UNC 89, UNC-Asheville 47
If the USC game was kind I hate to watch, the UNC-A game is the kind I love to watch. UNC blew it open early and never looked back. It wasn't that we were that much better on the offensive end, we were just more athletic and more aggressive. Our defensive was smothering and I wonder at times if Roy would ever pull the dogs off UNC-A. The tar heels forced 5 turnovers in the first 5 minutes and after 10 minutes of play the score was 28-6. We took a 33 point lead into the half (53-20).
The second half was more of the same but with less intensity. I imagine it is hard to maintain the same level of play when it is obvious you are going to blow out your opponent.
Unlike the USC game, there are plenty of kudos to go around. To start, our center, Tyler Hansbrough tied the Smith Center record with 8 steals. Let me repeat: our center tied the record in STEALS. He was just 1 off tying the all-time UNC record of 9 set by Derek Phelps. This kid is special for sure. He also scored 14 points on 5-10 shooting and 4-5 from the free throw line. His only negative of the game was turning the ball over 5 times (several of which came on fast breaks he started). Hansbrough's overall FG% is in the mid-60's and if the season ended tomorrow he'd set the all-time record for a UNC freshman. We'll see if he can keep it up during conference play!
Despite Tyler's great game, my game ball would have to go to Danny Green. Mr. Green came off the bench to record his first double-double of the season with 15 points (team-high) and 11 rebounds (game-high). He made lots of good decisions on the court (and recorded 4 assists).
This leads me to my one big concern of the game and that is Reyshawn Terry. I've been a Terry supporter since he arrived at UNC. I think he has tons of potential (he definitely has the body to dominate at the college level), but he seems to get rattled easily. He made several bad plays in the game and did not look sharp at all. He even missed an open dunk off the back of the rim. Then he got stuffed pretty badly. He did score 14 points, but if he doesn't step up in the next couple of games and Green continues the way he is playing, I wouldn't be surprised to see Coach Williams make a change in the starting rotation.
Last but definitely not least, David Noel put on another acrobatic show. He had not one but two highlight reel dunks in the game including a windmill. That guy is electric. He is the best kind of senior to have on a team. He's unselfish, a leader, fairly consistent, and can bring the crowd to its feet. He had a great all-around game.
Other key stats:
+ UNC Free throws: 26-33 (79%)
+ Rebounds: 51 (UNC), 38 (UNCA)
- UNC 3-Pt FG: 3-13 (23%)
+ Wes Miller 3-Pt FG: 2-3
+ Quentin Thomas assists: 5 (game-high)
+ 5 UNC players scored in double figures (Green, Ginyard, Terry, Hansbrough, Noel)
UNC 59, USC 74
A combination of our poor shooting and sloppy play along with USC's torrid 3-point shooting ultimately led to our downfall. But there is a lot more to it than that. The refs were horrible, the FSN commentators were unbearable, and our play just stunk. Maybe I'm in a bad mood, but that tends to happen when we lose like we did against USC.
The refs were the worst I've seen in a while. They started off by not calling anything. No travels, no fouls, nothing. We got away with several fouls/walks early so I wasn't too disappointed, just concerned that the refs might not be any good. Then after about 8 minutes or so of play they started calling everything. Every little touch foul, bump, you name it. This at least in part led to our worst foul situation of the season with Hansbrough and Terry both collecting their fourth foul half way through the second half.
Next let me rag on the commentators. I purposely watched the end of broadcast (Fox Sports Network, channel 50) so I could hear their names. One was Marcus Johnson and the other is Steve Iziok (sp?). Fox, please don't punish your viewers anymore by making them sit through a game with those two clowns calling the action. They were so pro-USC it was embarrassing. Not to mention their lack of skill when it comes to calling a game and all the inappropriate comments. At one point they were dissing on the entire east coast because we don't give the west coast enough respect! I'd rather peel off a finger nail than listen to them again.
Ok, back to our tar heels. I could tell early in the first half we weren't sharp. David Noel made a couple of unadvised passes. Quentin Thomas looked lethargic. Byron Sanders missed a dunk to end the half. We had 5 turnovers in the first 6.5 minutes and 10 in the first 16 minutes. However, we still took a 5 point lead into the half.
In the second half, USC started draining 3s. They started off 6-6 from 3 in the second half. They weren't missing. We on the other hand couldn't get going. Bobby Frasor shot 2-11 from the field, Wes Miller went 1-6 from 3, Reyshawn Terry was MIA going 0-4, Byron Sanders went 0-4 from the free throw line, and Marcus Ginyard went 2-9 from the field. USC was up by 11 points with 3 minutes to go and never looked back.
On the positive side, David Noel had 19 points on 6-11 shooting including 3 3-pointers. That's about all of the positives I can think of.
