Michael Malone is now 3-0 as UNC men’s basketball head coach and UNC’s home nonconference winning streak remains active, after the Heels withstood a gritty effort from the Cowboys of Wyoming to gut out a 13-point win. It was never going to be easy, given Wyoming’s nation-leading offensive rebounding rate against a UNC team that hadn’t been good at preventing teams at getting on the offensive glass, but the Heels had enough offense, and adjusted enough in the second half, to come away with a fairly
comfortable, if competitive, victory.
Wyoming struck first with a 6-0 start that turned into 8-4 after four minutes, largely on the back of four early offensive rebounds that both confirmed that pregame scouting report and established what the rest of the half was going to look like. But as has been the case for all of UNC’s regular season games thus far, the first substitutions made a difference. Maximo Adams hit two early threes as soon as he entered the game to give his team a brief lead, helped by multiple Sayon Keita blocks keeping a lid on the Pokes’ basket. By halfway through the first period, Wyoming had 11 offensive rebounds but just 6 points off them; their offensive rebounding was almost more effective defense than offense because they were limiting UNC possessions.
The Heels built an advantage through playing defense — a forced pass out of bounds, an Isaiah Denis block, and a Jain Stevenson steal led to a 7-0 run that gave them a 19-15 lead with 8 minutes to go (it was a very low-scoring first half, thanks to the aforementioned Wyoming offensive ineptitude and lack of UNC possessions). Denis was another spark off the bench in this one, scoring 8 quick ones and 11 in the half to lead all scorers while not missing a shot from the floor.
The Heels attempted to pull away with a couple of quick mini-runs, but the offensive rebounds started to lead to points for the Pokes, as they got two three-pointers off them to keep them close before a buzzer-beating midrange jump shot brought them to within 31-29 at the half.
The 2nd half opened with the teams trading baskets and playing a much higher tempo than in the first, helped by UNC cleaning up the defensive glass (and Wyoming making a few more shots) and Terrence Brown running the “cook him, twin” offense en route to scoring UNC’s first 6 points of the half. Then it was Sayon Keita’s turn to take over: he scored 9 of UNC’s next 14 points, adding a block and a few offensive rebounds of his own to boot. UNC’s lead slowly ballooned as their defense continued to get stops and they started to finish possessions with rebounds, and it got as high as 14 after another three-pointer from Denis. From there, though, the baskets dried up a little. The Heels went nearly 4 minutes with just one field goal made, allowing Wyoming to get the game back within 10 at the under-8 — with both teams having nearly matched their first-half scoring totals in nearly half the time.
Down the stretch, UNC stretched the lead to 18 and seemed to be on the verge of sealing it for good this time, but the Cowboys weren’t done. They put together a quick 10-0 run to keep the game from breaking open and to give themselves a chance with under 2 minutes to go. They got the deficit to 8, but the Heels’ strong defense and disciplined offense bled enough clock in those 2 minutes stopped them from ever being threatened. An Adams layup and some made free throws put the finishing touches on the final margin.
Denis and Brown basically traded roles in the first and second half, and finished the game tied for UNC’s scoring lead, with 14 points apiece — Brown added 5 boards in a necessary guard-rebounding performance. Keita added 13 to go with 8 rebounds (5 offensive), 6 blocks, and 3 steals, having an all-around giant impact. Maximo Adams also had 13 points, and once again led his team with 9 rebounds. For Wyoming, Nasir Meyer scored 17, but was defended well, shooting just 8/21.
UNC’s next game will still be at home, but they’ll be facing a high-major opponent for the first time: Georgia will be coming to town on Friday for the SEC/ACC Challenge.
