Four-game win streak for the Tar Heels: What we learned from UNC’s 80-63 win over Elon
North Carolina’s 80-63 win over Elon on Saturday night at the Dean E. Smith Center marked a feat only Leaky Black, Armando Bacot and Anthony Harris have ever experienced at Carolina: a four game win streak.
As simple as it sounds, Carolina hadn’t won four straight since starting the 2019-20 season 5-0. The Tar Heels (7-2) will get their chance to match that streak Tuesday at home against Furman.
Against the Phoenix (2-8), UNC struggled offensively shooting just 29 percent from the floor in the first half, but its defensive performance took over until its offense kicked into gear. Sophomore guard Caleb Love attributed the rust to finals week.
“Not having consistent practice leading up to this game definitely played a part in that first half, really the whole game,” Love said. “We were kind of sloppy.”
Until the second half, when UNC played with more focus. Junior froward Armando Bacot, who played just seven minutes in the first half after picking up two fouls, scored all nine of his points in the second half to help the Heels shoot 52 percent.
Sophomore forward Dawson Garcia scored 13 of his 22 points in the second half to match Love for game-high scoring honors for the Heels.
“It was a dirty game, we just had to grind it out,” Garcia said. “We can win ugly.”
Here’s what we learned from Carolina’s win:
Give a little, get a little
Elon entered the game ranked 19th nationally from averaging 10.6 made 3-pointers per game. Needless to say the Heels emphasized limiting those opportunities.
With their concern on defending the arc, it resulted in making Carolina vulnerable to dribble penetration. The Phoenix took advantage of UNC closing out on the line hard and led UNC in points in the paint at halftime, 18-12. That helped them keep the game close for most of the first half.
While allowing more drives, Carolina did as it set out to do in defending the 3-point line. Elon made just three of its first attempts and finished 8-for-29 for the game.
“They have a number of guys who can get hot from 3-point range,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “I thought we did a really good job from 3-point percentage shooting. I really feel good about that.”
Kerwin Walton’s slumping
UNC sophomore guard Kerwin Walton started the season making 10 of his first 18 attempts from 3-point range. Since making a 3 with a minute left in the first half of UNC’s loss to Purdue, he missed his last 11 including his only attempt Saturday against Elon.
But it’s not that Walton, who led the team in 3s last season in both makes (58) and percentage (42.0), has missed shots. It appeared as if he lost the confidence to take them. He had four attempts against Tennessee, one against UNC Asheville, two against Michigan and did not take any shots in just eight minutes against Georgia Tech.
“We’re all -- not just him -- we’re all going to figure it out,” Davis said. “Because for us to be the team we need to be we need Kerwin to be the best that he can be.”
Davis said Walton is no longer buried on opponent’s scouting report, so team’s are aware of how they have to play him. He added that Walton may need to have more plays called for him to get him involved, but there are also things Walton can do to get himself back shooting like he’s used to doing.
“You got to be aggressive and you’ve got to move without the basketball,” Davis said. “When I say aggressive you have to be a factor out there on the offensive end. Those are things young players have to adjust to and Kerwin’s only a sophomore. He’s an unbelievable player. I think he’s somebody who can be a first-team All-American and play at the next level.”
Even with Walton slumping, Carolina has ranked third nationally as a team shooting 43.2 percent from behind the arc.
Fast breaking
Carolina hasn’t always played as fast as coach Hubert Davis would like them to this season. But it could be turning the corner after having its best game of the season in transition against Elon.
UNC scored 13 fast break points in the first 12 minutes of play — and they weren’t all due to live ball turnovers. The Heels finished with 19 fast break points to set a new season-high.
Combined with the 15 fast break points against Georgia Tech, which tied their previous best in the opener against Loyola-Maryland, it’s their best two-game total this season.
Davis said the biggest reason Carolina has started to improve in transition is that its defense is playing better.
“We’ve been more active on the defensive end which has allowed us and put us in position to get more steals and deflections,” Davis said. “How you get out in transition is when a team misses. Over the last two, two and half weeks our defense has been better. It’s hard to get out in transition when you’re allowing 90-something points in the paint like we did in Connecticut.”
This story was originally published December 11, 2021 at 10:06 PM.