University of North Carolina Athletics
Rutgers Game Guide
December 27, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 27, 2006
By Lauren Brownlow
The Basics
No. 2 Carolina (10-1) is coming off a 69-48 win at St. Louis on Friday and is on a seven-game winning streak. The Tar Heels will face the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers on Thursday, which will begin the first of a five-game homestand. Rutgers is on a five-game win streak and beat Lehigh 67-61 on Friday. The Scarlet Knights have also beaten Nebraska, New Hampshire, Princeton, and Iona this season.
Game Time: Rutgers at North Carolina, 7 p.m.
Last Time: Rashad McCants, in just his second game as a Tar Heel, had eight of his 18 points in the final 6 ½ minutes to lead the Tar Heels to a 71-67 victory over Rutgers on November 20, 2002 in the Preseason NIT. Rutgers led 59-48 with 7:26 left. Then-freshman Sean May led the Tar Heels with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Jackie Manuel held Rutgers' leading scorer at the time, Jerome Coleman, to a 2-of-18 shooting performance and just five points. Scarlet Knight Herve Lamizana scored a then-career high 20 points.
Radio Coverage: Tar Heel Sports Network coverage begins at 6 p.m.
Injury Report: Quentin Thomas is out for 2-4 weeks with a stress fracture in his foot. Bobby Frasor will not play.
Storylines
Winning ugly: If it was the second or third time the press heard the story, then the team must have heard it about 10,000 times.
"I had told them about one of the great teams I had at Kansas a number of years ago that shot 29% on the road and won the game because we held the other team to 21 percent," Coach Williams said. "At halftime, I asked them if they were just trying to challenge me and check, because we shot 29% in the first half ourselves."
On the strength of a 60% second half from the field, the Tar Heels brought their field goal percentage up to 42.4% for the game while holding the Billikens to 33.3% in the first half and 36.5% for the game. Since allowing six of its first eight opponents to shoot 40% or better from the field, Carolina has held all three of its last opponents to 36.5% or less from the field. The Tar Heels held the Billikens to a season-low 48 points (including just one three-pointer) on Friday. Carolina also allowed the Billikens only six assists, a season-low.
Though Carolina's steals (8.5 a game) and blocks (4.5 a game) have only gone up slightly in the past five games, the defensive proof is in the pudding, as it were. After the Tar Heels allowed a season-high 89 points to Ohio State and had allowed four of their first six opponents to score more than 80 points, no Tar Heel opponent has scored more than 69 points since (High Point). In fact, Carolina's points allowed average is down from 75.8 in the first six games to 58.8 in the last five.
Remember when Carolina's opponents were letting it rain from the three-point line? Sacred Heart hit 12; Winthrop hit 14, Tennessee hit 15 and Ohio State hit 13. Since the Ohio State game, however, the most three-pointers Carolina has allowed is six. It seemed like Carolina's opponents not only were making a lot of three-pointers, but they also seemed to make practically every one they threw up. Through the first six games, Carolina's opponents shot 69-of-168 (41.1%) from beyond the arc and have been limited to just 21-of-90 (23.3%) since. Carolina's opponents are averaging 10 fewer three-point attempts per game in the last five games and are down from 11.5 made three-pointers to just 4.2.
Through the first six games, the Tar Heels' opponents were averaging 28.3 field goals on 67 attempts a game, and through the last five, that number has dropped to 22.6 field goals on 57.4 attempts. The significant drop in attempts is significant, as the increasingly smothering Tar Heel defense is doing a better job of not allowing their opponents to run their offense. Forcing turnovers are important, but sometimes disrupting an opponent's offense, preventing shots or forcing up bad ones is just as important, especially in the type of game the Tar Heels played on Friday that lacked a lot of offense.
The Tar Heels attempted a season-low 18 free throws against St. Louis. They have attempted fewer than 20 just one other time this season against Winthrop, when they attempted just 19 and made a season-low 11. The Tar Heels made 12 free throws against the Billikens, marking only the third time they have failed to make 15 or more in a game this season.
