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University of North Carolina Athletics
Day'Ron Sharpe
Photo by: Maggie Hobson
Lucas: NC State Rapid Reactions
December 22, 2020 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Quick takeaways from the ACC opener.
By Adam Lucas
1. No other way to put it: that's a very disappointing start to Atlantic Coast Conference play and a very difficult way to go into a quick Christmas break. NC State survived two Tar Heel three-pointers at the buzzer to win, 79-76.
2. Carolina shouldn't have needed those late attempts to tie, but they played themselves into a deep hole by allowing a 14-2 run late in the second half. After closing within 63-62, the Tar Heels missed shots and committed three straight turnovers before righting the ship. Those three turnovers turned into five Pack points.
3. Carolina's defense the first 15 minutes of the game wasn't good. Playing with a smaller lineup out of necessity because of the absence of D.J. Funderburke, State spread out the Tar Heels and drove directly at the rim. That led to a bevy of easy baskets, and eight of the first 16 shots State attempted were layups or dunks.
4. There's been a lot of chatter this season about the validity of some charge calls in college basketball. But Andrew Platek helped turn the first half momentum by standing in and absorbing two very legitimate charges in the final minutes of the first half. Both of those Platek plays were in the final 90 seconds of the first half, when Carolina was putting together a 13-3 run.
5. That run immediately followed the most energetic timeout of the young season. Frustrated by his team's effort and by NC State's production against a defense that had put up little resistance in the first 16:04. Roy Williams individually challenged almost every member of his young squad, then capped the instructions by breaking a clipboard. Thirty seconds later, after State had pushed the advantage to 46-29, Walker Kessler dove on the floor to secure a Pack turnover. That play helped ignite the run.
6. It also was part of one of Kessler's strongest stretches of the season. In addition to recording the floor burn, he also hustled to save an errant Armando Bacot free throw a minute later. That save turned into a Platek three-pointer.
7. Carolina simply has to figure out a way to play better in the first half. For the sixth time in eight games, the Tar Heels were down double digits in the first half. That gave some confidence to a State team that was outmanned.
8. The freshman backcourt of RJ Davis and Caleb Love shot a combined 8-for-28 from the field and 1-for-8 from the three-point line. Carolina's inability to generate any sort of perimeter offense--Roy Williams eventually inserted Kerwin Walton in the game late, but Walton also was afflicted by the shooting struggles and missed a free throw--prevented them from opening up the paint, where the Tar Heels had a huge advantage. Carolina had a 52-36 advantage on points in the paint and outrebounded the home team 45-34.
9. Four different players--Davis, Garrison Brooks, Armando Bacot and Day'Ron Sharpe--had three turnovers each as Carolina piled up 18 turnovers. Those miscues led to 19 Pack points.
10. Carolina made a little progress in playing closer to the tempo Roy Williams wants to play, as they consistently pushed the ball and had a 19-2 advantage in fast break points. But the other part of that Williams equation is to push the ball under control--and too often, the Tar Heels were out of control.
11. Only two Tar Heels who played significant minutes shot better than 50 percent from the field (Armando Bacot was 7-for-9 and Andrew Platek was 3-for-4). Overall, the Tar Heels shot 44.3 percent from the field and a rough 2-for-12 (16.7 percent) from the three-point line. The shooting struggles almost make the rally more miraculous--Carolina played from behind the entire second half while shooting 0-for-6 from three. The Pack tried to help Carolina by struggling at the free throw line, where they made just 11-for-20, but the Heels couldn't make enough shots to complete the comeback. Somehow, Carolina missed the final seven shots of the game...and still had two shots to tie the game. The Tar Heels have to figure out a way to put the ball in the basket more consistently. When they go back and look at the tape, the younger Tar Heels are going to realize that six of those seven shots were taken by freshman guards; Carolina's advantage is in the paint.
12. In addition to the final possession, which featured missed trifectas from Davis and Love, Carolina had the ball three different times down two in the second half and came up empty each time. Carolina is now 17-5 at PNC Arena, 20-5 in the last 25 games against the Pack and Roy Williams is 32-5 against State in his tenure at Carolina.
