GAME INFO:
November 16, 2021
8:30pm Tip Off
TD Arena (Capacity: 5,100)
Charleston, SC
TV: CBSSN
Tar Heels given a 75.2% chance to win by ESPN
Records:
UNC: 2-0
College of Charleston: 3-0
Last Time Out:
UNC: Beat Brown 94-87
College of Charleston: Beat Loyola (MD) 79-72
SERIES INFO:
UNC leads the all-time series 5-3.
Last game was back in 2020, a 79-60 UNC victory
Team Leaders
Points:
UNC: Love (17.5 PPG)
CofC: j. Meeks (17.7 PPG)
Rebounds:
UNC: Bacot (8)
CofC: O. Smart (8)
Assists:
UNC: Davis (5.5)
CofC: D. Underwood (4)
Brown Notes
Davis had 26 pts on 9-17 shooting, 6-9 from 3, 2-2 FT, 6 ast, only 1 TO
Bacot had 22 pts on 10-11 shooting, 2-5 FT, 10 RBs, 10-11 FG 4th best %(.909) in smith center by a tar heel
Manek had 14 pts on 3-9 shooting, 8-9 FT, 8 RBs
Love had 13 pts on 3-9 shooting, 2-4 from 3, 5-6 FT, 5 ast, only 1 TO
Garcia had 7 points on 3-7 shooting, 1-2 FT, 6 rebounds
Black had 7 points on 2-4 shooting, 3-4 FT, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 TO
Walton had 5 points on 2-5 shooting, 1-3 from 3, 2 rebounds
TEAM STATS:
51.6% FG (32.62)
42.9% 3 PT (9-21)
75% FT (21-28)
16 Assists
7 TOs
39 rebounds
Through 2 games UNC has an efficiency margin of +57.3 with leaky black on the court (40min) and -21.6 with him on the bench (40 min)
The Heels have been 28 points/100 better offensively and 51 points/100 defensively with Black in the line up…..take that leaky haters
Through 2 games 2021-41% (3rd in the ACC), 2020-28%
Efficiency margin by UNC frontcourt through 2 games:
Manek-Bacot (28 min): +53.9, 42.9 OR%
Garcia-Bacot (16 min): +27.2, 41.2 OR%
Garcia-Manek (33 min): +0.5, 14.3 OR%
The Tar Heels did just enough to beat Brown on Friday night. The performance on the defensive side of the ball was terrible to say the least. We simply outscored Brown and wore them down towards the end of the game. Not having recent film to review definitely hurt us as the Ivy league didn’t play last year due to Covid. Now Brown is a lot better team than people give them credit for. They may very well represent the Ivy league in the big dance, but they aren’t as good as we made them look. Before anyone presses the panic button, we aren’t the only team struggling against mid-majors. Duke had a tough time with a pesky Campbell team. Syracuse didn’t pull away from Drexel on Sunday night until the second half. Virginia lost to Navy and Maryland has had close games. The starters were once again different as Garcia started for Manek. Leaky picked up 2 quick fouls and had to sit for a while. With that being said Walton is still a big liability on defense and that is where our struggles lay, so I would still rather see Black start. He also adds more experience to the lineup along with Manek. After recovering from 2 quick fouls, Black had a good night. See the above stats on why Black is so crucial to this team’s success. Numbers don’t lie.
Garcia had an off night, but stepped up when he had to. Still his shot selection was not good and committed some less than smart fouls on defense. Styles got some time in the first half albeit these minutes were pretty uneventful. Again how Davis works in the freshmen will continue to be a storyline during the early part of the season.
Brown pretty much got whatever they wanted on the offensive end. A lot of our guys play flat footed and their guards repeatedly blew by ours. We couldn’t keep our guy in front and it led to 50 first half points. The wide open 3 to end the half was pretty indicative of the defensive effort all night. I still don’t understand why we are on the defender's back hip coming off screens. We are chasing and never recovering. This leads to 2 guys chasing 1 man, leaving someone wide open. Our bigs also aren’t really popping out to help the guards on screens. As a team, we have to get better at getting around screens both on and off the ball. It’s too easy for teams to score using this old as dirt method. Friday also had his way with Love for most of the game. Friday would drive and then shoot right over Love. Friday had a little bit of a size advantage, but Love offered very little resistance. Again he isn’t the only one that had a defensive night he would like to forget.
On a positive note, both Davis and Love look more mature on the offensive end of the floor. A lot better decision making led to only 2 turnovers and 11 assists for the guard combo. Speaking of Davis, he was absolutely unconscious at the end of the game. We needed everyone of his 3’s. The thing to note though is that they were good shots. The shots came off of good ball movement and were wide open. I’m all for shooting 3’s as long as they are open and are a result of a good offensive set.
