UNC to get first true test of season in Las Vegas Invitational

North Carolina has seemingly breezed through the first part of its schedule, winning its first five games by an average of 30.6 points.

Two of those games — against Elon on Nov. 9 and Tennessee Tech on Nov. 16— came by margins of 49 and 50 points.

But that likely won’t happen this week, as the seventh-ranked Tar Heels will face their first true test of the season in the Las Vegas Invitational.

The Tar Heels will play Texas (4-0) on Thursday. If the Tar Heels win, they will face the winner of No. 11 Michigan State (3-1) and No. 17 UCLA (4-0). If they lose to the Longhorns, they will play the loser of that game.

“No disrespect to any of the teams we’ve played, but these teams are a little bit more physically imposing, and they kind of match up with us,” UNC senior guard Kenny Williams said Monday. “I’m super excited for it, especially to see where we stack up against some of the better teams in the country.”

Tar Heels coach Roy Williams was asked Monday night, after UNC’s 101-76 win against St. Francis, whether he hoping to see how his team would stack up against increased competition.

“No,” Williams said. “Because right now I don’t think I like how they are going to handle it. I told them we have to have a good practice (and) we are getting ready to play a different animal. If we play like we did in some stretches tonight, it will be very unpleasant for us.”

UNC committed a season-high 18 turnovers against a St. Francis (1-3) team that has struggled this season. Many of the turnovers were unforced, the result of players trying to make passes to teammates when they were not open.

The Tar Heels have averaged 13.8 turnovers per game this season, tied for 172nd out of 351 teams in the country. Meanwhile, Texas (4-0), forces 18 turnovers per game, which is ranked 35th in the country.

The Tar Heels also must improve its defense. St. Francis took 27 free throws Monday night. It was the second time this season that a team has taken 27 or more free throws in a game -- Elon took 28 in its game earlier this month.

“We got a little stagnant on defense in the second half,” Kenny Williams said. “Whenever we don’t guard the ball, it breaks down the whole defense and then we’ve got to help and then that’s when they get the open 3’s or the easy layups.”

The Tar Heels flew out to Las Vegas on Tuesday.

This week’s tournament will be the first true test for a team that, while experienced with three seniors, has young players who play a crucial role. UNC starts freshman Coby White (11.4 ppg, 2.8 apg) at point guard and freshman wing Nassir Little (13 ppg, 5.4 rpg) is the first player off the bench. UNC freshman wing Leaky Black averages 13.6 minutes per game too.

It also will be an opportunity for the Tar Heels to prove themselves on a national stage.

“Playing these last few games, we just wanted to improve on ourselves, not necessarily worry about winning or the margin of victory,” said Little, who is 6-6, 220 pounds. “So I think as long as we kind of see where we’re at, I think it will give us a good heads-up to where we’re going.”

Roy Williams is 7-7 in his coaching career against Texas (6-1 at Kansas, 1-6 at UNC).

Texas is currently one of the better defensive teams in the country. It is ranked No. 10 overall in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency, according to Ken Pomeroy’s Advanced Analytics. Opponents score 91.2 points per 100 possessions against the Longhorns. By comparison, the Tar Heels are ranked No. 8 in the country, while opponents score 90.3 points per 100 possessions against them.

Kenny Williams said the teams in this tournament will be smarter and that UNC will have to play its best game.

“If they see something that they like or a weakness or something, they are going to take advantage of it,” he said. “That’s when we could come out on the low end of the score.”