The Heels Return to Chapel Hill for a Tune-Up.

Having come up short at no. 1 Kansas 92-89 in historic Allen Fieldhouse, the Heels (1-1, 0-0 ACC) have a light schedule until they journey to Hawai’i for the Maui Invitational. Carolina’s performance in their loss against the Kansas Jayhawks was considered – rightly – good enough to only drop them one spot in the AP poll, from no. 9 to no. 10, where they now rank as they prepare to face the American University Eagles (1-2, 0-0 Patriot League) on Friday at 8:00 pm in the Smith Center (televised on ACC Network).

We’ve known for months that this year’s Tar Heels were going to play a bit smaller and risk losing UNC’s typical position as the top rebounding squad in the ACC. Starting center Jalen Washington is being counted on more than ever as he tries to fill steadfast board-crasher Armando Bacot’s spot in the lineup. Carolina did not pick up a true starting big in the portal this year, though head coach Hubert Davis dedicated much of his offseason to trying to bring one home. As a result, collecting missed Tar Heel shots and denying second chances to opponents is a more collaborative effort than usual. Washington, Jae’Lyn Withers, Ven-Allen Lubin, Ty Claude, and wings Cade Tyson, Seth Trimble, and Drake Powell are having to produce collectively what Carolina fans are used to seeing one or two taller, more dominant bigs accomplish on a normal UNC roster.

Last Friday night in Lawrence, UNC had few answers in the first half. They defended poorly and were badly beaten inside by KU’s 7’2″ Hunter Dickinson (who Carolina has faced, limited, and defeated twice before during his three seasons at Michigan). The Kansas lead ballooned to as much as 20 before a run by Elliot Cadeau and a buzzer-beating second-chance layup by reserve center James Brown cut it to a 15-point advantage (KU 53-38). It was revealed in postgame remarks that that wasn’t Brown’s only contribution to helping the Heels flip the switch. The freshman big man challenged his teammates with a passionate impromptu speech in the locker room before Coach Davis delivered his own evangel, emphasizing defense and crashing the boards. It’s hard to measure the psychological impact of such events, but either way, UNC dusted itself off and played a much superior second half. After the break, Carolina got a lot tougher inside, shot 50% from the field, and held Kansas to 39 points. It wasn’t enough, but they did manage to take and hold the lead for four minutes toward the end of the game. Some questionable UNC offensive looks down the stretch – RJ Davis took no shots in the final two minutes – allowed Kansas to overcome the deficit and win by three.

It’s hard to criticize a stat line that reads, “16 points,” against a team like Kansas, but it really was a bit of a down game for Davis, who didn’t score at all for most of the second half, shot poorly all night from everywhere but the foul line, and even failed to inbound the ball once during the Heels’ miserable first half. The rest of the back court performed more to standard, though none shot efficiently from the field. Elliot Cadeau racked up 7 assists to only 2 turnovers while scoring 12. Seth Trimble scored 19 points while grabbing 4 rebounds and making all of his 10 free throw attempts.

Carolina’s starting frontcourt played well, but were limited due to foul trouble. Jae’Lyn Withers had a 60% night from behind the arc (3/5 3PT) and nearly had a double-double in 24 minutes, scoring 11 (4/6 FG) and gathering 9 rebounds. Jalen Washington had a tidy 7 points and 9 rebounds on 3/5 shooting.

Freshman guard Ian Jackson had a wonderful shooting night off the bench, scoring 10 points (4/5 FG, 2/2 3PT) in 15 minutes of action. Carolina’s other highly-touted freshman, Drake Powell, had a much quieter night in 20 minutes though he did contribute 4 rebounds. Ven-Allen Lubin had 10 points in 14 minutes before fouling out. Cade Tyson was entrusted with only a minute before Coach Davis had him back to the bench, a concerning sign as Tyson tries to adjust to the major conference game. James Brown, as previously mentioned, showed a lot of heart and positively impacted the game in just 2 minutes on the floor. Ty Claude had 3 boards and probably would have been more of a factor had he not picked up 3 fouls in 3 minutes.

Overall, Carolina’s effort at Allen Fieldhouse was evidence of a talented team that is growing and learning how to manage its size deficiency. The second half was worlds better than the first and it’s a shame that the Tar Heels couldn’t get much of anything going on offense in the final minutes to snatch a comeback victory in that hallowed venue. UNC ended up outrebounding Kansas 40-39, but the Jayhawks had 2 more offensive rebounds and outscored the Heels in the paint 50-32. In second chance points, KU nearly doubled Carolina, 14-8, while their bench prevailed 42-24 largely due to senior guard Zeke Mayo’s brilliant 21-point performance. Almost every Tar Heel mishandled the ball at some point, creating a decisive +7 turnover margin in favor of the Jayhawks.

The fact that UNC outrebounded both Elon (+3) and KU (+1) is one you might not believe had you watched the games without checking the stats thereafter. American U is a smaller team than the Heels’ first two opponents and will provide a chance to try to get-right in the post on Friday night. The Eagles’ two losses have been competitive road games against La Salle (who UNC will play on 12/14) and Siena. Their lone win came at home against 1-3 Harvard, 67-55. UNC will be a heavy favorite and hopefully will continue to grow in the same vein that they began during their second half comeback effort against Kansas, asserting themselves more on the glass and competing effectively on defense.