UNC Tar Heels Basketball Cruise Past W. Carolina

by Derrick Clyburn

It’s the first week of December. The Tar Heels basketball players are in the middle of final exams. Everyone is ready to go home for Christmas break. So, you could expect some nonchalant uninspired play. But UNC after the first four minutes of the game turned up the defensive intensity and put on their track shoes and ran the Catamounts out of the Dean Dome with a 104-61 victory. Every player that was dressed got to see the court. Twelve players got in the scorebook. Six players got in double figures. Led by freshman Jalek Felton with 15 points, 5 assists, and 3 rebounds. Luke Maye had his 6th double-double with 12 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 assists.

UNC Game Stats

North Carolina

FG    3PT     FT    REB  AST STL BLK  TO  PF    PTS

1. Maye             5-7   2-2     0-0     12      5       1        0       2       1       12
2. Pinson          2-4   0-1     0-0     2       7       0         1       3       0       4
3. Brooks         4-6   0-0     1-4     7       2       0         1       1       2         9
4. Williams      5-7   3-4     0-0     3       1       1          1       0       0       13
5. Berry II         3-11  2-4     4-4     2       4       3       0       1       0        12
6. Rohlman      1-1    0-0     0-0     1       0       0       0       0       1        2
7. Rush              0-2   0-0     0-0     0       2       1       0       0       0       0
8. Huffman      2-3   0-0     0-0     7       0       0       2       2       2       4
9. Manley         3-4   0-0     3-6     4       0       0       2       3       0       9
10. Miller             1-2   0-0      1-1      1       1        0         0       0       0       3
11. Robinson    3-4   2-2     2-2      4       1       1         0       3       3       10
12. Platek          3-6   3-5     2-2      2       3       0       0       0       0       11
13. Felton          5-8   4-4     1-2      3       5       1         0       2       0       15

TEAM     37-65   16-22   14-21   52    31      8    7    17     9       104

56.9%   72.7%   66.7%

Western Carolina

FG    3PT     FT   REB  AST STL BLK  TO  PF   PTS

1. Gosselin         4-7    2-4     0-0     3       1       2       2       2       0       10
2. Amius              2-6   0-0     0-2     3       0       0       1       2       4       4
3. Halvorsen      1-5    1-4     0-0     3       1       0       0       1       1       3
4. Parks               5-16 3-11    0-0     3       7       3       1       0       0       13
5. Mutombo      3-5    1-2     0-0     1       0       0       0       0       0       7
6. Williams         1-2    1-2     0-0     1       2       0       0       1       0       3
7. Brooks           0-1    0-0     0-0     0       0       0       1       1       1       0
8. Steger            3-9   1-5     0-0     1       0       1       0       0       0       7
9. Olcay              0-0   0-0     0-0     0       1       1       0       0       1       0
10. Sledd              1-4   0-0     0-0     1       0       0       0       1       5       2
11. Johnson        0-1   0-0     0-0     0       1       0       0       2       2       0
12. Thomas        0-2   0-2     1-2     1       0       0       0       0       0       1
13. Peterson      0-2   0-0     0-0     2       2       1       0       1       3       0
14. Fuller             0-2   0-2     2-2     1       1       0       0       1       0       2
15. Smith             1-4   1-1     0-0     3       3       2       0       3       1       3
16. McMillan     2-2   2-2     0-0     0       0       0       0       0       0       6

TEAM           23-68   12-35   3-6     25      19      10      5       15      18      61

33.8%   34.3%   50.0%

Luke Maye had his 6th double-double of the season with 12 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 assists.

Jalek Felton had 15 points, 5 assists, and 3 rebounds.

Joel Berry had 12 points, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 2 rebounds.

Kenny Williams has been playing well on both ends of the floor with 13 points and 3 rebounds.

The Tar Heels hit a school record 16 3-pointers, making 16-22 for 72.7%.

Needs Work

The Tar Heels freshmen bigs need to keep focusing on attention to detail on defense and rebounding.

Final Observations

It was good to see the freshmen get quality playing time once the game got out of hand for W. Carolina. Jalek Felton had a breakout game going 4-4 from the 3 point line. I love the defensive intensity that this Carolina team plays with.