UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Injury Woes Continue
by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn
North Carolina’s Garrison Brooks (15) dunks against Wofford’s Zion Richardson (0) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Carmichael Arena in Chapel Hill, N.C., Sunday, Dec. 15, 2019. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)
The Tar Heels basketball team played their first game in Carmichael Arena since 1986 against Wofford on Sunday afternoon. North Carolina continues to battle injuries as both Cole Anthony and Leaky Black were ruled out for the game right before game time.
In the first half, UNC played better offensively than they had in the last couple of games and were able to hold Wofford to just 33% shooting for the entire half. However, Wofford did hit 7 threes in the first half, which kept the game within single digits going into halftime. In the second half, the Tar Heels struggled to get into their offense and find open shots.
UNC did not play well on the defensive end, allowing too many open shots and easy baskets that would allow Wofford to come back and take the lead. Wofford would go on a 16-0 run that would extend their lead to double figures. The Heels did some resiliency and battled back to bring the game within four points but were unable to complete the comeback.
UNC Game Stats
1 2 T
#17 North Carolina 36 28 64
Wofford 32 36 68
North Carolina
Pts FG 3FG FT REB A TO Min +/-
4 ROBINSON 16 4-12 3-9 5-6 6 5 3 33 7
5 BACOT 8 2-14 0-0 4-5 13 1 2 29 -10
15 BROOKS 17 8-10 0-0 1-3 12 1 1 33 -1
30 SMITH 7 2-7 1-5 2-2 3 4 2 26 6
55 KEELING 8 4-10 0-0 0-1 9 2 2 20 -2
0 HARRIS 2 1-4 0-1 0-0 3 1 0 10 -8
3 PLATEK 6 2-3 2-3 0-0 1 0 0 20 -2
13 FRANCIS 0 0-3 0-1 0-2 1 3 1 16 -10
32 PIERCE 0 0-0 0-0 0-1 1 0 0 10 -1
42 HUFFMAN 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 3 1
TOTALS 64 23-63 6-19 12-20 51 17 11 200
Wofford
Pts FG 3FG FT REB A TO Min +/-
1 GOODWIN 4 2-3 0-0 0-0 6 0 0 9 6
5 MURPHY 15 5-14 5-10 0-1 5 3 1 35 3
10 HOOVER 6 2-11 2-10 0-0 6 2 2 36 8
11 LARSON 0 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 9 -2
15 STUMPE 19 6-10 4-6 3-3 3 5 1 28 8
0 RICHARDSON 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 4 2
4 BIGELOW 5 2-5 1-4 0-0 3 0 1 10 -4
20 APPELGREN 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 5 -7
21 HOLLOWELL 3 1-10 1-7 0-0 1 4 0 27 -9
25 JONES 13 6-10 0-1 1-2 5 2 0 28 5
31 THEME-LOVE 3 1-2 1-1 0-0 1 2 0 9 5
TOTALS 68 25-66 14-40 4-6 34 19 5 200
UNC Bright Spots
Garrison Brooks had 17 points, 12 rebounds, and 1 assist.
Brandon Robinson had 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists.
Needs Work
The Tar Heels need to work on their communication on the defensive end. There are too many times where guys are left wide open on the perimeter or in the paint due to lack of communication.
The Tar Heels need to continue to work on their shot selection and decision-making. They take a lot of tough shots and turnover the ball too much due to bad decision-making on the offensive end.
UNC also needs to work on its free-throw shooting. They shot 60% percent for the game and missed some key free throws down the stretch that would have helped their comeback.
Final Observations
The Tar Heels have lost four of the last five games and injuries continue to be a problem for them with Cole Anthony, Leaky Black, and Sterling Manley out. The schedule does not get any easier moving forward. So until the Heels get all their players back, they just need to have the next man up mentality and have players step up.
It was good to see KJ Smith, Jeremiah Francis, and Anthony Harris give UNC some quality minutes in today’s game since it will be important for them to play well going forward until everyone is healthy. All of these injuries to key players would be hard for any team but especially for a young team so it will be interesting to see how they play moving forward.