Lucas: Memphis Rapid Reactions

By Adam Lucas

1. Carolina held on just tightly enough to preserve a 84-76 win over Memphis in the Hoops for St. Jude Tip Off Classic on Tuesday night.

2. The Tar Heels played without RJ Davis, who sat out as a precautionary measure after taking a hard fall in the Blue-White game on Saturday. Davis was joined on the bench in street clothes by Elijah Davis (redshirting) and Tyzhaun Claude (unavailable).

3. Those absences obviously impacted Carolina's rotation. In Davis' absence, the Tar Heels went with a starting lineup of Seth Trimble, Jae'Lyn Withers, Cade Tyson, Jalen Washington and Elliot Cadeau.

4. Carolina was terrific in the first approximately 15 minutes of the second half, with Cadeau distributing and Trimble scoring. The Heels built a 76-61 lead with six minutes left but were not as sharp the rest of the way. The Tar Heels finished with 19 turnovers overall, including 11 in the second half and a half dozen in those final five minutes that were not artistic. In the end, though, Hubert Davis probably appreciated that his team was able to work on some meaningful late game situations in a closer game than it appeared it might be earlier in the half. What he would most prefer, of course, is for his team to close out an opponent decisively on the road.

5. Carolina struggled to keep Memphis off the offensive glass early, giving up eight second chance points in the first 5:30 of the game. But they tightened up on the boards after that, allowing just two second chance points the remainder of the game. Cade Tyson led the rebounding effort with nine boards, and Jae'Lyn Withers--who was limited by foul trouble--added eight before fouling out.

6. Seth Trimble was exactly as advertised after a terrific preseason. The junior put up 14 first half points on a variety of drives to the rim, and also tossed in a three-pointer. He finished with 33 points, which would be a career high if the game counted. The offense will look different with RJ Davis, but Trimble is a great backcourt weapon to pair with the ACC Player of the Year. His previous career high at Carolina in games that count is 12.

7. And speaking of the backcourt, Elliot Cadeau very quietly had a great night distributing the ball. The sophomore finished with a double-double, scoring 11 points to go with 13 assists and just three turnovers. Cadeau also made a couple of three-pointers, so he did exactly everything you'd want to see from him in terms of demonstrating progress from the end of his freshman season. The offense struggled when Cadeau was on the bench; Davis will help some with the backup point guard role.

8. In fact, RJ Davis will help with most all of the biggest issues on Tuesday night. He's an efficient three-point shooter (Carolina was 8-24 from the arc). He's one of the best free throw shooters in school history (Carolina was 16-for-25 at the line). And he can give you a couple minutes at point guard when Cadeau is on the bench.

9. Ian Jackson won't have to look too far into his first college season for his welcome to college basketball experience. The freshman had a rough first half, shooting 0-for-3 from the field, committing a turnover, and posting a -16 mark in just 9:36 of playing time. That happens to almost every college player at some point. Jackson has been consistently better than that in practice. He was better in the second half, when he made a couple of free throws and trimmed five off the unsightly plus-minus number.

10. It just wouldn't be a Carolina game without Armando Bacot. After five years as a Tar Heel, the schedule worked out such that Bacot--currently with the Memphis Grizzlies--was able to be at FedExForum for the game and also attended shootaround earlier in the day.

11. If Tuesday night got you in the mood for some UNC basketball a little earlier than normal--it was the earliest exhibition game on record for Carolina--a reminder that we've already started our weekly introductions of the Tar Heel newcomers. The first edition was on Ian Jackson, and there have also been features on Cade Tyson and another on freshman James Brown.

12. Of course, there's no better way to see Carolina basketball than in person. Single game tickets went on sale this week.

13. Next up for the Heels during the preseason: an exhibition game against Johnson C. Smith at the Smith Center on Oct. 27. That's the last exhibition action before the season opener on Nov. 4 at home against Elon. Remember, it's very unusual to have a televised exhibition game three weeks before the regular season opener. There's a long way to go before you see a version of Carolina that goes in the record books.

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Armando Bacot

James Brown

Elliot Cadeau

Elijah Davis

RJ Davis

Ian Jackson

Seth Trimble

Cade Tyson

Jalen Washington

Jae'Lyn Withers

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