It wasn’t pretty, but the 15th-ranked UNC men’s basketball team closed out the non-conference portion of its schedule on Wednesday at the Dean Dome with a 77-57 win over the Harvard Crimson.
Despite a poor offensive performance that saw the Tar Heels struggle to create opportunities in the half court against Harvard’s zone defense, UNC (10-3) played good enough defense of its own—especially in the second half—in order to pull off the win.
The Tar Heels shot just 42 percent from the floor, but held the Crimson to a 39 percent mark on the other end. In addition, UNC also scored 21 points off of 22 Harvard turnovers.
The UNC defense held Harvard to just 57 points, which is the second-lowest it has held any opponent to this season. (Todd Melet)
A total of five players scored in double figures for UNC, led by 14 from senior forward Luke Maye and 13 apiece from Cameron Johnson and Coby White.
Although the loss of backup forward Sterling Manley due to knee soreness forced head coach Roy Williams to deploy smaller lineups featuring freshman wing Nassir Little at the center position—which allowed Harvard (6-6) to stay competitive in the rebounding department—the Tar Heels were able to do just enouugh to pull away for the blowout victory.
At one point in the second half, UNC held the Crimson scoreless for nearly seven consecutive minutes. It was during this stretch that the Tar Heels turned a close nine-point ball game into a commanding 20-point lead that would eventually get as high as 24 late in the proceedings.
Issues on defense have been one of the major storylines surrounding UNC this season, but now head coach Roy Williams has at least seen his team hold its last two opponents to 60 points or less.
“We tried to do something different against the screen on the ball in the second half and it helped us,” Williams told reporters afterwards. “Except we didn’t do a good job fronting the post. So we’ve got some work to do.
Senior forward Luke Maye was one of five Tar Heels to score in double figures in the win over Harvard. (Todd Melet)
“Stuff’s over now,” he added. “It’s big-time basketball in front of us now. We’ve got to play better.”
While UNC’s offense hasn’t necessarily played up to the level it was at over the team’s first 11 games, the defensive improvement is a welcome sign as ACC play gets set to begin this weekend.
The Tar Heels also took much better care of the ball than they have for most of the year, committing only 11 turnovers after averaging just over 14 per game entering the night.
In no way, shape or form, however, should this win be considered among UNC’s best this season. Progress in the key areas has started to show to some degree, but hasn’t come quick enough for Williams to say the team is anywhere close to where he wants them to be.
“Nowhere near,” the coach said, emphatically. “Not in the same frickin’ universe.
“Same thing I’ve said forever, guys,” he continued. “We’ve got to get better defensively. We’ve got to stop turning the ball over. And then we need to rebound the ball better.”
Up Next:
The Tar Heels will open conference play this Saturday with a trip to face new head coach Jeff Capel and the Pittsburgh Panthers. That game is set to tip-off at noon.
Game Notes:
- Harvard was once again without the services of guard Bryce Aiken and forward Seth Towns due to knee injuries. They were the team’s top two scorers last season.
- Nassir Little (12 points) and Kenny Williams (11) were the other Tar Heels to join Maye, Johnson and White in double figures.
- The Tar Heels managed to win the rebounding battle by a margin of just 38-34 against a much less talented team.
- UNC is now 4-2 all-time against Harvard.
Cover photo via Todd Melet
