GAME INFO:
November 20, 2021
4pm Tip Off
Mohegan Sun Arena (Capacity: 10,000)
Uncasville, CT
TV: ESPN
Purdue given a 67% chance to win by ESPN
Records:
#18 UNC: 3-0
#6 Purdue: 3-0
Last Time Out:
#18 UNC: Beat College of Charleston 94-83
#6 Purdue: Beat Wright State 96-52
SERIES INFO:
Carolina is 8-2 against the Boilermakers with wins in each of the last eight contests.
This is UNC's first game against Purdue since the teams played in three straight seasons in November in neutral-site events in 1997-98 (Great Alaska Shootout), 1998-99 (Preseason NIT) and 1999-2000 (Maui Invitational).
The teams have played eight of the 10 previous games at neutral sites. The teams have only played one time apiece in Chapel Hill and West Lafayette, Ind.
Team Leaders
Points:
UNC: Love (19 PPG)
Purdue: Z. Edey (18.7 PPG)
Rebounds:
UNC: Bacot (9.3)
Purdue: Z. Edey (10.3)
Assists:
UNC: Davis (5)
Purdue: J. Ivey (3.3)
College of Charleston Notes:
Armando Bacot had 24 points on 10-12 shooting, 4-9 FT, 12 rebounds, 6 BLKS, 3 assists, 3 TOs
Caleb Love had 22 points on 6-14 shooting, 10-12 FT, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 TOs
Brady Manek had 17 points on 6-12 shooting, 3-8 from 3, 2-2 FT, 9 rebounds
Kerwin Walton had 14 points on 5-8 shooting, 4-6 from 3, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 TOs
Dawson Garcia had 7 points on 1-5 shooting, 5-6 FT, 8 rebounds
RJ Davis had 6 points on 2-3 shooting, 2-3 FT, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 TOs
Leaky Black had 4 points on 2-4 shooting, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 TOs, 2 BLKs. Held Meeks to 7 points on 2-14 shooting, 0-4 from 3
TEAM STATS:
54.2% FG (32-59)
35% 3 PT (7-20)
71.9% FT (23-32)
19 Assists
17 TOs
49 rebounds
The College of Charleston game was definitely a game of 2 halves. The first half was characterized by poor defense, a lot of turnovers, and getting beat at our own game. Love and Davis had half our first half turnovers and Bacot wasn’t able to hit his first free throw to save his life. His second free throws were money. That is just a lack of focus fellow Tar Heels, but I digress.
Charleston was able to turn us over and was able to get out and run. We had 3 TOs just trying to get the ball in bounds. When that stopped in the second half the game completely changed. The big lineup with Leaky at point changed the course of the game. Charleston had trouble with that lineup. Speaking of Leaky, he leads the Heels in plus/minus at +53 and he locked down Charleston’s best player. So when is the leaky hate going to stop?
The defense got better in the second half. Smith was reigned in a little bit. A lot of teams are able to get 3’s up over our defenders because we don’t close out with our hands up. Why? I have no idea, but watch any game and it’s there.
The second half was a much better performance. Love and Davis settled down. Davis was aggressively driving at the beginning of the half and Love took over the half on offense. He looked confident with the ball in his hands. The first half struggles were not unexpected. It was the first hostile environment the Heels have been in in almost 2 years. It was a game circled on Charleston’s schedule for months. It’s a small arena with only about a 5,000 fan capacity, but it was rocking. If anyone thought we were just going to go into Charleston and blow them out then you don’t a lot about Pat Casey and the way Charleston plays. Casey is a great coach and Charleston is a great team. They were 10-11 men deep. Their Achilles heel was that they didn’t have post players that could score. They couldn’t play with us in the halfcourt. We continued to wear them down inside as Bacot had another monster game on the offensive end as well as the defensive end. Without Bacot in, our defensive lacks rim protection. Garcia and Manek got exposed a little bit defensively this game. Albeit, it was on the perimeter, but we can’t have them get beat the way they did at times.
Manek finally nailed some 3’s as he had another quiet good night on offense. Garica continues to struggle with his decision making on offense, specifically his shot selection. That’s the difference between a graduate player and a sophomore. Garcia hasn’t even had a good game yet. When that happens, our team will be really dangerous, but he has to get smarter on the offensive end.
Welcome back Kerwin Walton. Walton nailed 4 3’s, 2 of which he created off the dribble. He played a season high 28 minutes. Davis has challenged him to earn playing time in more ways than just being a shooter. It was good to see the Kerwin Walton we are accustomed to seeing.
It was a good win on the road. Not many teams will travel to a mid major. Adversity early in the season is good. It was a good test before the Hall of Fame Tip Off. Playing in these close games will only help as the season goes along.