Carolina attempted just 59 field goals, and it has attempted fewer than 60 field goals in just four out of 11 games this season (55 against Winthrop and High Point; 56 against Florida Atlantic). The Tar Heels tied their season low for made field goals against St. Louis with 25. The only other times they made that few were against Gonzaga and against Kentucky. The Tar Heels also had their third-worst shooting output of the season at 42.4%, the other two worse performances also coming against the `Zags and the Wildcats.
The common denominator for all of Carolina's "ugly" games so far - Winthrop, Gonzaga, and Kentucky - are a lack of offense. There are important stats in ugly wins, however. For instance, in the Tar Heels' somewhat ugly victory against Kentucky on December 2nd, they shot only 37.3% from the field for the game but managed 20 assists on 25 field goals, or a season-high 80% assisted field goals. Against the Billikens, the Tar Heels managed their second-highest assisted field goals percentage of the year with 72% (18 assists on 25 field goals). Against Gonzaga, the Tar Heels had their lowest percentage of assisted field goals on the year with a season-low nine assists on 25 field goals (36%).
Endurance: Only seven Tar Heels saw double-figure minutes, and of those, only two played fewer than 20. Of the five starters, three saw more than 30 minutes of playing time. Brandan Wright played 30 minutes, the most in the last seven games and one off his season-high of 31 minutes against Gonzaga. Ty Lawson saw 33 minutes of action, a season high and six better than his previous high, 27 minutes against Kentucky and High Point. Tyler Hansbrough played a season-high 35 minutes. He has surpassed 30 minutes a team-high four times, and his previous high was 33 against Winthrop. He also logged 32 minutes against Gonzaga and 31 against Ohio State.
The other two starters, Wayne Ellington and Reyshawn Terry, both played fewer than 20 minutes. Wayne Ellington played a season-low 18 minutes. It was his first game playing fewer than 20 minutes, and his previous low was 21 minutes against High Point. Reyshawn Terry played 19 minutes, making it the fifth game this season he has played fewer than 20 minutes in a game.
Key reserves Danny Green and Marcus Ginyard each played 20 or more minutes. Green played 20 minutes, and he had not surpassed 20 minutes in a game this season until he logged 23 minutes of game action against Florida Atlantic. Ginyard added 21 minutes, making it the third time this season that he has surpassed 20 minutes, getting 25 minutes against Ohio State and 21 against Gardner-Webb.
Alex Stepheson had been averaging 11 minutes in the last four games leading into St. Louis, and played just five against the Billikens. Deon Thompson tied his season-low with just seven minutes, the fewest he has played since the Sacred Heart and Winthrop games. Wes Miller's nine minutes were just one off his season-low eight minutes played against Kentucky.
The St. Louis game showed that the Tar Heel starters who need to stay in the game come ACC time will be fit enough to play at a high level of intensity the whole game, and also that key reserves, when called upon, will be ready to do the same. The level of conditioning for this team is obviously very high, and it will need to remain high as the Tar Heels begin ACC play. Hansbrough, Wright, and Lawson proved they are ready for that test. Not everyone will be shooting well on any given night, and reserves like Green and Ginyard also proved that they can step in for as long as they are needed.
At The Game
Listening to the Tar Heel Sports Network at the game: The in-stadium frequency in the Smith Center will be FM 92.7. That station will have a non-delayed feed of WCHL 1360, the local affiliate.
Watching At Home
Turn down the sound: If you're watching at home while listening to the radio or over the computer via Carolina All-Access, there will inevitably be some delay. For the reason - and a possible solution - click here.
A full list of THSN affiliates can be found here.
ESPN2 coverage: The game will be available on ESPN2.
Names To Know
Danny Green: Green hit his season-high in points with 14 on Friday and was the second-leading scorer on the team. On a day when the Tar Heels' other perimeter shooters combined to go 3-of-10 from the three-point line (including 0-of-2 for Reyshawn Terry and 0-of-4 for Wayne Ellington), Green stepped up to shoot 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. The highest number of three-pointers Green had hit in a game before Friday was just one.
Green had been struggling this season with his new role. Though he did not start last season, he averaged 15.3 minutes a game off the bench last season and was the fourth-leading scorer on the team with 7.5 points a game. This season, he averaged 11.8 minutes a game his first five games (he missed the Gardner-Webb game) and has averaged 17 in the last five. He did not surpass 20 minutes in a game until the Florida Atlantic game, and now has played at least 20 minutes in the last two games. It was clear early on, however, that Green was having trouble finding an offensive rhythm coming in for Reyshawn Terry.
