Men's Basketball: No. 7 UNC Overcomes Sluggish Start to Rout Saint Francis (PA)

It wasn’t the prettiest game for the seventh-ranked UNC men’s basketball team on Monday night at the Dean Dome, but the Tar Heels overcame a sloppy effort to defeat the Saint Francis Red Flash by a score of 101-76.

The Red Flash came into Chapel Hill with a 1-2 record and fresh off a 37-point loss to UCLA last Friday, but they were not intimidated by the Tar Heels one bit.

Turnovers and sluggish defense from UNC allowed Saint Francis to hang around much closer than anyone would have ever predicted heading into the night.

Although the Red Flash shot just 34 percent from the field, it was able to consistently get to the free throw line throughout the course of the game—finishing with 20 made foul shots on 27 attempts. On top of that, the visitors took full advantage of the Tar Heels’ 18 turnovers by converting them into 22 points on the other end.

Head coach Roy Williams was not happy with his team’s struggle to defend without fouling in Monday’s win over Saint Francis (PA). (Todd Melet)

A steady mix of zone and man-to-man defense kept UNC from getting into a rhythm offensively and forced plenty of mistakes.

Saint Francis also battled hard on the boards, grabbing 37 rebounds compared to 46 for the Tar Heels–which somewhat neutralized an area that UNC typically dominates against lower-level opponents.

Much like last Monday’s win over Stanford—one that saw the Tar Heels have similar issues–head coach Roy Williams was less than pleased afterwards.

“The discouraging thing to me was we put them on the free throw line so many times in the first half,” Williams told reporters. “They had 16 free throws and we had five [at that point]. That’s not our game.”

As the game wore on, UNC kept Saint Francis away from striking distance on sheer talent alone.

After allowing Saint Francis to pull within six points early in the second half, the Tar Heels took off on an 11-0 run and did not let the Red Flash pull back within double digits the rest of the way.

Freshman sensation Nassir Little had 19 points in the game for UNC—10 of which came during the final 12 minutes as the Tar Heels were creating some much-needed breathing room.

The Tar Heels connected on 10 of their 25 attempts from three-point range against Saint Francis (PA). (Todd Melet)

In addition to Little’s contributions, UNC also received a team-high 20 points from Cameron Johnson and 16 from freshman point guard Coby White.

On the other side, guard Jamaal King had a game-high 21 points to lead Saint Francis.

It was by no means the type of performance that UNC would have liked to have in this type of game, but the Tar Heels still ended the night with their record improving to 5-0 as the non-conference schedule gets set to heat up later in the week.

With that in mind, though, Williams isn’t quite sure how his team will respond to the increase in competition level.

“Right now, I don’t like how I think they’re gonna handle it,” the coach said. “I told them we’ve got to have a good practice tomorrow, but we’re getting ready to play a different animal. And if we play like we did in some stretches tonight, it’ll be very unpleasant for us.”

Up Next:

The Tar Heels will now head to Las Vegas for the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational, with their first game coming on Thanksgiving against Texas at 7:30 p.m.

Game Notes:

Saint Francis made 14 of its 16 free throw attempts in the first half, the most foul shots allowed by UNC in a half this season.
UNC senior guard Kenny Williams scored only six points on 1-for-5 shooting, but dished out a career-high nine assists.
The Tar Heels have now scored 100 or more points in three of their first five games.

FINAL BOX SCORE

Cover photo via Todd Melet

Men’s Basketball: No. 7 UNC Overcomes Sluggish Start to Rout Saint Francis (PA)

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

On Air Now: 97.9 FM