University of North Carolina Athletics
Luke Maye
Photo by: J.D. Lyon Jr.
Lucas: Rapid Reactions
January 5, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Quick takeaways from Carolina's ACC opener.
By Adam Lucas
1. Always nice to get a road win to start the ACC season. The road will get more difficult on Tuesday night at NC State, but for now Carolina is 1-0 in the league after an 85-60Â win at Pitt.
2. An excellent adjustment from Roy Williams paved the way for Pitt's first-half shooting struggles. With Carolina struggling to play man to man defense without fouling--Pitt was in the bonus six minutes into the game--Williams switched to a 2-3 zone for one of the very few times this season. The move befuddled the Panthers, who made just one field goal in the final 11:58.
3. Cameron Johnson was solid in his return to Pittsburgh. The Petersen Events Center crowd greeted him with some scattered boos but was mostly respectful, primarily because Johnson played a role in Carolina seizing control of the game early. The graduate student finished with 15 points and a season-high nine rebounds.
4. With Kenny Williams limited by foul trouble, the Tar Heels got some solid minutes from Brandon Robinson. The junior was very active defensively and on the glass--even when he wasn't securing the rebound, he was getting a hand on it--and was important in a reserve role.Â
5. Carolina's win snapped a streak of the Tar Heels having lost two straight league road openers. Carolina had also dropped five of the last seven ACC road openers. Sure, Pitt is not going to finish in the top half of the league, but you only get nine ACC road opportunities. The Tar Heels capitalized on their first chance of the season.
6. Speaking of that road environment, Pitt had the program's first sellout in two seasons on Saturday. That's a credit to the job Jeff Capel has done generating excitement, but it was also due largely to a sizable contingent of Carolina fans. There were large swaths of Carolina blue throughout the upper and lower levels. That was the fifth-largest ACC road win in the Williams era--it's hard to beat an ACC team by 25 points on the road, no matter who they are.
7. Gorgeous play at the end of the first half, as Leaky Black secured a rebound with seconds to play, fired a quick outlet to Cameron Johnson, who then made the wise decision to zip a crosscourt pass to a streaking Coby White for a layup at the halftime buzzer. Everyone involved executed that play about as well as they possibly could.
8. White had an impressive Atlantic Coast Conference debut. The freshman scored 22 points in 27 minutes, shot 8-for-15 from the field, and had three assists. Even though White shot 15 times, it didn't feel like he forced his offense. One note of which Roy Williams is likely to remind the point guard: White had five turnovers.
9. You could single out virtually every Tar Heel for making a contribution to the win. Especially defensively, Carolina communicated about as well as they have all season and limited Pitt to below 30 percent shooting for the game. The Tar Heels were also extremely active on the boards, where they won the overall rebounding battle, 50-44. Carolina also had more offensive rebounds, 16-15, which is more impressive when you consider how many errant Panther shots were available on the offensive glass. Five different Tar Heels had at least five rebounds (Maye, Johnson, Garrison Brooks, Little and Leaky Black).Â
10. Luke Maye grabbed 11 rebounds and is now one of just 29 Tar Heels to ever get 700 career rebounds. He is also one of only three players in Carolina history to have at least 700 rebounds, at least 1,000 points, and at least 80 three-point field goals. Ironically, two of the three players in that category were in the building on Saturday--Jason Capel is an assistant coach with his brother, Jeff, at Pitt. The third player in that group is Ademola Okulaja. Maye finished with another double-double, scoring 17 points to go with his 11 rebounds.
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1. Always nice to get a road win to start the ACC season. The road will get more difficult on Tuesday night at NC State, but for now Carolina is 1-0 in the league after an 85-60Â win at Pitt.
2. An excellent adjustment from Roy Williams paved the way for Pitt's first-half shooting struggles. With Carolina struggling to play man to man defense without fouling--Pitt was in the bonus six minutes into the game--Williams switched to a 2-3 zone for one of the very few times this season. The move befuddled the Panthers, who made just one field goal in the final 11:58.
3. Cameron Johnson was solid in his return to Pittsburgh. The Petersen Events Center crowd greeted him with some scattered boos but was mostly respectful, primarily because Johnson played a role in Carolina seizing control of the game early. The graduate student finished with 15 points and a season-high nine rebounds.
4. With Kenny Williams limited by foul trouble, the Tar Heels got some solid minutes from Brandon Robinson. The junior was very active defensively and on the glass--even when he wasn't securing the rebound, he was getting a hand on it--and was important in a reserve role.Â
5. Carolina's win snapped a streak of the Tar Heels having lost two straight league road openers. Carolina had also dropped five of the last seven ACC road openers. Sure, Pitt is not going to finish in the top half of the league, but you only get nine ACC road opportunities. The Tar Heels capitalized on their first chance of the season.
6. Speaking of that road environment, Pitt had the program's first sellout in two seasons on Saturday. That's a credit to the job Jeff Capel has done generating excitement, but it was also due largely to a sizable contingent of Carolina fans. There were large swaths of Carolina blue throughout the upper and lower levels. That was the fifth-largest ACC road win in the Williams era--it's hard to beat an ACC team by 25 points on the road, no matter who they are.
7. Gorgeous play at the end of the first half, as Leaky Black secured a rebound with seconds to play, fired a quick outlet to Cameron Johnson, who then made the wise decision to zip a crosscourt pass to a streaking Coby White for a layup at the halftime buzzer. Everyone involved executed that play about as well as they possibly could.
8. White had an impressive Atlantic Coast Conference debut. The freshman scored 22 points in 27 minutes, shot 8-for-15 from the field, and had three assists. Even though White shot 15 times, it didn't feel like he forced his offense. One note of which Roy Williams is likely to remind the point guard: White had five turnovers.
9. You could single out virtually every Tar Heel for making a contribution to the win. Especially defensively, Carolina communicated about as well as they have all season and limited Pitt to below 30 percent shooting for the game. The Tar Heels were also extremely active on the boards, where they won the overall rebounding battle, 50-44. Carolina also had more offensive rebounds, 16-15, which is more impressive when you consider how many errant Panther shots were available on the offensive glass. Five different Tar Heels had at least five rebounds (Maye, Johnson, Garrison Brooks, Little and Leaky Black).Â
10. Luke Maye grabbed 11 rebounds and is now one of just 29 Tar Heels to ever get 700 career rebounds. He is also one of only three players in Carolina history to have at least 700 rebounds, at least 1,000 points, and at least 80 three-point field goals. Ironically, two of the three players in that category were in the building on Saturday--Jason Capel is an assistant coach with his brother, Jeff, at Pitt. The third player in that group is Ademola Okulaja. Maye finished with another double-double, scoring 17 points to go with his 11 rebounds.
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