"It's a little harder. Once you get used to it, it becomes easier. Now I'm becoming used to the minutes I'm going to be playing," Green said. "I have to get in a rhythm a lot faster than I did last year. I don't have time to find that rhythm.
"If the first couple start falling, if I'm open or close to open I'm going to take another one to see how I'm feeling and see if I'm hot. Getting that confidence helps me play a much better all-around game. It opens a lot more things for the team and gets me into a better attitude."
Green's scoring average is now best among non-starters (5.6 points a game) and is up from 4.4 points a game in the first five games to 6.8 points a game in the last five, even after failing to score in the Kentucky game. Green has pulled down six offensive rebounds (at least one a game) in the last four games after pulling down just two total in his first six. He and Marcus Ginyard are two of the "glue guys" on this team, and they need to be able to keep coming in and doing the little things that help this Carolina team. If it's a big offensive night for Green when others are struggling, he showed that he's ready to do that.
Marcus Ginyard: Ginyard has surpassed 20 minutes in a game just three times this season, and two of those three times, the Tar Heels have desperately needed his steadying influence. He played 25 minutes against Ohio State, 21 against Gardner-Webb and another 21 against St. Louis on Friday. Ginyard contributed three points, three rebounds (two offensive), four assists and no turnovers. If the Tar Heels are going to have a defensive identity this season, Ginyard's shut-down capabilities on the defensive end are going to be a big part of that.
"He has the physical capabilities, being able to slide his feet, he's strong, he's got good hands, wonderful coaching, those kinds of things," Coach Williams said of seeing Ginyard play in high school. "I knew we were getting a guy who had the physical skills and tools for defense, but also understood what it took to play on the defensive end of the floor and understood what we always refer to as the big picture. I think it was a combination of his own physical characteristics and how well he was coached in high school, too, and the fact that it meant something to him. We liked that part of it."
Ginyard's offensive rebounding has been impressive. A 6-5 guard, Ginyard's 19 offensive rebounds rank below only Tyler Hansbrough (37) and Brandan Wright (21) on the team. Of Ginyard's 42 total rebounds, 45.2% (19) have been offensive rebounds. That leads the team by a large margin, with the next-closest percentage coming from Alex Stepheson with 11 offensive rebounds out of 28 total rebounds (39.3%). He has pulled down more offensive boards than Reyshawn Terry (17) and only two fewer than Alex Stepheson (11) and Deon Thompson (10) combined.
"A flattering remark from the head coach is saying, `You remind me of Jackie,' and I've told Marcus that," Coach Williams said. "Two or three different games, he comes up with an offensive rebound and puts it back in. I'll say to Danny and Reyshawn, `If he can do that, why can't you do that?' But I do think he has that ability, and I hope he continues doing it even more."
JR Inman: The 6-9 sophomore forward is leading the team with 12.5 points per game. Inman, a member of last season's Big East All-Rookie team, is the only Scarlet Knight to average double figures in scoring. Inman has failed to score double figures just once this season, and has scored at least 11 points in every other game. After pulling down just 6.5 rebounds a game in the first six games, Inman has pulled down 7.6 in the last five games to bring his average to 7 on the season, which leads the team. Inman is averaging 1.9 offensive rebounds a game, and has pulled down 21 on the year and 13 in the last five games.
Inman has eight blocks on the year (2nd on the team) and is shooting 43.3% from the field and 34.2% from the three-point line (13-of-38). He is 41-of-58 (70.7%) from free-throw line and leads the team in both made free throws and attempts.
Quotables
"He and I had a meeting this week, and I'd like to remember what I said to him and I'd have a meeting with every player. I'm sure it was just some nonsense that made me feel like I was accomplishing something." -Roy Williams on a meeting with Danny Green
"He's one of the goof balls; there's no question about that. He's not as much (like that) publicly, because he gives you this impression of a shy little old boy, but he would take your brownies in a heartbeat." -Roy Williams on Ty Lawson
Lauren Brownlow is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly.