It is worth mentioning that Harris didn’t get any playing time. Even Hubert admitted that he needs to find a way to get him minutes. Harris is good enough and deserves to be part of the rotation. But this is part of the learning process for a first year head coach. The rotation is still a learning process for Hubert. Even the freshmen should probably see actual minutes even if it's just 3-4 to give a guy a break.
We will need everyone against Purdue. Truth be told, this isn’t a great matchup this early in the season. The boilermakers may have the only frontcourt in the country that is bigger than ours. Zach Edey is 7’4”, Caleb Furst is 6’10”, and Trevion Williams is 6’10”. And oh yeah Williams is coming off the bench. Purdue has a great front court and good guard play to back it up. Ivey may be just a sophomore but the offense runs through him. Sasha Stefanovic is shooting 57.9% from 3. Ivey is shooting 46.2% respectively. It’s pretty obvious from those stats that the boilermakers are a threat from deep. It’s really a pick your poison type of team.
Ivey starts in the backcourt and is joined by Thompson. Stefanovic starts at the 3. Edey and Furst start down low. Thompson is a junior, Stefanovic is a senior, Edey is a sophomore, and Furst is a freshman. As mentioned above, Ivey is a Sophomore. They play a 9-10 man rotation with Trevion Williams and Brandon Newman (sophomore guard) being the main contributors off the bench. Newman is another treat from deep at 47.6%. Eric Hunter Jr (senior guard 6-4)
Trey Kaufman-Renn (freshman forward 6-9), and Ethan Morton (sophomore guard 6-6) are the other contributors off the bench. Newman and Williams have scored in double figures in 2 out of the 3 games. Edey is the only player to score in double figures in all 3 games. Ivey, Furst and Stefanovic have been in double figures in 2 out of their 3 games. Thompson has been in double figures once. They had 5 double digits scores against Bellarmine, 4 against Indiana State, and 5 against Wright State.
The competition hasn’t been great for Purdue, but they are a title contender this year. This team is as advertised. As far as matchups go I would expect Love to start on Ivey and Davis to start on Thompson. Black will probably get the assignment on Stefanovic. The front court matchups get a little tricky. I think no matter if Manek or Garcia starts, Bacot will get the assignment on Edey. Bacot is just a better defender and is a bigger body. Bacot knows how to use his body even though I don’t think he will be getting very many blocks this game. Manek or Garcia will probably pick up Furst. First has attempted a 3 in every game this year, but both him and Edey operate primarily in the post.
Which begs the question, how do you guard someone who is 7’4”? Edey also isn’t just tall, he knows how to use his size and length to his advantage. He isn’t just going to score over people because he is taller than everyone, he is going to score over people because he has good moves. I think you have to bang and body him as much as possible. Bacot has to stay out of foul trouble though so I see every one of our post players getting a shot at him. Zone could be a possibility, but Hubert hasn’t gone to zone yet this year. Rebounding also has to be a team effort. We can not give Purdue multiple chances on offense, the margin for error in this game is just too small. Back to matchups, I think Bacot also gets Williams when he is in the game. Both are big bodies. Williams is also a senior who started last year. That matchup could be fun to watch.
So how do we attack the rim with that much size in the lane? In Roy’s system this would have been a bigger problem. With Hubert’s system, we can combat this a little better. We have to have good spacing. We need to force their big guys to guard our big guys out on the perimeter. Garcia and Manek could have good games with good shot selection. The way our offense is now set up, there is only one big in the lane. There are more driving lanes and if Love or Davis can get Edey or Furst to commit when they drive then we can dish down without the threat of a blocked shot. Ball movement is going to be key in this game. Get the big guys moving and tire them out. Tired defenders commit a lot of fouls. Spacing and ball movement are the 2 most important things on offense.
Just in general, Turnovers obviously need to be limited. Empty possessions are going to be killer against a team that can score in a variety of ways. This will be a good game to see where we stand with a potential #1 seed and final four favorite. It’s going to take a good game from everyone. Realistically we can have 6 guys that can score in double figures (Love, Davis, Bacot, Manek, Garcia, and Walton). We are going to need all of those guys to have good games in order to upset Purdue. And yes it would be an upset. But hey they play the game for a reason.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR:
lineups/rotations (Hubert said the rotation is a learning process and Harris didn’t play against Charleston. What adjustments do we see if any?)
Bacot against the best (How does Bacot fair against someone taller than him? What adjustments does he make?)
Rebounding (rebounding isn’t quite up to par as compared to a Roy coached team. We need to rebound this game. How many do we commit to crashing the glass? What does the margin end up being?)
Mckoy on offense (Mckoy isn’t looking for his shot on offense. He says he is confident in his offensive abilities. When does he get more involved when he is in the game?)
How we start (If we start slow then it’s over. How ready will we be to come out and compete for 40 minutes?)
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