Last night, the Tar Heels opened the 2024-25 season, with an uncomfortable, 90-76 win over Elon, in a game that was way more competitive than it should’ve been. The opening night of the college hoops season is always interesting, as there’s always a big upset or two, and it looked like UNC was on upset watch, when they found themselves trailing 71-69 with less than 7 minutes left to play, in front of a despondent Smith Center crowd. After a dead ball, RJ Davis was re-inserted back into the game and promptly scored 5 straight points, to give UNC a 74-71 lead, as they finished the game on a 21-5 run, to win the game by double digits. Davis, the preseason ACC Player of the Year, led the way with 24 points, on a bad shooting night, as he was only 7-19 from the field, but he made up for it, by going 7-7 from the foul line. Additionally, Elliot Cadeau (17), Seth Trimble (15), and Jae’Lyn Withers (10), all scored in double figures, on a night where Carolina shot just 40% from the field, but 41% from behind the arc.
Carolina has a rebuilt frontcourt, after losing Harrison Ingram to the NBA Draft, and Cormac Ryan and Armando Bacot to graduation, and if last night was any indication, this is going to be a work in progress. Hubert Davis opted to start a three-guard lineup (Cadeau, Davis, Trimble), with super senior Jae’Lyn Withers starting at the 4, and Jalen Washington starting at the 5. Withers scored all of his points in the first half, while Jalen Washington was held scoreless. Cade Tyson was brought in to play the stretch-4 spot, and his transition from Belmont to UNC is still ongoing. Hubert Davis talked at length in the preseason about needing to be a better rebounding team, and that’ll be brought in the practices leading up to Friday’s date with Kansas, after barely outrebounding the Phoenix 43-40. A positive though, was that they out-rebounded Elon, 18–10 on the offensive glass, converting those 18 offensive rebounds into 22 second-chance points.
Two freshmen made their debuts last night, and both showed a glimpse of their potential and reminded us why we need to be patient with their development. Ian Jackson scored 5 points and was 2-7 from the field. Drake Powell also scored 5 points, and was 2-8 from the field, but impacted the game with his energy and effort defensively.
Hubert Davis said in the postgame he was glad his team was in the position they were in when the game was close late in the second half because he knows his team will be in the position as the season moves along. While we may not have wanted the game to be close, the truth is that this group has to learn to win, just like last year’s group did, and when this team had to execute, they rose to the challenge and closed out a pesky Elon squad, that had upset on the brain. Here’s what to take away from last night’s season-opening victory:
Backcourt Delivers: The trio of RJ Davis, Seth Trimble, and Elliot Cadeau combined to score 56 points, on 17-38 shooting. Davis led the way with 24 points and overcame a 7-19 shooting night. Meanwhile, Elliot Cadeau made a career-high 3 three-pointers and handed out 8 assists, all in the first half. Furthermore, Seth Trimble continued his great play from the preseason, scoring 15 points, on 6-12 shooting. Until Carolina figures out their frontcourt, they’ll need the backcourt to carry them almost every night, and it appears that group, led by the ACC Preseason Player of the Year, RJ Davis is up to the task.
Transition & Perimeter Offense: This team is built to be an offensive juggernaut, and they definitely looked the part last night, scoring 90 points, making 13 three-pointers, and 18 fastbreak points. This team wants to be the fastest in the country, and that was evident with the way that they raced up and down the floor. Last night’s game featured 72 possessions, which means Carolina averaged a healthy 1.250 points per possession.
Defense: There were times in both the first and the second half, where Hubert Davis was visibly frustrated with the way his team defended or wasn’t happy with the way they were defending. At one point deep in the second half, the Phoenix were shooting well above 60% from the field, and in total, they shot 50% from the floor in the second half. You have to give them some credit, TK Simpkins, and Nick Dorn made tough perimeter shots, but Carolina didn’t close out as well on shooters, or simply just got beat to the spot. Last season, UNC would deploy a full-court press to speed up the opponent, but they didn’t utilize that last night. They forced 16 turnovers and converted those turnovers into 13 points. The coaching staff has been stressing the importance of rebounding the basketball, but after last night, they need to stress the importance of being a good defensive team too.
Growing Pains: It’s evident that Cade Tyson still isn’t comfortable, and while fans may be impatient, you’d rather him go through his growing pains in November as opposed to February or March. Hubert Davis ran a couple of plays to get Tyson quality looks, but the shots wouldn’t fall for him, as he was 1-6 from the field. With Jae’Lyn Withers’s up-and-down nature, Carolina needs Tyson to round into form by the time this team heads to Maui if they want to cement themselves as a national title contender before the start of conference play.
Layups: Carolina may have scored 90 points, but they left a lot of points on the floor, mainly at the rim, where they were 9-21 on layups and 4-7 on dunks. On the one hand, you have to like and appreciate the pressure they put on the rim, but it falls short when you aren’t putting the ball in the basket. Expect that to be reinforced in the next practice, because Carolina needs to be able to finish in the paint, to help generate their perimeter offense.
Rebounding: Carolina won the rebounding battle 43-40, but was outrebounded on the defensive glass, 30-25. Part of that was because of how well Elon shot the ball in the second half. Offensive rebounding is a staple of this program, and they looked the part last night, grabbing 18 rebounds, and converting them into 22 second-chance points. Jae’Lyn Withers led the way with 10 rebounds, and Ven-Allen Lubin added 7 off the bench, but the Heels will need more from Jalen Washington moving forward, who had a quiet 8-point, 4 rebound effort.
Continued Dominance in Season/Home Openers: UNC is now 103-12 all-time in season openers, and they have won 20 straight season openers. It also marked the 23rd straight home opener that Carolina has won.
Up Next: It’s the first test of the season, as UNC travels to Lawrence, to take on the #1 Kansas Jayhawks. Tip time is set for 7 PM, on ESPN2.