Three nights removed from the worst shooting performance in program history in a loss to Michigan State, the No. 13 Tar Heels went from ice-cold to red-hot on Wednesday night at the Dean Dome—shooting the lights out in their 86-71 victory over the Michigan Wolverines.
All game long it appeared as if the Tar Heels were doing everything in their power to make sure they could forget what happened in their last outing.
Junior guard Kenny Williams scored 11 of his 12 points in the first five minutes of action for UNC (6-1), as both squads combined to make 14 of their first 17 shots during that time frame.
The difference was that Michigan cooled off and the Tar Heels didn’t.
Senior Theo Pinson contributed eight points against Michigan, while leading UNC with seven rebounds and six assists. (Todd Melet)
UNC closed the first half on a 22-8 run to take a 12-point lead into the halftime break, and then came out in the second half with no intentions of slowing down—leading by as many as 29 midway through the final period.
Theo Pinson contributed another great all-around game with eight points, seven rebounds and six assists, while point guard Joel Berry chipped in 17 points and four assists.
The main catalyst for the Tar Heels, however, was junior forward Luke Maye.
Maye tallied a team-high 27 points and six rebounds in what he, and the rest of the team, considered a big-time bounce back opportunity.
“We really wanted to bounce back and do it for ourselves and do it for each other,” Maye told reporters after the game. “We shot terrible [in Sunday’s loss]. Tonight, we started off hot. We should have made some of those against Michigan State.
“Basketball is a game of runs, a game of back and forth,” he added. “Luckily, we made some shots.”
It was exactly what the doctor ordered for head coach Roy Williams, who saw his team shoot 55 percent on Wednesday after shooting just 24 percent last Sunday.
The trio of Maye, Berry and Kenny Williams were the only Tar Heels to score in double figures, but it hardly mattered against a Michigan team struggling to find consistent offense from anyone besides star forward Mo Wagner. A threat from both inside and outside, Wagner finished with 20 points and nine rebounds on 9-for-13 shooting for head coach John Beilein.
With the one day of practice UNC held before this game, Williams decided to motivate his team by focusing some of that time reviewing what happened over the weekend.
UNC shot 55 percent as a team on Wednesday against Michigan, a far cry from the ice-cold 24 percent performance against Michigan State last Sunday. (Todd Melet)
The results seemed to support his decision, as most everyone—especially the veteran core—appeared more than ready to get back into the win column.
“I’m not one of those coaches that says, ‘Oh, that was a bad game. Let’s go on,’” Williams said. “We spent 45 minutes yesterday watching Michigan State tape before we watched Michigan tape because when you make those kinds of mistakes and have people outwork you—with more intensity and more effort—I think you’ve got to show them.”
“So we did that, and then we tried to move forward to Michigan,” the coach added. “Joel, Theo, Kenny, Luke, those guys were, I think, really ready to play. Needless to say, that was good for us.”
Although Michigan doesn’t boast anywhere near the elite talent level that Michigan State—the nation’s No. 3 team—possesses, Wednesday night showed that UNC is nowhere near as bad as it looked against the Spartans.
Seven games into the season, the team continues to build its chemistry and work on the development of the three freshmen big men who see significant playing time. With the return of graduate transfer Cameron Johnson still on the horizon, Berry—the Tar Heels’ unquestioned leader—is pleased with the progress he’s seeing.
“I don’t think we’re where we want to be, but I think we’re getting close,” Berry said. “We went out there Sunday and didn’t play as well. We came out tonight and played pretty good—paid attention to detail. We’ve just got to get guys to buy into the system.”
Up Next:
The Tar Heels will travel to Charlotte on Friday for a game against Davidson at the Spectrum Center, home of the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.
Game Notes:
- The game was part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, moving UNC’s all-time record in the annual event to 10-9.
- UNC shot 65 percent in the first half, and did not miss consecutive shots at any time during the period.
- Luke Maye has now scored at least 25 points in three of UNC’s seven games to this point.
- It was the first meeting between the two teams since the 1993 NCAA Championship Game, when the Tar Heels were famously victorious after Michigan star Chris Webber was given a technical foul for calling timeout when his team didn’t have any remaining.
Cover photo via Todd Melet
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