Men's Basketball: UNC Falls to Villanova in Controlled Scrimmage

The UNC men’s basketball team competed in its annual “secret scrimmage” on Saturday afternoon, taking on the defending national champion Villanova Wildcats at the Finneran Pavilion on Villanova’s campus.

Together the programs have combined to win the last three NCAA championships in the sport.

The setup of Saturday’s scrimmage had the teams play two 20-minute periods and an additional 10-minute period where both teams played exclusively zone defense.

Villanova won the first period 41-36 and the second period 48-43. UNC managed to pull out a 25-25 tie in the third period after a free throw with no time on the clock by freshman Nassir Little.

Senior guard Phil Booth sank nine three-pointers across all three periods on the way to 41 points for Villanova to lead all scorers.

For UNC, graduate transfer Cameron Johnson led the way with 19 points–becoming one of five Tar Heels to reach double figures.

In addition to Johnson’s contributions, the Tar Heels also received 17 points from freshman guard Coby White, 16 from Luke Maye, 13 from Little and 11 from sophomore forward Garrison Brooks.

Following the three main periods, a five minute period featuring both team’s reserves saw UNC outscore the Wildcats 14-5.

“The scrimmage helped us a great deal,” UNC head coach Roy Williams said afterwards. “It showed us early on that Villanova’s talent, experience and toughness was much better than ours because they were so much more active. As the game went along, we got a little bit better but it was a slap in the face for us. Hopefully we will bounce back and be the kind of team that I think we can be.

“I think we are going to be able to shoot the ball well, but we have to get the shot that we want,” UNC head coach Roy Williams said afterwards. “I was most disappointed in our defensive play, rebounding and running the floor.”

Photo via Todd Melet

Men’s Basketball: UNC Falls to Villanova in Controlled Scrimmage

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