The first UNC basketball game of the season may have felt like uneasy dental work with a happy ending after the Tar Heels managed to do just enough to beat Western Carolina. Friday night against Wofford was a different story. As in their first game, the Tar Heels never trailed. What was different, though, was that the Tar Heels looked the part as they overpowered the Terriers on their way to a 109-70 win. It was the highest point total for the Tar Heels since November of 2018.
Carolina’s offense definitely
came easier in this one with five players ending up in double figures. Michael Malone continued his five in, five out strategy playing with an A/B lineup. Terrence Brown was very good for the A group, leading the team with 21 points. Jaydon Young, Alex Samodurov, and Maximo Adams all turned in strong performances for the B side. They finished with 15, 13, and 11 points, respectively. Adams led the team in rebounds with 11. The bench was responsible for 58 of the Tar Heels’ points. Jarin Stevenson was the other Tar Heel in double figures with 10 points.
If it weren’t for the efforts of Cutter Sisk for Wofford, the final score would have been even more lopsided. He was responsible for 27 of the Terriers’ points. He was 11-18 from the field and grabbed seven boards to lead Wofford. The Terriers got the best of the Heels on the offensive glass, 17-14, but the Heels converted more second-chance points, 19-10. The overall rebounding margin was still too close for comfort with UNC holding a +7 mark in the category, but almost everything else was so lopsided that it didn’t become a major factor.
The Heels shot 52% from the field and made 10 of their three-point attempts. They also converted on 23 of their 29 free throw attempts. Seven steals for the Heels helped lead to 13 turnovers for Wofford. Carolina turned those into 14 points on the other end.
After a couple nail-biter exhibition game and a too-close-for-comfort start to the season, it was very good to get a comfortable win. It was also great to see that success was spread across so much of the lineup. Hopefully this was the game that gets Brown fully going, and Adams looked very impressive as a freshman playing in just his second game. Depth has not been a reliable feature at times in recent memory for Carolina, but the team showed tonight that there are more than a few guys who can step up and put points on the board.
Carolina tries to keep it rolling on Tuesday when they welcome Wyoming to Chapel Hill.
