Last night, the Tar Heels earned their first road win of the season, to start the four-game road trip the right way, as they beat the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, 87-69, to improve to 3-1 on the young season. The Tar Heels were led by their backcourt, as RJ Davis led the team with 18 points, on 6-14 shooting, and even though he was 2-6 from deep, it actually raised his three-point shooting percentage. Elliot Cadeau continued his fast start to the season, scoring 17 points, on 7-8 shooting, with most of his shots coming at or near the rim. Seth Trimble capped off the dominant performance from the guards, scoring 13 points, on 3-8 shooting, but he was 6-7 from the foul line, as the trio combined to score 48, of the 87 total points. Carolina shot 52% from the field for the game, overcoming another subpar shooting night from the perimeter, where they were 5-15. They lived at the foul line once again, going 26-34, being rewarded for their constant pressure on the rim over the course of 40 minutes. Additionally, they scored 44 points in the paint, and 19 points in transition, to complete another stellar offensive performance, for a team that is arguably among the best offensive teams in college basketball.
It was another slow start for Carolina, who led 41-34 at the half and was beaten up on the boards, 23-14. It was 35-32 with one minute left to play, before RJ Davis and Ian Jackson both knocked down a three, to bail out an offense that once again went stagnant against a zone defense. Carolina started the second half on a 13-2 run, and ultimately never looked back. Hawaii was at the foul line, down 66-54, with a chance to make it a 10-point deficit, but they missed the front end of the one-and-one and was never able to threaten Carolina down the stretch.
The main reason Carolina played this game was to help get them acclimated to the time change ahead of next week’s Maui Invitational, which features four top-10 teams, and whoever emerges the champion of the prestigious non-conference event, will have definitely earned it. Well, last night was another reminder that Carolina still has work to do, to become the team they hope to be and that their talent could allow them to be. Here’s what to take away from an uneven performance last night in Hawaii:
Guards Continue to Dominate: This team is going to go as far as their guards take them, and they were once again sensational last night. Davis scored 14 first-half points to pace the Tar Heels, as he’s looking to come out of an early season shooting slump. In the second half, it was Cadeau putting constant pressure on the rim, living at the rim, scoring time and time again. Carolina has played four games, and in each game, the trio of guards have each scored in double figures.
Frontcourt Overwhelmed: After taking steps in the right direction as a rebounding unit, last night was a step back in the wrong direction, as Hawaii outrebounded Carolina 40-27, including 23-14 in the first half, where they grabbed 10 offensive rebounds. Tanner Christensen, the skilled big man for the Rainbow Warriors controlled the paint, recording a double-double, and he was one of two Hawaii players to do so. Carolina was outrebounded 25-22 on the defensive glass, but 15-5 on the offensive glass. Part of that was due to UNC shooting 52% from the field, but allowing 15 offensive rebounds to a Big West school is simply unacceptable. Jalen Washington was Carolina’s leading rebounder at….5. Expect that message to be reinforced as Carolina prepares for Dayton in their opening game of the Maui Invitational.
Depth Produces: Hubert Davis played 12 guys last night, and 10 of them scored. In addition to the starting backcourt playing well, he got plenty of production from his bench, bolstered by the return of Ian Jackson, who missed the American game. Jackson scored 11 points, and was 3-5 from the field, including hitting a big three-pointer right before the half, to extend Carolina’s lead. A lot of eyes were on Cade Tyson, after he finally saw the ball go in the basket in the previous game, and his confidence looks restored. The Belmont transfer scored 9 points, was 3-5 from the field, including 1-3 from distance. RJ Davis played 34 minutes to lead all starters, and Seth Trimble played the second most minutes with 29. Hubert Davis trusts this bench more than any other bench during his brief time as UNC’s head coach. He’ll need them to produce next week in Maui.
Zone Struggles: Make no mistake, the threes that RJ Davis and Ian Jackson made right before the half, bailed out an offense that had stalled once again while seeing a zone look. Now part of that may have had something to do with Elliot Cadeau not playing as much, after picking up two early fouls, but nonetheless, Carolina’s offense has stalled against a zone look, against Elon, and now Hawaii. Last year, Davis would put Cadeau at the foul line to attack the zone defense, with his elite passing ability, and he may have to do that once again this season because there’s no denying that they will see that as the season moves along.
Special Teams: Carolina may have struggled against the zone, but they still put together an elite offensive performance, They scored on 60% of their possessions, to the tune of 1.279 points per possession, they were 17-23 on layups, they scored 19 points in transition, 44 points in the paint, and 17 points off of Hawaii turnovers. This team is built to score, and score often, and they wake up today 6th in the country in scoring, and the 5th best offensive according to KenPom.
Up Next: Carolina begins play in the Maui Invitational on Monday night against Dayton, with a tip time scheduled for 11:30 PM on ESPN2.
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