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Carolina thumping Oklahoma could be its biggest win of the season.
Lots of reasons were behind the Tar Heels’ 81-69 victory over the No. 7 Sooners, who were probably overrated by going 10-0 against a lighter schedule than their 11th-ranked foe playing on a quasi-home court in Charlotte.
Carolina has now faced five ranked teams and beaten three, which gives them a solid 8-3 record with another sure win against Charleston Southern next week.
Hubert Davis made some subtle lineup changes that he and his coaching staff might have tried earlier after working with the team for three months over the summer. Elliot Cadeau is listed at 6-1 and he hasn’t grown in height since arriving in Chapel Hill and despite his great speed and passing sometimes seems hesitant to shoot.
Seth Trimble came in early and wound up playing 22 minutes to 21 for Cadeau, who got into foul trouble in the second half. Analytics geeks will talk up that Cadeau was still 11-plus during his minutes compared to Trimble’s minus-4, which also depends on who was in the game with him.
The improved Trimble has certainly earned his time, and how much he plays will depend on the backcourt matchups and Cadeau’s maturity. On the other hand, Jae’Lyn Withers never got back in the game after fouling two 3-point shooters, which led to five free throws for Oklahoma in the first half.
And even though the Tar Heels did win the fast-break points and forced a season-high 18 turnovers, they were still outrebounded overall and on the offensive glass. The three W’s – Withers, Jalen Washington and Paxson Wojcik – combined for 11 minutes, which resulted in basically a seven-man rotation.
Cormac Ryan was as pumped as we’ve seen in a Tar Heel uniform, flying and flailing and playing not-so-friendly. Although he missed 4 of 5 long balls, he still finished with 13 points, 7 rebounds and only 1 turnover in a team-high 36 minutes. Since R.J. Davis played 35, had 23 points with 5 assists and no turnovers, Cormac split time at the 2 and 3 spots.
The hyped-up Heels also got good stuff from Harrison Ingram (4 steals) and Zayden High’s scoreless 12 minutes of 3 rebounds. R.J. continued to prove he is one of the best combo guards, gamers and scorers in college ball. If all the Heels play with his energy, the stats won’t matter as much as the final score.
But, without the same forcefulness inside from Armando Bacot and whoever else is in the paint, the struggles to dominate rebounding will continue. While Bacot spent a lot of time away from the basket defending screens and rolls, he doesn’t look among the top 25 players in the country, let alone first-team All-American. He needs to light his fire.
Hubert’s team has two weeks to resume the ACC season with three straight games at Pitt, at Clemson and at N.C. State, which have a combined 26-7 record. The Heels must keep clawing and growing.
Photo via AP Photo/Chris Carlson.
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