UNC Basketball: Tar Heels Struggle Yet Again, But Still Come Out With Another Win

UNC 77-Gardner-Webb 61


The Tar Heels had a tough time with Gardner-Webb, but ultimately the Bulldogs just didn’t have enough firepower to pull off the upset.  UNC struggled to score in the first half and headed to the locker room with a slim 30-27 lead.  


Carolina came out much sharper early in the second half to take control, only to allow Gardner-Webb to crawl back within four before pulling away late for the 77-61 victory.  Cole Anthony carried the Tar Heels offensively yet again, scoring 28 points and bailing UNC out with some late-in-the-shot-clock baskets to close out the game.


Cole Anthony is a stud, but right now that’s about all UNC’s got.  The rest of the team is incredibly mediocre, and they desperately need freshman Anthony Harris to come back from injury and be the 2^nd best player on this team.  The rest of the supporting cast just isn’t getting it done, and it’s really a lack of talent that’s to blame.  


Armando Bacot ended up having a decent game, but he was far from impressive.  He was stripped on the way up on several occasions early on, and he has to learn to be stronger with the ball and avoid the steal attempts by smaller defenders.  He did a much better job in the second half, but he’s got to be more dominant when he has such a big size advantage.  


Garrison Brooks was downright invisible in this one.  After putting up solid numbers in his first two games, Brooks was hardly a factor against an undersized Gardner-Webb team.  This should be very concerning for a Carolina team that’s struggling to find help for Cole Anthony, and if someone else doesn’t start consistently stepping up the losses could mount once the ACC gets into full swing.  


Right now UNC is nowhere near the #5 team in the country, and I currently have them ranked #27 and in jeopardy of falling even further.



Game 4: Elon


Elon is really challenging itself with a tough early season schedule, and they come in to this one off two straight losses at Georgia Tech and Michigan.  They lack the size, speed, and athleticism to truly hang with teams of this caliber, but they do have one good player who could give Carolina problems.


Marcus Sheffield has good size, great length, and can create his own shot.  He’s got a solid handle that allows him to get where he wants to go, and he’s able to get to the rim and finish or create space for mid-range jumpers.  He’s capable of making threes as well, but it’s definitely his biggest weakness and should be the thing UNC is willing to give up.  


Keeping the ball out of Sheffield’s hands should be Carolina’s top priority defensively.  Leaky Black should draw the assignment when he’s on the floor, with the rest of his teammates always looking to help him out.


Elon doesn’t have many other offensive weapons outside of Marcus Sheffield, but they do play with great effort and intelligence defensively.  They switch between man and zone while attempting to disguise their defensive looks and confuse their opponent, and they do a great job being in the right position to help when their teammates get beat.


The Phoenix likely aren’t big or athletic enough to win this game, but I do expect them to cover the massive 31.5-point spread.  The Tar Heels should be able to pound it inside for easy buckets, but with how much they’ve struggled to score so far this season, it won’t surprise me at all if Carolina has a hard time pulling away from this team.  


The competition level takes a big step up after this game, and while the Tar Heels do have a favorable schedule this season, they might struggle to finish in the ACC’s top tier in what is looking like a down year overall for the typically dominant conference.


Both Louisville and Duke are much better teams than UNC right now, while many other conference foes are certainly capable of finishing ahead of this Tar Heel team.  A 3^rd place finish is likely the ceiling for this squad, but if no one else steps their game up soon, Carolina could fade back to the middle of the pack.  Luckily Cole Anthony is one of the best players in the country and is more than capable of dragging this team to wins, but at some point the load could end up being too much for even him to carry.