GAME INFO:
November 12, 2021
9:00pm Tip Off
Dean Smith Center (Capacity: 21,750)
Chapel Hill, NC
TV: ACCN
Tar Heels given a 94.4% chance to win by ESPN
Records:
UNC: 1-0
Brown: 1-0
Last Time Out:
UNC: Beat Loyola 83-67
Brown: Beat Salve Regina 89-59
SERIES INFO:
UNC leads the all-time series 1-0.
Last game was back in 1985, a 115-63 UNC victory
Team Leaders
Points:
UNC: Love (22.0 PPG)
Brown: D. Mitchell (13.0 PPG)
Rebounds:
UNC: Garcia (9)
Brown: J. Gainey (7)
Assists:
UNC: Davis (5)
Brown: K. Lilly Jr. (6)
Loyola Notes
Caleb Love had 22 points on 7-13 shooting, 2-6 from 3, 6-10 FT, 2 Assists, 2 Steals
Brady Manek had 20 points on 9-15 shooting, 1-5 from 3, 1-3 FT, 5 rebounds, 1 BLK
Dawson Garcia had 12 points on 3-6 shooting, 1-2 from 3, 5-7 FT, 9 rebounds, 2 Assists, 2 TOs, 2 steals
Kerwin Walton had 11 points on 4-7 shooting, 3-6 from 3, 1 Assist, 1 TO, 1 steal
Armando Bacot had 8 points on 3-5 shooting, 2-3 FT, 6 rebounds, 2 BLKs, 1 Steal
RJ Davis had 6 points on 2-5 shooting, 1-2 from 3, 1-1 FT, 5 rebounds, 5 Assists, 2 TOs, 1 Steal
TEAM STATS:
52.7% FG (29-55)
38.1% 3 PT (8-21)
60.7% FT (17-28)
15 Assists
12 TOs
37 rebounds
The Tar Heels picked up the first win in the Hubert Davis era on Tuesday night. The game wasn’t really put away until about midway through the second half, but it was a game that never really felt close. Carolina kept Loyola at a double digit deficit for most of the game and it never really felt like the Greyhounds had enough to mount a comeback. The Heels started strong and the greyhounds started slow which saw the Heels jump out to a 15-3 lead. The greyhounds settled in a little bit after that.
Hubert Davis has made it very clear that starters and playing time will be determined by how players grade out defensively each game. Manek replaced Garica in the starting lineup and Black replaced Walton. Those two switches shouldn’t be all that surprising considering Garcia was slow off screens in the exhibition game, and Walton has struggled on defense. Hubert is pushing Walton to become a more complete player this year, so expect that to improve, but it still wouldn’t surprise me to see Black start for a couple of games. Walton responded to coming off the bench though and his performance this game looked a lot more like the Kerwin Walton we are accustomed to seeing.
Just something of note… the point guard situation this year is fairly unique. Love and Davis are starting together. Usually there is a defined backup point guard. Davis handles the ball more and Love seems more comfortable off the ball. His 22 point performance is a pretty good indicator of that, but I will discuss that in a second. It is clear that Athony Harris is the 3rd point guard behind Love and Davis, but is essentially functioning as the backup point guard considering Love and Davis are on the floor together a lot. Harris did see time in the first half this game.
The rotation stayed at 8 players with all those players seeing over 10 minutes. The freshmen still aren’t in the main rotation. That will be something to watch throughout the year. If and how Hubert will work them in.
Some of the things that plagued us last year seem to be plaguing us to start the season. The team plays in spurts. There will be periods of really good play followed by unexplainable sloppy play. The lead got up to 20 multiple times only to be knocked back down to 15 in 2 possessions. I know with that big of a lead that isn’t necessarily a big deal, but what about when you are up 10 and it turns into a 5 point lead. Use any single digit scenario that you would like, but we can not let momentum change in just 2 possessions.
Free throws need to be made when they count. One of the reasons why the game was closer than it seemed was because of easy points that we didn’t take advantage of. 10-18 on free throws in the first half isn’t going to cut it against better competition. There was also some poor shot selection by way of the 3, specifically Love settling for a deep 3 to end the first half.
Love did look a lot more confident driving the basketball in the second half. He was able to finish through contact and got into the lane at will against man to man. The offense struggled at times against the zone. There was too much standing around and the ball wasn’t being swung around the perimeter fast enough.
