The Tar Heels are back in action tonight, and tonight it’ll feel like March given the opponent, as Carolina travels to Lawrence, Kansas, as they’ll take on the #1 Jayhawks, in the marquee non-conference game of the season. The Tar Heels are coming off a 90-76 season-opening win over Elon on Monday night, in a game where they actually trailed 71-69 with less than 7 minutes left in the game, before they went on a 21-5 run to close out the Phoenix. After the win, Hubert Davis made it known has frustrated he was with the way his team played, and that the film session was going to be embarrassing, setting the tone for where expectations are for this season.
Kansas opened their season with a blowout win over Howard, as top transfer Zeke Mayo shined in his Jayhawk debut. Kansas starts the season #1, after bringing back Hunter Dickinson, the best big man in the country, KJ Adams, and Dajuan Harris in the backcourt. Additionally, they added the aforementioned Zeke Mayo from the transfer portal, along with AJ Stoor from Wisconsin, and Rylen Griffen from Alabama. They reloaded after bowing out of the NCAA Tournament in the second round last season, but are tasked with living up to the hype as the preseason #1 team, something that historically the program hasn’t done a great job of doing.
Tonight will be a spectacle for college basketball, as it’s not often we get these types of games, let alone the first week of the season. Yes, we have the Champions Classic, and the Maui Invitational, and the Battle 4 Atlantis, but those games take place on neutral courts. Tonight, you could argue the two most successful programs will play each other on one of the school’s home floors, a basketball haven in Allen Fieldhouse, which just adds to the intrigue of seeing these two brands play against one another.
This is the first time that Carolina has traveled to Lawrence since 1960, when Coach Smith was still in his 20s, and still an assistant at the Air Force Academy. But this is why you come to Carolina, to play on this stage, and play in these types of games. Allen Fieldhouse is arguably the toughest venue to play at in college basketball, but considering the Heels play in Cameron Indoor Stadium every year, they won’t be rattled by tonight’s environment. Here’s how Carolina can earn an early season marquee road win, and make a statement in the process:
Compete on the Interior: The biggest question that’s going to determine just how good Carolina is going to be in 2024-25, is how they replace Cormac Ryan, Harrison Ingram, and Armando Bacot in the frontcourt. Carolina struggled with Elon on Monday night, only winning the rebounding margin 43-40. The duo of Dickinson and Adams makes the Kansas frontcourt as formidable a frontcourt that they will play all season long, until the first matchup of the season with the Duke Blue Devils. It might be too much to ask Carolina to out-rebound Kansas, but they have to hold their own. This has to be a game where Jalen Washington gives you more than 8 points and 4 rebounds, as he did in the opener. Jae’Lyn Withers put together a double-double in the opener, and he’ll need to be at his best tonight. But it just can’t be those two who produce. Cade Tyson needs to help on the backboards, and so does Ven-Allen Lubin, and even Tyzhaun Claude and James Brown if they see court time tonight.
Make Perimeter Shots: UNC made 13 triples on Monday night, and they’ll need to replicate that production tonight. The good news is that Kansas’s bigs aren’t comfortable defending on the perimeter, so Carolina should have no problem spreading the floor, to open up their defense. Elliot Cadeau and Seth Trimble both chipped in from the outside against, and that helped overcome RJ Davis’s 3-11 shooting from the outside. Both of those guys will need to help take pressure off him, but Cade Tyson feels like a swing player in the outcome of this game. He has struggled to adjust to playing at this level every night, but the talent exists for him to be a difference-maker. Asking Carolina to make 13 three-pointers might be too tall of a task, but if they can make anywhere from 8-12 triples, itll go a long way to UNC winning the game.
Win the Turnover Battle: Like when you play in Cameron, you have to limit the turnovers in Allen Fieldhouse, because 8-0 runs can be game-changers. After turning it over more than 20 times against Memhpis in the charity exhibition, Carolina hasn’t turned it over more than 6 times in the exhibition against Johnson C. Smith, and in the opener against Elon. Like when a football team goes on the road, tonight the Heels have to win the turnover battle, and score points off the turnovers they force. We didn’t see the full-court press in the opener on Monday night, but expect that to be deployed tonight, to speed the game up, and get out in transition. Carolina has to be careful with how they attack Hunter Dickinson with double teams because at 7 feet, he has the ability to see over the defense and pass out of it. With how experienced as Kansas is, and the fact that they’re playing at home, you can’t expect them to turn it over, which adds to the pressure for Carolina to convert on the turnovers that they do force. Simply put, if Carolina wants to win this game, they can’t turn it over more than 10 times and have to cash in on the turnovers that they do force.
Series History:
Carolina is 6-6 all-time against Kansas, but they have lost 4 straight games against the Jayhawks, most recently in the 2022 national championship game. This is just the second time they’ve ever played on campus, with the Heels traveling to Lawrence back in 1960. Both programs rank in the top three in college basketball history in both wins and winning percentage. UNC is second in winning percentage and third in wins; meanwhile Kansas is second in wins and third in winning percentage.
UNC Against #1 Teams:
KenPom:
North Carolina - 17th overall. Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 116.9 (13th) Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 96.5 (36th)
Kansas - 7th overall. Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 118.7 (8th) Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 93.8 (9th)
TV Info:
Tonight’s game will tip at 7 PM on ESPN2.
The Four Corners Podcast:
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