University of North Carolina Athletics
Balanced Attack Key For Tar Heels
January 12, 2015 | Men's Basketball
by Emily Fedewa
CHAPEL HILL—The North Carolina basketball team got a much needed big win on Saturday with a 72-71 defeat of No. 5 Louisville, and it combined strong performances in many different areas to get there.
Carolina's depth has been a strength for the Tar Heels throughout this season and it was no different against Louisville as four of the starters scored 10 or more points.
In fifteen of the team's sixteen games, UNC has had more than one starter score in double figures, and in eleven of those games, three or more starters had double figures.
But depth and balanced scoring among the starters isn't everything. Being able to rely on the bench and give those starters some much-needed rest is crucial.
UNC showed its depth and ability to score off the bench on Saturday afternoon when Carolina's bench outscored Louisville's 20-0.
“(The bench points) were huge for us. We like to talk about our depth, about how important it is to establish our depth with guys coming off the bench and producing, sometimes that's the difference in the game,” junior guard Marcus Paige said. “It's a long game and you've got to have contributions from everybody.
“Obviously outscoring a team 20-0 on the bench, you could look at that as one of the differences in the game today and it was.”
The bench even gave the Tar Heels the majority of their three pointers during the afternoon with three.
Those threes were another major factor in Carolina's weekend victory over the top-ranked Cardinals. UNC sank five three pointers in the game and shot over 40% from behind the arc for just the fourth time this season.
Sophomore guard Nate Britt was a big part of that as he went 2-for-2 from three early in the game to set the tone.
“To see those first two threes go in, that gave me a lot of confidence going into the rest of the game,” Britt said of his three point shooting.
Head coach Roy Williams has made it clear this year that the big men are also a vital part of this Carolina team and they have to step up for the Tar Heels to be great – and they did that on Saturday.
The Tar Heels didn't just shoot well from three, they also shot well from down low, outscoring the Cardinals 40-26 in the paint. But the big men added more than just scoring.
At halftime, Carolina was out-rebounding Louisville 26-14 and it finished the game with a 40-30 rebounding edge. Seventeen of UNC's rebounds were offensive, leading to 17 second chance points while Louisville grabbed just nine rebounds and six points off the offensive glass.
Junior forward J.P. Tokoto said that rebounding is something this team works hard on, especially on the offensive glass, and that effort has shown as the Tar Heels are tied for second in the country in rebounds per game.
“Definitely, rebounding is something we strive for, not just offensively but defensively as well. We're top in the country,” Tokoto said. “But offensively, offensive rebounding is what we like to do so we can get the second shots.”
When the Tar Heels can bring together scoring threats from all over the floor and the bench, as well as their strong rebounding, it can be tough to beat and Saturday's victory was proof of that.
Paige knows that this was an important win for the Tar Heels as they head into the heart of conference play and he hopes a win like this will help them through the rest of the season and into March.
(This win) definitely can (propel us forward) because this is the type of win we needed. If you want to be a good seed in the tournament and you want to be successful in March, you can't let a lot of (big games) slip away and we were able to grab this one. This was a big one,” Paige said. “It was a big win for us and I can't deny that or play that off, we needed this one.”
