Lucas: Northern Iowa Rapid Reactions

By Adam Lucas

1. Carolina got what it needed in a 91-69 win over Northern Iowa to open the Battle 4 Atlantis.

2. Sensational second half from Carolina as the three-pointers finally started falling. That was led by Cormac Ryan, who hit three of them very quickly. The Heels made 9-for-12 from the arc in the second half, as Roy Williams sat in the Atlantis bleachers and probably thought to himself, "I told those rascals everything looks better when the ball goes in the basket." Harrison Ingram added four three-pointers and RJ Davis contributed three of them.

3. It isn't too difficult to imagine the halftime lecture from Hubert Davis. Armando Bacot took just three of Carolina's 27 field goal attempts in the first 20 minutes, and made just one trip to the free throw line in his 12 first half minutes. Meanwhile, Carolina was bombing away unsuccessfully from three-point range, hitting just 3-for-13 (23.1 percent) in the first half. That led to Northern Iowa outscoring Carolina 18-10 in the paint.

4. To make matters worse, the Panthers also outrebounded the Heels 18-12 in the first half. That was largely due to a stellar effort on the defensive boards from Ben Jacobson's team, as Carolina missed 18 shots but rebounded just four of them, well below the season average that had seen them secure approximately 35 percent of all missed shots. Carolina reversed the rebounding numbers in the second half and finished with a slim 36-33 edge on the boards. They'll need to be better in that aspect of the game tomorrow.

5. Davis juggled his starting lineup for the first time this season, inserting Seth Trimble in place of Paxson Wojcik. That paid dividends early, as Trimble spearheaded some good early first half defense. He then switched it again for the second half, going with Jae'Lyn Withers to begin the final 20 minutes. Withers' athleticism and versatility--and unselfishness--was important in Carolina's big run.

6. Carolina's defensive intensity the first 14 minutes of the game was the best of the season. The Tar Heels forced three shot clock violations in that stretch and were all over the court. For the game, the four shot clock violations were symbolic of a solid performance.

7. Freshmen are going to have rough stretches. All you ask is they come back and play better the next time. That's exactly what Elliot Cadeau did on Wednesday, as he struggled in the first half but then was much better in the second half, creating offense during a big Carolina run that eventually put the game away. He was also great at the end of the game and finished with 15 points.

8. Northern Iowa shot just 32.1 percent in the second half after hitting 60 percent in the first half. Carolina's depth and versatility felt like it played a big role in that win, as they just kept sending fresh waves of talent at the Panthers.

9. We are definitely in the Bahamas: the halftime show was a raucous marching band. With the low ceilings in the Atlantis ballroom, uh, "Imperial Arena," it was an extremely loud break. It also was probably the only halftime show you'll see when fans are invited to join in and dance at midcourt. Hey, it's the islands.

10. With the win, the Tar Heels advance to tomorrow's semifinal game at 2:30 p.m. Eastern against the winner of the Texas Tech-Villanova matchup. Either way, that meeting will represent the best, most athletic opponent the Heels have faced this season.

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Armando Bacot

Elliot Cadeau

RJ Davis

Harrison Ingram

Cormac Ryan

Seth Trimble

Jae'Lyn Withers

Paxson Wojcik

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