Tar Heels have eight days to take a bigger step forward.

After a four-hour practice led by an intense head coach, Carolina came back with a predictable win against an overmatched opponent. Playing better team defense and sharing the basketball more, call it a small step forward.

Next Wednesday, the Heels will need a much bigger step to beat 20th-ranked Michigan in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge at the Smith Center. The Wolverines are 3-2 with losses to ranked teams Seton Hall and Arizona. UNC’s two games against poll-sitters were also losses.

The response to Hubert Davis’ angriest practice as a head coach was tough to measure because UNC-Asheville is a mid-major in a far different league. Carolina appeared to play more aggressive defense from the outset, some of it resulting in the poor shooting game by the 2-3 Bulldogs, who made only 26.5 percent from the field and 18.9 percent of 37 three-point shots attempted.

The Tar Heels were bigger and dominated the offensive and overall rebounding, but UNCA’s motion offense kept it in the game, once cutting the deficit to 7 in the second half before losing by 19.

The other side of that was the Heels forced only 7 turnovers (to 18 for the home team). Much bigger and quicker at almost every position, they somehow had one less steal than the Bulldogs and five fewer blocked shots. Some of that was because the visitors cranked up so many outside shots but not all of it.

Whether Carolina can play the tough brand of basketball that is required to win big in today’s college game remains to be seen. The team has three new players in the top eight and is still getting to know each other. Armando Bacot again dominated smaller opponents but will have to prove he can hold his own against bigger bigs.

Davis is clearly one of the most beloved figures in all of basketball, and he wants his team to feel the same about the program that has been a part of his family for more than 45 years. After Sunday’s embarrassing loss to Tennessee, he said he thinks Carolina can still be a “great defensive team” and late Tuesday night he said he thinks it can win a national championship.

Those are much bigger steps, all to be taken one at a time.

 

Photo via Todd Melet.

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