‘Ugly’ or not, North Carolina basketball keeps winning
As imperfect as No. 14 North Carolina has been each time out this season, it keeps winning while its freshmen get one more game of experience and it collectively figures out how to play together.
Against College of Charleston in the season opener, the Tar Heels’ 39% shooting looked shaky. Against UNLV, falling behind 13-0 at the start raised flags. And Tuesday’s 67-63 win over Stanford felt like one big turnover.
Despite all their shortcomings, the Tar Heels advanced to face No. 17 Texas in the Maui Invitational championship game Wednesday at 4 p.m. The Longhorns (3-0) beat Indiana 66-44 and held the Hoosiers to just 23% shooting from the field.
The Heels’ 24 turnovers were the most they had in a win since also committing the same number against Ohio in the 2012 NCAA tournament Sweet 16 to be precise. That game was directly after Kendall Marshall got injured and the team didn’t have a point guard.
“I feel very lucky,” UNC coach Roy Williams said in his postgame video conference. “I loved how we just kept trying to make it ugly, but at the same time, kept competing.”
Caleb Love and Leaky Black
Freshman guard Caleb Love made just two of his 11 shot attempts in the first half, but he made three of his first four to start the second half and finished with a team-high 16 points. It was Love’s jumper in transition that put North Carolina ahead for good at 62-60.
UNC guard/forward Leaky Black, who scored 10 points with seven rebounds, said the players who experienced last season’s 14-19 record that came with six loses of three points or fewer were resilient.
“I feel like we were battle tested,” Black said. “I feel like we’ve been through everything we can possibly have been through going through last year and I felt like we got some guys that’s willing to learn and to fight when the going gets tough and that’s all you can ask for.”
Black scored the final made basket of the game with 1:02 left on his drive from the left side in which he extended his right arm for a layup before the defense could react. The basket made the score 66-63 and put Stanford in a mindset where it only attempted 3-pointers the rest of the way.
Carolina had lost 18 consecutive games when it failed to score 70 or more points. Between not scoring at the pace Williams prefers and the turnovers that led to 22 points for Stanford, it appeared to be reasons why UNC would lose the game.
The Heels just happened to produce more reasons why they would win, including all five starters scoring double figures.
“I mean, 24 turnovers gave them 22 points, but we also out-rebounded them by 20,” Williams said. “You got to try to take your strengths and make that an important factor of the game, and your weakness -- which today was definitely turning the ball over -- and try to make sure that that’s not the most important factor.”
How offensive rebounding helped the Tar Heels
North Carolina’s offensive rebounding has been a strength of the team this season. The Tar Heels rank eighth nationally in offensive rebound percentage, according to Kenpom.com. They turned 15 offensive boards into 18 second chance points against the Cardinal.
Stanford coach Jerod Haase, who played for Williams at Kansas and later served as an assistant coach on his staff at KU then UNC, conceded Carolina’s size would be a problem. He made a calculated decision to have his defenders front the post, which contributed to them giving up so many offensive rebounds.
“We were playing post defense and we knew that we were giving up inside position on the boards,” Haase said in his postgame video remarks. “And the rebounding discrepancy was certainly one that was very, very impactful in the game.”
Carolina outrebounded the Cardinal 43-23, which was another way it helped offset the turnovers. But Love said they can’t keep relying on making up for their mistakes. At some point, they have to stop making so many.
“We got to change it fast because better teams are going to get us,” Love said during the postgame video conference. “In late game situations like that, they will be up more than what we were, so (we’ve) just got to come out with fire and energy next game.”
No. 14 UNC vs. No. 17 Texas
Maui Invitational championship game
When: 4 p.m., Wednesday
Where: Harrah’s Cherokee Center, Asheville
Watch: ESPN