Lucas: Rapid Reactions

By Adam Lucas

1. Quality true road win for Carolina against a Pac-12 opponent. Carolina's 96-72 victory means the Tar Heels are 11-0 all-time against Stanford, have won the program's last ten games against Pac-12 opponents, and Roy Williams is 11-1 against the Pac-12 as UNC's head coach.

2. The Tar Heel backcourt was too much for Stanford to handle. The Cardinal seemed to want to play up-tempo, but they didn't have the skill to match Kenny Williams and Joel Berry. Williams scored 20 of Carolina's first 26 points, and then Berry closed the half by scoring 14 of the Tar Heels' final 18. Williams and Berry together outscored Stanford, 38-36, in the first half. Berry finished just shy of his career high with 29 points.

3. Quite simply, that was one of the best first halves ever for a Tar Heel perimeter player. Kenny Williams scored 20 points in 16 first half minutes, including six three-pointers. Of course, since he's Kenny Williams, he also found time to draw a charge and get a steal. Williams did not score in the second half and attempted just one field goal in the final half, but he drew the defensive assignment on Isaac White and was all over the floor.

4. Interesting to watch Stanford, under the direction of Jerod Haase--who is well acquainted with Carolina's offense--try to zone the Tar Heels at times in the first half. But Carolina quickly shot them out of it, both from the perimeter with Williams' three-pointers and on the inside, where Brandon Huffman had his best half as a Tar Heel in the first half, contributing six points and four rebounds after Sterling Manley was limited with two quick fouls.

5. Interesting night for Luke Maye, who didn't shoot well by his standards (6-for-15), but still found a way to impact the game. Maye had a team-high nine rebounds and a team-high five assists to go with his 12 points. The mark of a good player is finding a way to change the game even when his shot isn't falling--that's what the junior did on Monday.

6. This has already been a lengthy road trip by Roy Williams-era Carolina standards. The Tar Heels flew into town Friday evening because the Monday night game meant they wouldn't miss any additional class time by leaving on Friday as opposed to the usual Sunday departure. The team toured Facebook and Instagram headquarters on Saturday and will depart for Portland tomorrow morning, where they'll have another open day before starting play in the PK80 on Thanksgiving against Portland.

7. As always, the Tar Heels made a strong fan showing on the road, even on the other side of the country. A joint Rams Club/GAA group had nearly 400 tickets, and hundreds of other Tar Heel fans worked their way into the 7,233-seat Maples Pavilion.

8. Carolina got a whopping 25 points off Stanford's 18 turnovers, holding a 25-7 edge in that category. That helped generate a tempo that seemed to tire Stanford later in the game.

9. Andrew Platek has quietly given Carolina some solid early-season minutes. With Cameron Johnson out and Brandon Robinson out for this game also, Platek saw some rotation minutes. He hasn't been flashy, but as Roy Williams always says, the job of the reserves is to keep the game even. Platek has done that and hasn't looked overwhelmed by the level of play.

10. The storyline keeps being that the Tar Heels will struggle when faced with some better interior competition. Stanford had a quality big body in Reid Travis and another post presence in Michael Humphrey, but Carolina still won the rebounding battle handily and also had an 18-5 edge in second chance points.

11. Congratulations to Aaron Rohlman for a moment he will never forget, as the Gastonia native made the first basket of his UNC career.

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Brandon Huffman

Cameron Johnson

Sterling Manley

Luke Maye

Andrew Platek

Brandon Robinson

Aaron Rohlman

Kenny Williams

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