It is always interesting to see how a team responds after taking a week off for exams. North Carolina came out and played ugly in what ended up being an 18-point victory that was closer than the final score reflected. South Carolina Upstate got the game down to 68-60 with just a little over 4 minutes to go in the ball game before the Tar Heels finished on a 12-2 run to end the game.
Let’s go ahead and dive into three takeaways from North Carolina’s sleepy win over the Spartans.
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Teamwork makes the dream work
Over their past three games, the Tar Heels had 37 assists on 73 made baskets for a rate of 50.7%. Against the Spartans, North Carolina had 20 assists on 28 made baskets for a rate of 71.4%. Yes the game was closer than most fans would’ve liked, and yes the competition in this game versus the past three (all P5 schools) was much lower, but the Tar Heels look like a much dangerous team when the ball is moving and are much harder to beat as well. The starting backcourt gets the most credit for this as Luka Bogavac and Kyan Evans each had five assists to lead the team.
Spartan rebounding woes continue
In eight games against teams not nicknamed the Spartans, UNC has outrebounded their opponent 361-255 and are 8-0. In their two games against teams nicknamed the Spartans, the Tar Heels have been outrebounded 71-67 and are 1-1 in those games. Obviously most of that came in the loss to Michigan State, but SC Upstate was only outrebounded by three in today’s game, and a lot of that came in the final minutes as Caleb Wilson pushed his way into his seventh double-double this season. Despite being on average three inches shorter (did you know UNC is the tallest team by average in the NCAA?), the Spartans won the offensive rebounding battle 11-7. Thankfully for North Carolina there are no more Spartans on their regular season schedule, hopefully they can find a way to avoid some in the NCAA tourney as well (there are only five schools with the nickname in the NCAA).
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Free Throw Shooting has to improve
The Tar Heels came into this game shooting 70.7% from the charity stripe. Their leading free throw shooter who has played attempted at least 10 free throws this season is Derek Dixon at 78.6% (Seth Trimble is a perfect 7-7 on the season, just another reason the team needs him back). In the game against Upstate, North Carolina finished 14-22 for 64% bringing their season average down to an even 70%. This number is going to have to improve if UNC has any chance once the ACC season starts.
