University of North Carolina Athletics
William & Mary Game Guide
December 21, 2010 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 21, 2010
By Lauren Brownlow
The Basics
Carolina (7-4) will host William & Mary (4-6) in the Smith Center in the final home game of 2010 for the Tar Heels. Carolina is coming off of a 78-76 loss in Greensboro to Texas, 78-76. William & Mary lost at Liberty on Saturday, 71-62. Carolina will be looking to get its fourth win in five games after starting out the season 4-3. Former Tar Heel basketball player Tony Shaver's William & Mary team started out the season 0-3 but are 4-3 in the last seven after nearly upsetting Syracuse on the road. Carolina leads the all-time series 18-3 and has won 11 of the last 12 and six straight. But last year's meeting and another in January of 2005 are the only two games between the two teams in the last 29 seasons. The last William and Mary win in the series came in December 1977 in Williamsburg.
Game Time: William & Mary at North Carolina, 7:00 PM, ESPNU
Last Time: In the first round of the NIT last year in Carmichael Arena, Carolina won a thriller over the Tribe, 80-72. Carolina shot 53.1% in the first half but led by just ten because William and Mary made 7-of-21 3's. The Tribe would get even hotter in the second half, making 9-of-22 (40.9%) despite missing their final six attempts of the game. William and Mary took a four-point lead with 11:53 to go and took a three-point lead with 5:09 to go, but Carolina would finish the game on an 11-0 run. Deon Thompson led Carolina with 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting. Tyler Zeller had 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting and Marcus Ginyard had 12 points, four assists and five steals. John Henson led Caroline in rebounding with ten. David Schneider led the Tribe with 21 points (7-of-15 from beyond the arc), JohnMark Ludwick had 15 (5-of-12 shooting, all from three), Danny Sumner had 13 and Marcus Kitts had 12 on 6-of-7 shooting (no three's).
Radio Coverage: Tar Heel Sports Network coverage will begin at 6:00 PM.
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 the game 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.
ESPNU coverage: The game will be available on ESPNU. Mark Jones and Len Elmore will have the call.
Storylines
Putting a game together: Like most young teams, Carolina has shown signs of being a very good team, and those stretches become all the more maddening when they are followed by times in the same game - or the next game - when they fail to execute. This has happened from game to game on both ends of the floor and more often than not, those alternating stretches occur in games. "I feel like we're right there. We just need to string together a good defensive game and a good offensive game," Harrison Barnes said. "I felt like when we played Kentucky, we had maybe one of our best defensive performances all year. But when we played Long Beach State, we had one of our best offensive performances, everyone clicking on all cylinders. So I think we just need to put together a full game of effort and concentration and I think we'll be just fine." Barnes hit the nail on the head, and the stats bear that out, as you might expect. Offensively, Carolina has not vacillated much from half to half (1.3 percentage points on average) but in games where the percentage has jumped significantly (ten or more points), Carolina is 1-3 (the win was against College of Charleston, which was very close). That has meant generally that Carolina's shooting has been bad enough in the first half they have put themselves in a hole; that was true against Minnesota (+15.1 percentage points, biggest jump of the season) and Illinois (+13, second-biggest jump). The good news offensively is that Carolina has shot 50% or higher in four of its last six halves after doing it in just five of their first 16 halves this season. Carolina has also improved its foul shooting from 61% in the first seven games to nearly 70% in the last four games. The Tar Heels also have 11.8 turnovers per game in the last four after averaging 16.6 in their first seven.
Defensively, Carolina has held five of its 11 opponents to under 40% shooting and all but one to under 50%, but in 20 of 22 halves this season, Carolina has either held opponents under 35% shooting or allowed them to shoot 46% or higher. That might not seem like much, but that's quite a swing and in six of 11 games this year, those types of swings (10 or more percentage points) have happened from half to half. In three of those games, the swing was positive; Hofstra went from shooting 51.9% in the first half to 33.3% in the second, Vanderbilt dropped from 63.6% to 32% and Kentucky dropped from 46.9% to 30 percent. But in three games - including the last two - it has been a bad swing; Long Beach State went from 44.1% to 56.4% in the second half and Texas went from 35.3% to 52.9%, the biggest jump Carolina has allowed all year. Overall, opponents are averaging a drop of 2.2 percentage points from half to half but it was 6.1 percentage points before the last two games. Carolina has to get back to playing the kind of defense it did for three halves against Kentucky and Evansville. It has shown it is capable. The Tribe is not a bad shooting team by any means - they are shooting 41.6% form the floor and 35.2% from three, but they are capable of knocking them down. They take 42% of their shots from beyond the arc, and after starting the year making 49-of-44 (34%) in their first eight games, they have started to heat up a bit, making 20-of-52 (38.5%) in their last two. If Carolina's not careful, those shots will start falling. Opponents are actually making - and taking - more three's than the Tribe has, making 7.7 of 22 attempts on the year. In fact, over 37% of points put up by Tribe opponents have come from three; Carolina has just 18% of its points this season from beyond the arc. William and Mary being 4-6 doesn't matter a bit - just ask Syracuse, who was nearly beaten by the Tribe at home earlier this season. Teams still have to execute, and Carolina needs to get in a rhythm and start doing that more consistently, no matter who the opponent is.