Some key stats from the game:
- UNC FG: 20-54 (37%)
- UNC 3-point FG: 7-23 (30%)
- UNC free throw: 12-23 (52%)
- USC 3-point FG: 12-21 (57%)
- Turnovers: 25 (UNC), 19 (USC)
UNC 76, Santa Clara 58
In revenge of last year's opening game loss, Carolina pulled away from Santa Clara in the second half to win by 18. The big highlight of the game was five tarheels scoring in double figures led by Tyler Hansbrough with 14 on 5-5 shooting. This was the most balanced game of the year for Carolina. No one had a break-out game but several had very solid games. Bobby Frasor was impressive running the floor and shooting 5-6 from the floor including 2-3 from 3. Danny Green had been inconsistent the last two games, but filled up the box score this game. He had 12 points on 4-6 shooting, 2 blocks, 3 assists, and 1 steal in only 21 minutes.
Carolina's nemesis from last year loss at Santa Clara, Travis Niesen, had another good game. However, on at least two occasions he threw a ball (hard) off a Carolina player as he was going out of bounds. After this happened in the first half, the crowd booed Niesen every time he got the ball. I loved it.
Key stats from the game:
- Free throws: 21-28 (71%)
- Rebounds: 37 (UNC), 40 (SCU)
- Offensive rebounds: 11 (UNC), 22 (SCU)
- UNC had 5 blocks and 9 steals for the game
UNC 75, Saint Louis 63
The Heels came out and played much better in the second half. They went on a 7-0 run to go up by 4 right off the bat. Much more fast paced. It looked like the team we've seen for the last couple of games. They eventually went up by 10 on a Terry 3 pointer, but had another let down and let Saint Louis get back into it and even go up by 1 with 13 minutes to go.
Hansbrough came out on fire in the second half. He scored three straight baskets to start the half and played very strong throughout. He ended with a game high 21 points.
Wes Miller had a second straight game of scoring 3 three pointers (going 3-5). He is really starting to establish himself as an outside threat.
My pick for player of the game goes to Bobby Frasor. He plays with a maturity I've rarely seen in a freshman. He runs the floor so well I can't see playing Quentin Thomas much after his toe heals. Frasor only had 4 points, but he had 12 assists, 5 steals, and only 2 turnovers.
On a final note, Coach Roy was hobbling on the sidelines. Apparently he hurt his back and seemed to be in quite a bit of pain. Hopefully it isn't long lasting.
UNC 31, Saint Louis 34 (HALFTIME)
Let down city in the first half. We fired a bunch of 3s and missed most of them. We started off 0-5 from the 3 point line. We were down by 4 with 12 minutes to go before going on a little run to go up by 3 on a Ginyard 3 pointer. We ended the half going 2-8 from 3 while Saint Louis went 5-10! The pace of the game is to Saint Louis' liking as the score indicates. In the second half we need to pick things up a bit or this could be the first let down game of the year.
Some key first half stats:
Rebounds: 12 (UNC), 19 (SLU)
3-point FGs: 2-8 (UNC), 5-10 (SLU)
Free throws: 3-6 (UNC), 3-3 (SLU)
Turnovers: 5 (UNC), 9 (SLU)
Steals: 6 (UNC), 2 (SLU)
Hansbrough: 4 points
UNC cracks the top 25
Who could have imagined UNC being ranked 23rd in the AP Poll and 24th in the Coaches Poll this early in the season.
UNC 83, Kentucky 79
Led by Reyshawn Terry's 25 points, the Heels beat #10 Kentucky Wildcats in Rupp Arena. UNC did not look like the inexperienced, nervous team that I was expecting to see in a game like this. Maybe they don't know any better! David Noel had a highlight reel dunk that was awesome, but the big differences between this game and the Illinois game were free throws and 3 pointers. We made 21/28 free throws including Frasor, Ginyard, and Terry sinking 2-2 in the final minute and Miller making 1-2 in the final minute. That is pretty "dogon good" when you are in a hostile place like Rupp Arena. As far as 3-pointers, we drained them when we needed them going 10/27. This was crucial because we didn't have the production down low from Hansbrough that we've had in previous games. Wes Miller had a outstanding game making several 3 pointers. Having a threat from outside makes such a big difference. I doubt we'll shoot this well every game, but we have to be able to make 3s from time to time or teams will pack it down low. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but after losing to #11 Illinois by only 4 and beating #10 Kentucky, we have to start thinking about seeing UNC in the top 25. I'm just waiting for the press to start talking about this being Roy's best coaching job...
UNC 44, Kentucky 32 (HALFTIME)
A great half by UNC. The did well in the two biggest areas of concern: 3 pointers and free throws. They went 7/16 from 3. Reyshawn Terry had an excellant half scoring 16. The heels drew a bunch of fouls and finally started making some free throws. It seemed like Hansbrough was fouled about every time he shot down low. Wes Miller made 2 huge 3 pointers.
They were up by 7 with 7 minutes to go.
Then up by 11 with 1 minute to go.
Hansbrough finished the half with a dunk off a Frasor miss to go up by 12.
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