The UNC basketball program got its season underway on Monday night with a 69-56 win over UNC-Wilmington, but it wasn’t the dominant win many people thought.
The preseason top ranked team in the country definitely had some ‘first game jitters’ on the offensive end on Monday. Despite three players in double-figures, the offense was anything but the high-powered machine that ended the years last season.
The Tar Heels shot just 45.8 percent from the field, including just 37.5 percent in the first half. They also connected on just 2-of-10 from three. In total, there were only four combined assists between the team — lowest in a game since 1980.
“I really think, for whatever reason, it was a combination for our guys, they were nervous, and they were anxious, and it just felt like, especially on the offensive end, we were moving at such a nervousness, anxiousness type of pace, that at times we couldn’t even catch the basketball,” UNC head coach Hubert Davis said postgame. “I know we have a veteran group, but it was the first game and I just felt like a lot of it was a result of a combination of being nervous and being anxious.”
UNC was led by its backcourt of [autotag]Caleb Love[/autotag] and [autotag]RJ Davis[/autotag]. Both players had 17 points. Love was 6-of-11 from the field and 1-of-4 from three while Davis was 6-of-12 from the field and 1-of-3 from three. [autotag]Armando Bacot[/autotag] added 16 points on 5-of-10 from the field but struggled to finish around the rim at times.
A season ago, the Tar Heels were one of the most prolific three-point shooting teams in the country. They attempted 23.5 3s per game and connected on 35.8 percent as a team.
Part of that was because of the spacing it had with Brady Manek at the 4 on the perimeter. He finished the season with a team-high 98 made 3s on 40.3 percent. Coming into this year, the biggest question was how UNC would replace his production and skillset. His ability to space the floor gave UNC’s guards added room to drive and get into the paint.
[autotag]Pete Nance[/autotag], the Northwestern transfer, came into this season with 106 made 3s in four years. He has a career three-point percentage of 35.6 percent, but just doesn’t shoot the ball at the volume that Manek did.
Nance finished with six points on 1-of-3 shooting and 0-of-1 from three on Monday.
Because the half-court offense is still a work in progress, it should be noted that the Tar Heels had just four fast break points as well. Part of that was because of the full-court press that UNC-Wilmington used for the majority of the game.
“UNCW had a number of different presses. So when you have multiple guys that can bring up the basketball and also get our team in its offense that’s a huge benefit for us,” Davis said. “Caleb and RJ, they can they can make plays on the ball, they can make plays off the ball, and especially in the second half I felt like their ability to create shots not only for themselves, but just to penetrate and get into the lane was huge for us. I was really happy with how aggressive they were and I was really happy with their decision making even though it didn’t result in very many assists, especially in the second half.”
UNC junior wing Puff Johnson missed Monday’s game and when he is re-inserted back into the lineup, it should help the spacing at times, especially with his ability to connect from three.
Until then, it’s just about working out some of the kinks of adding a veteran like Nance into the offense. Someone who has been open about doing whatever it takes to win, he’ll need to be able to hit some shots from deep to keep the defense honest.
But, through one game, the explosive offense of last year was nowhere to be found. It’s one game, however, so things should be just fine.
UNC takes on College of Charleston on Friday night.
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