Names To Know
Harrison Barnes: Don't look now - and don't tell anyone - but Harrison Barnes is starting to play very well. He started off his Tar Heel career hot, averaging 16.5 points on 56% shooting in his first two games. Then he had a seven-game stretch where he shot 26.9% (20% from three) and averaged 9.6 points (due to him making 20-of-26 free throws). But in the last two games, he has averaged 17.5 points on 46.2% shooting and is getting to the line more, averaging 5.0 attempts compared to 3.7 in that seven-game stretch. But what's more important is Barnes is looking comfortable for longer stretches, able to play well in both halves. In the first half this season, Barnes is shooting 47.3% (42% from three) and averaging 8.4 points in 14.3 minutes. But in the second half, Barnes is averaging the same minutes but just 3.9 points on 11-of-53 shooting (3-of-21 from three). In the first nine games, he made 4-of-39 second-half field goals (1-of-24 three's). But in the last two games, Barnes has improved dramatically, making 7-of-14 shots (2-of-7 three's) and scoring 18 points (he had 25 in the first nine games). His 4-of-9 second-half shooting against Long Beach State stopped a 2-of-34 second-half stretch. And Barnes took over late against Texas in a more tangible way, including making the game-tying three-pointer late. "Stepping up to take that shot at the end of the game when we were down three, I just love those guys that don't back away from the big-time shot," Roy Williams said. "When I drew up the last play to try to tie the game or win the game, I got cold chills. The youngster was pleased that I was calling his name on that shot."
Reggie Bullock: The freshmen started off his Carolina career red hot, averaging 9.8 points in just 15.5 minutes on 50% shooting (53.3% from beyond the arc) in his first four games, adding 2.0 rebounds, three assists and three steals. But he missed the UNC-Asheville game with knee irritation resulting from his knee surgery last year and in his six games since, he has shot just 12-of-31 (5-of-15 from three), averaging 5.3 points in 12.0 minutes. The good news is that after scoring just 13 points in his first three games back on 5-of-15 shooting (1-of-6 from three), he has 19 points in the last three games on 7-of-16 shooting (4-of-9 from three). But his nine minutes against Texas were the fewest he had seen all year; Williams said that although Bullock is healthy enough to play, they have been holding him out of practice to protect his knee. "I think (Monday) was one of Reggie's best practices, so I'm hopeful that the knee problem, he's able to get past that. We've tried to hold him out a little bit of some practice and do some things to try to help him get healthy but I think Reggie's going to start coming and I think he'll get better and better as the year goes along," Williams said. "I think all three of (the freshmen) as time goes along are going to be big-time players for us. Don't be surprised if they get more minutes and more minutes as long as they start playing better."
Marcus Kitts: Carolina fans might remember Kitts from last year's game against William and Mary as the player who made the two-point baskets for the Tribe. He made six of William and Mary's 10 two-pointers and shot 6-of-7 from the floor; the 6-9 senior forward was the only William and Mary player who didn't attempt a three-pointer. He played just 19 minutes but had 12 points and five rebounds; foul trouble limited him and he ultimately fouled out but he had a memorable putback dunk and scored effectively against Carolina's height using his athleticism. This year, Kitts is the second-leading scorer with 10.5 points per game and has added 5.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 23 minutes a game. Foul trouble continues to limit him; he has fouled out of one game (the most recent loss at Liberty, in 15 minutes) but has averaged 3.5 fouls as the primary defensive force in the paint. He has four or more fouls in four of their six losses and has four or more fouls in seven of ten games. He started the season with double figures in six of the first eight games but has averaged just 5.7 points the last three (and 5.3 rebounds). But he is seen just 21.0 minutes per game in that span and has shot just 6-of-15 from the floor. But he shot 35-of-60 in the seven games before that and he has improved his foul shooting from 42% in the first five games to 60% in the last five contests.
Quinn McDowell: The Tribe played Carolina close last year without McDowell, one of their best players, who was injured. He is back this year and without many of those seniors from last year, the 6-6 junior has had to carry the load. While seemingly everyone on the Tribe's roster last year would take - and could make - three-pointers, the same isn't as true this year. McDowell has carried the load, more or less, in that department, leading the team with 22-of-39 three's (56.4%). He has hit double figures in scoring in all but one game and is leading the team with 14.6 points per game. He has also led the team in rebounding (5.8) and free throws attempted (50) and made (42), shooting a stellar 84% from the charity stripe. He hasn't been in foul trouble very often but the Tribe is 0-2 in games when he has three or more fouls. He also has 19 assists (1.9 per game) to just 14 turnovers. He is averaging 13.7 points in losses to 16 in wins. The biggest concern for Carolina should be his three-point shooting; the versatile McDowell is good down low but can go outside and shoot three's very well. He is on a hot streak since a loss to Western Carolina, making 12-of-19 in the Tribe's last three games, including 3-of-3 in the loss at Liberty. Carolina's bigs will have to make sure they are ready to follow McDowell around on the perimeter.
Lauren Brownlow is the executive editor of Tar Heel Monthly.
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