Last night the Tar Heels competed in a charity exhibition to benefit the St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, and in the process, gave us a glimpse of the type of team they are capable of being in 2024-25. RJ Davis, the preseason ACC Player of the Year, was held out of the game, after suffering a back contusion in the annual Blue/White game on Saturday, but that didn’t stop Carolina from earning an 84-76 win on the road, behind the best performance we’ve seen from Seth Trimble. Trimble returned to Chapel Hill, after entering the transfer portal early in the off-season, and has clearly taken his game to another level, scoring 33 points last night, after being the leading scorer in the Blue/White game over the weekend.
The Tar Heels came out a little sluggish, and found themselves down 11 in the first half, but fought back to make it a 39-36 game at the break. In what will hopefully be a theme during the regular season, in the second half, Carolina turned up the intensity, and got out in transition, as they eventually built a double-digit lead for themselves, on their way to the win. For the game, even though Carolina cracked the 80-point threshold, they only shot 47% from the field, 33% from behind the arc, and was only 16-25 from the foul line, but displayed the type of offensive firepower that’ll make them a national contender this season.
The best part about these charity exhibitions are that not only are they raising money for good causes, but they give these coaches an early look at their team and a better feel for what to work on before the regular season starts. Carolina will host Johnson C Smith later this month, but won’t learn as much about themselves as they did last night. Let’s dig into Carolina’s exhibition win
Dynamic Backcourt Play: Last season, Carolina’s backcourt went as far as RJ Davis took it, and that was to an ACC regular season title, and a spot in the Sweet 16. For Carolina to go further this season, they need more from Seth Trimble, and Elliot Cadeau need to provide more, and if last night was any indication, they are ready to contribute. Not only did Trimble score 33 points, Cadeau put together a double-double, with 11 points, and 13 assists. Now those numbers won’t translate with Davis on the floor, but they need to be threats in ways that they weren’t last year, and that appears to be the case. If they play at the level they did last night, there’s an argument for Carolina to have the best backcourt in the country.
Uneven Performance From Frontcourt: After losing Armando Bacot, Carolina has rebuilt their frontcourt, brining in multiple transfers, and an incoming freshman. While they lost the more accomplished rebounder in program history, Carolina is more athletic than they’ve been under Hubert Davis, and are capable of defending perimeter oriented teams in ways they haven’t been able to in recent years. Last night was our first look at the new frontcourt against an opponent, and it was an uneven result. Jalen Washington scored 17 points, and grabbed 6 rebounds, but got pushed around defensively. Cade Tyson, was 1-6 from behind the arc, committed 4 turnovers, but grabbed 9 rebounds. Ven-Allen Lubin scored 6 points, and grabbed 4 rebounds in 15 minutes, but wasn’t a factor on the offense glass. Jae’Lyn Withers grabbed 8 rebounds, but fouled out in just 17 minutes, and didn’t make fans feel better about a situation where he starts. Ty Claude didn’t even play, and James Brown totaled just a rebound in 2 minutes. You saw the offensive firepower of the rebuilt unit, while seeing their limitations as defenders and rebounders. Good news is that there’s still 3 weeks away until the start of the season, and they have plenty of time to become a more complete unit.
Freshmen: It was the first time that Ian Jackson, Drake Powell and James Brown played in front of an opposing crowd, and it certainly looked like it. Jackson was 0-4 from the field, but converted on both of his free throws. Drake Powell was 1-4 from the field, but defended the way he’s capable of. For Carolina to emerge as a national title contender, they’ll need the talent of the freshmen to impact the results on the court, and last night, was a natural first step, in adjusting to the game at the college level.
Turnovers: Both teams were sloppy with the basketball, as UNC turned it over 21 times, and Memphis turned it over 22 times. For Carolina, every starter turned it over at least twice, with Cadeau and Tyson both turning it over 4 times. In the closing minutes, when Memphis started to apply full-court pressure, they missed the presence of RJ Davis to stable them, but it was a great learning experience, and teaching moment for this team. Carolina had 85 possessions in the game, meaning they turned it over 24.7% of the time, a number that can’t persist in the regular season.
Free Throws: Carolina was aggressive all night long, and got rewarded by going to the foul line, 25 times, but only converting on 16 of them. On the flip side, they put Memphis on the foul line, 28 times, a rare time that the opponent shot more free throws that UNC did. Again, the benefit of playing in these types of games, is that it gives the coaches and the players a feel for how the game will be officiated.
Up Next: The Tar Heels return to exhibition action on Sunday, October 27th, when they host Johnson C. Smith in the Smith Center.
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