For 98% of the game, Brown couldn’t stop Bacot. He scored over double teams, and Davis was a benefactor of Bacot passing out of those double teams as well. Feed Bacot every game.
The only true non conference road test will come Tuesday night in Charleston. The College of Charleston isn’t an uncommon non-conference opponent and the last matchup was in 2020. This game will be another good test against a tough mid-major before taking on Purdue on Saturday. Charleston has wins over South Carolina State, Lipscomb, and Loyola (md). They defeated Loyola 79-72. We beat the greyhounds 83-67. Their starters have been consistent and it’s a mix of upper and lower classmen. Underwood and Smith start in the backcourt. Underwood is a grad student, and Smith is a freshman, Faye, Lampten and Meeks start in the frontcourt. Faye is the lone freshman in the frontcourt. Lampten is a junior, Meeks is a grad student. Lampten offers the only real size on the team at 6’11”. Faye is 6’8”. 11 players played against Loyola (burnham freshmen F, Horton freshmen F, Smart Grad F, Bolon Grad G, Ali sophomore G, Tucker junior G). 9 of those 11 saw 10+ minutes. 9 players scored. Meeks led the team in minutes (36) and scoring. He had 18 points and went 3-6 from 3. He is shooting 43.8% from 3 so far this season. Tucker was tied for second on the team in minutes (25). Underwood also saw 25 minutes. He had 20 points on 6-12 shooting. He went 3-5 from 3. He is shooting 71.4% from 3 so far this year. Smith had 10 points, Burnham had 11.
Meeks and Tucker have pretty much led the team in scoring this season. These two have either been the leading scorer or second leading scorer in Charleston’s 3 games. It’s not a coincidence that they are also the 2 best 3 point shooters on the team either. Tucker hasn’t started a game, but his minutes run up there with the starters and plays more than half the starting lineup. Meeks is the workhorse of the team. Meeks may be a tricky matchup for our bigs. He is only 6’6” and plays out on the perimeter. Considering the height of their other starting forwards I would guess Black gets this assignment if he starts. Bacot will probably guard Lampten and the other starting forward will get Faye. It will be interesting to see who draws the assignment on Meeks when Black isn’t on the floor. I would expect mckoy will spend some time guarding him or maybe styles if he sees any significant action. Garica, realistically, should be a lot better defensively than he is, but has been in and out of the starting lineup because of it. I would guess if a big had to guard him it would be Garcia.
For all those complaining about Black being a liability on the offensive end, look at any of the box scores from Charleston’s games. Faye’s score sheet so far is as follows: 8, 6, 1. Lampten’s score sheet is: 2, 4, 0. And the first game was against South Carolina State. Now I was a journalism major so math isn’t my strong suit, but those PPG averages aren’t those of offensive threats. So that is 2 guys in Charleston’s starting lineup that aren’t a threat to score. Now look at Charleston’s bench points (47.67). Not every team we play will have 5 legit offensive threats. Black starting doesn’t put us at a disadvantage.
Charleston can play a rotation of 9-11 players. 11 players scored in the South Carolina state game. 10 players scored in the Lipscomb game. 9 players scored in the Loyola game. 11 players saw time against Loyola. Charleston is a team that can throw multiple guys at you. They aren’t a very tall team. Smart is the only other guy I haven’t mentioned with any size worth mentioning. He is listed at 6’8”. Everyone else is 6’7” or shorter. They rebound the ball well for a team that doesn’t have the greatest size. They have relied pretty heavily on points off turnovers and bench points in their 3 games. They also aren’t a team that is afraid to run, average a little better than 18 fast break points a game.
I expect this to be another tough mid major test. A better defensive effort will be needed to avoid another near upset. The capacity of TD Arena is small, but I bet it will be rocking with a ranked team in town. The Brown game may end up being a good thing since it allowed our team to face some adversity. Last year’s team may have just rolled over, but this year’s team found a way to win. More adversity will come Tuesday night in the first road game of the season. How the road environment is handled will determine how close this game is. Remember our starting guards haven't really played in front of hostile fans that much. Towards the end of the season, some fans were allowed into the game, but a couple thousand fans in a large arena doesn’t produce a lot of noise. A better defensive effort, and a continuation of the positives on offense are key to a good performance ahead of a matchup with Purdue.
If we play up to our potential on the defensive end then it’s a double digit game throughout. If not, then we will be in another dog fight with a mid-major team.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR:
Different lineups/rotations (the numbers on the frontcourt rotations don’t lie, Manek should start ahead of Garcia, I would like to see Mckoy get more minutes, Styles had some meaningful minutes, does Dunn get worked in?)
Defense, All of it (just need a flat out better effort than the one on Friday night, Keep your man in front, don’t play flat footed, communicate, screens (on/off ball)
Manek from 3 (He still hasn’t gotten going from behind the arc. Will this be the game?)
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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