University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Rapid Reactions
November 22, 2016 | Men's Basketball
By Adam Lucas
1. Solid opening win in Maui for the Tar Heels. Carolina clearly outclassed Chaminade in the 104-61 victory, and despite some early hiccups caused mostly by turnovers, the Tar Heels did a good job of taking advantage of the areas where they had distinct advantages. Carolina held a whopping 46-8 advantage in points in the paint, and ended the game with as many offensive rebounds (17) as Chaminade had defensive rebounds (17).
2. Carolina was incredibly efficient offensively on Monday when they weren't turning the ball over. The Tar Heels scored on 23 of 29 first half possessions that did not include a turnover, as they hit the offensive glass consistently. For the game, the Tar Heels got points on 52 of their 62 non-turnover possessions.
3. Of course, the flip side to that stat is that Carolina turned the ball over eight times in the first 20 minutes, a total that was too high against Chaminade's brand of defensive pressure. The Tar Heels trimmed that number to just four miscues in the second half.
4. Nice minutes from Stilman White in a relief role. The senior entered during a stretch when Carolina couldn't seem to hold on to the basketball, and steadied the Tar Heel offense with a hoop and then an assist to Justin Jackson. After hitting a couple of free throws, White finished the first half with a career high-tying four points in just four minutes of action. He set a new career high by sinking a free throw in the final two minutes.
5. The Tar Heels had a considerable advantage in the paint and exploited it well against the Silverswords. Kennedy Meeks finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 7 of 7 from the field, while Isaiah Hicks added 22 points and six more boards. Tony Bradley started slowly but finished with 13 points and eight rebounds.
6. Seventh Woods cracked the door to White's performance with a shaky first half performance that included a turnover and 0-for-2 shooting in four minutes. Remember that point guard is the toughest position for a freshman to play under Roy Williams, and Woods is enduring the expected growing pains.
Woods came back and played a much more solid second half, primarily by doing one simple thing: feeding the post. With the inside game working so well against the Silverswords, Woods did a good job of continually feeding the paint. He also flashed some excellent hustle late by saving an errant shot back inbounds on a possession that ended in a made Brandon Robinson jumper.
7. An already thin Tar Heel team (Theo Pinson and Luke Maye were in street clothes) got a little thinner when Robinson went down in a nasty collision in the first half. Robinson took some stitches in his lip. To add insult to actual injury, Robinson was called for a foul on the play. He did finally return to the UNC bench with 11:15 left in the second half, then came back in at the 9:07 mark and immediately contributed with a nice assist to Justin Jackson on a two-on-one break.
8. Get ready for a terrific point guard matchup on Tuesday night. Joel Berry against Oklahoma State's Jawun Evans will be one of the best individual matchups of the early season. Based on the intensity the Cowboys played with in their win over UConn earlier on Monday, Carolina's sixth game of the season is likely to be the toughest one so far.