Similar to the exhibition, the defensive intensity was there, but the execution, at times, wasn’t. We are still trailing screens, chasing off their back hip which leaves two guys guarding one man which leaves one guy open. Better teams will make us pay for this more frequently.
Bacot sat a lot of the second half with foul trouble. The promising part of that is that it didn’t matter. Manek in particular stepped up. He didn’t have a good day on the perimeter but he flashed his post moves and had a nice little runner. It’s a luxury to have a guy that can struggle in the area he is most known for, but still lead the team in scoring. Manek is underrated in the college basketball world. He quietly gets the job done.
Mckoy is going to be big defensively along with black. Mckoy and Harris were seen putting up 3s not even 30 minutes after the Loyola game was over. Mckoy’s chances on offense will come.
The Brown game looks to be a similar game to the Loyola game. The Heels will look to go 2-0 before traveling to Charleston for their only true non conference road game. Brown did not play last year due to covid, but had a 15-12 record in 2019-2020.
Brown defeated Salve Regina 89-59 and what was a warm up game for this matchup. Salve Regina is a DIII school, so it’s hard to take a lot away from the Bears performance. They do have a very experienced starting lineup. 2 of their starters are seniors (Mitchell and Gainey), 1 is a grad student (Choh), 1 is a junior (Wojcik), and the final piece to their starting lineup (Friday) is a sophomore. Mitchell, Wojcik and Friday start in the backcourt. Gainey and Choh start in the front court. Mitchell, Wojcik, and Friday are all fairly sizable guards, standing at 6’6”, 6’5”, and 6;4” respectively. The frontcourt is undersized with Gainey at 6’9” and Choh listed at 6’5”. The only player on the roster with any height besides Gainey is Owusu-Anane at 6’8”.
11 players saw 10 minutes or more in their season opener. 4 of the 6 bench players are underclassmen (3 freshmen, 1 sophomore). Again it is somewhat hard to gauge if this is the Bears’ actual rotation or if a lot of guys got playing time due to the score, but I would still expect the Bears to throw a bunch of players at us.
David Mitchell led them in scoring with 13 points. Wojcik and Owusu-Anane also got into double digits totaling 12 and 10 points. Wojcik went 4-7 from 3. He will be a player to keep your eye on. He is someone the defense can’t lose track of. His height can give him the ability to shoot over shorter guards. If leaky starts expect him to get this assignment. It’s worth noting that was Wojcik’s first game as a Bear. Still he plays for Brown, all of these guys are smart.
Also of note, Friday and Lilly Jr had 9 points in the opener. Gainey had 8. They went 10-35 from 3 and only shot 8 free throws, converting 7 of them. They collected 40 rebounds and dished out 22 assists to just 11 turnovers. 17 players saw action in the game.
Brown is an Ivy league school, so don’t expect them to dumb themselves out of the game. They share the ball well and like to shoot 3’s. They don’t really have any size in the front court, and we have already faced a team with a sizable front court in Loyola. This game could be another big game for our bigs. Our size advantage allows for our stretch 4’s to rise up over smaller defenders or post up. If Bacot can stay out of foul trouble he should have a monster game. Garcia’s size and athletic ability also set him up to improve on his performance from the season opener.
RJ Davis and Anthony Harris could struggle in this game because of the size of the Bears’ guards. Love is a little bigger so he may fare better, but he will be going up against the 6’6” Mitchell most likely. Mitchell can use his size on the offensive end, but Love’s quickness should benefit him on the other side of the court. His ability to play through contact will be something to watch in this game. I’m sure Mitchell will use his body and size to try to wear down Love. Love has been playing off the ball while Davis handles most of the point guard duties. If Love can stay active off the ball then he may get some open shots due to a tired Mitchell.
Tempo and frontcourt size should wear the Bears down. I expect it to be similar to the season opener, double digits for most of the game and then pulling away in the second half.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR:
Different line-ups/rotations (This will be an ongoing thing since it's early in the season. I think the starters will be the same from last game. Do we see the freshmen more?)
Guarding the 3 (Loyola still got too many looks from behind the arc and it’s been a problem for years. Does it get better?)
Ball screen defense (We are slow off screens right now which has led to a lot of 3s.)
Manek from 3 (Manek wasn’t great behind the arc in the exhibition game or in the season opener. Does big sexy start raining 3s?)
Mckoy on offense (Mckoy hasn’t really factored into the offense in either game, but with a small frontcourt this game may be a good chance. Does he get more meaningful touches on offense?)
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