1. No other way to put it: that's a very disappointing start to Atlantic Coast Conference play and a very difficult way to go into a quick Christmas break. NC State survived two Tar Heel three-pointers at the buzzer to win, 79-76.
2. Carolina shouldn't have needed those late attempts to tie, but they played themselves into a deep hole by allowing a 14-2 run late in the second half. After closing within 63-62, the Tar Heels missed shots and committed three straight turnovers before righting the ship. Those three turnovers turned into five Pack points.
3. Carolina's defense the first 15 minutes of the game wasn't good. Playing with a smaller lineup out of necessity because of the absence of D.J. Funderburke, State spread out the Tar Heels and drove directly at the rim. That led to a bevy of easy baskets, and eight of the first 16 shots State attempted were layups or dunks.
4. There's been a lot of chatter this season about the validity of some charge calls in college basketball. But Andrew Platek helped turn the first half momentum by standing in and absorbing two very legitimate charges in the final minutes of the first half. Both of those Platek plays were in the final 90 seconds of the first half, when Carolina was putting together a 13-3 run.
5. That run immediately followed the most energetic timeout of the young season. Frustrated by his team's effort and by NC State's production against a defense that had put up little resistance in the first 16:04. Roy Williams individually challenged almost every member of his young squad, then capped the instructions by breaking a clipboard. Thirty seconds later, after State had pushed the advantage to 46-29, Walker Kessler dove on the floor to secure a Pack turnover. That play helped ignite the run.
6. It also was part of one of Kessler's strongest stretches of the season. In addition to recording the floor burn, he also hustled to save an errant Armando Bacot free throw a minute later. That save turned into a Platek three-pointer.
7. Carolina simply has to figure out a way to play better in the first half. For the sixth time in eight games, the Tar Heels were down double digits in the first half. That gave some confidence to a State team that was outmanned.
8. The freshman backcourt of RJ Davis and Caleb Love shot a combined 8-for-28 from the field and 1-for-8 from the three-point line. Carolina's inability to generate any sort of perimeter offense--Roy Williams eventually inserted Kerwin Walton in the game late, but Walton also was afflicted by the shooting struggles and missed a free throw--prevented them from opening up the paint, where the Tar Heels had a huge advantage. Carolina had a 52-36 advantage on points in the paint and outrebounded the home team 45-34.
9. Four different players--Davis, Garrison Brooks, Armando Bacot and Day'Ron Sharpe--had three turnovers each as Carolina piled up 18 turnovers. Those miscues led to 19 Pack points.
10. Carolina made a little progress in playing closer to the tempo Roy Williams wants to play, as they consistently pushed the ball and had a 19-2 advantage in fast break points. But the other part of that Williams equation is to push the ball under control--and too often, the Tar Heels were out of control.
11. Only two Tar Heels who played significant minutes shot better than 50 percent from the field (Armando Bacot was 7-for-9 and Andrew Platek was 3-for-4). Overall, the Tar Heels shot 44.3 percent from the field and a rough 2-for-12 (16.7 percent) from the three-point line. The shooting struggles almost make the rally more miraculous--Carolina played from behind the entire second half while shooting 0-for-6 from three. The Pack tried to help Carolina by struggling at the free throw line, where they made just 11-for-20, but the Heels couldn't make enough shots to complete the comeback. Somehow, Carolina missed the final seven shots of the game...and still had two shots to tie the game. The Tar Heels have to figure out a way to put the ball in the basket more consistently. When they go back and look at the tape, the younger Tar Heels are going to realize that six of those seven shots were taken by freshman guards; Carolina's advantage is in the paint.
12. In addition to the final possession, which featured missed trifectas from Davis and Love, Carolina had the ball three different times down two in the second half and came up empty each time. Carolina is now 17-5 at PNC Arena, 20-5 in the last 25 games against the Pack and Roy Williams is 32-5 against State in his tenure at Carolina.
Players Mentioned
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