 0/1 | 1 | 33 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| K. Gregory | 9 | 1 | 2 | 4/15 | 1/5 | 0/0 | 1 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| T. Smith | 8 | 6 | 6 | 3/6 | 2/2 | 0/0 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| J. Martinez | 4 | 9 | 1 | 2/4 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 29 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Bench | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| I. Skinner | 9 | 0 | 0 | 3/5 | 3/4 | 0/0 | 3 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| C. Adkins | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2/10 | 1/7 | 0/0 | 1 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| C. Collier | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| K. Jones | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| C. Johnson | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| C. Rich | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| B. Garcia | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| N. Book | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| T. Lewis | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 62 | 29 | 12 | 25/66 | 10/27 | 2/3 | 16 | – | 2 | 2 | 7 |
UNC Bright Spots
Caleb Wilson had 20 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, and 1 steal.
Jonathan Powell had 17 points, 2 steals, and 1 rebound.
Luka Bogavac had 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists.
Henri Veesaar had 14 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals
Needs Work
The Tar Heels need to do a better job of guarding the three-point line. They must be better at closing out on shooters, rotating, and running their opponents off the line.
The Heels must also be better at the free-throw line. Shooting 64% at the free-throw line is unacceptable with all the good shooters they have on the team.
Final Observations
North Carolina improves to 9-1 on the season. The Tar Heels are continuing to grow and mature into the team they want to become with each game. Every game has presented a unique challenge, and the Heels have found ways to win games differently. They have won games with their defense, toughness, resilience, and with their dominance in the paint. Over the last couple of games, we have seen guys like Derek Dixon and Jonathan Powell step up and have double-digit scoring outings, which bodes well for their confidence going forward. Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesar have been dominant on the inside and regularly putting up double-doubles, playing like the best frontcourt in the country. This gives the Heels an advantage every single night, and it has shown on the court. UNC still needs more consistency from Jarin Stevenson and Kyan Evans. Those two aren’t aggressive enough offensively and look lost defensively too often at times.
Both are talented and just need to relax, letting the game come to them. Coach Hubert Davis needs to find a way to have a consistent rotation of 8 or 9 guys so the starters won’t wear down as the season progresses. Coach Davis must instill some confidence in his bench players so the Heels can become a more complete team. The Tar Heels have a couple more games left that they can use to give more minutes to their bench before ACC play, and they must use them wisely. Seth Trimble should be returning to the lineup soon since he is no longer wearing his cast and now engaging in on-court basketball activities, which takes this team to another level as a top 10 team. Next up is East Tennessee State on December 16 at 8:00 P.M. on the ACC Network.
As the Tarheels continues to grow as a team, this growth will help them when ACC play starts. Thank you for the thorough synopsis of this game against USC Upstate.
The guards are gonna have to tighten up the defense. We definitely need to get Seth Trimble back soon. Also, we have to make sure that we make our free throws. Other than that, we’re definitely looking good going into the ACC season.