The hype train for this UNC Basketball season seems to keep getting stronger. Everyone will agree the game against Radford wasn’t great, and yet “wasn’t great” still resulted in a 15-point win. You could
argue a lot of factors our them—the first game without Seth Trimble, the letdown factor of the big win against Kansas—but for what it’s worth the Tar Heels seemed to take their deficiencies to heart Friday night when they blew out North Carolina Central.
The last of this run of home games happens Tuesday when the Midshipmen of Navy come into Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels will look to continue to clean up some things before heading down to Fort Myers next week and the beginning of some bigger games. Here are three things to watch for in that Tuesday night contest.
Hitting from Deep
Finally in their eighth half of basketball, the Tar Heels seemed to figure out how to hit it from behind the three point arc. Even against Radford they were 8-31, and to start the game against NC Central they were 3-11. The second half, though, the home rims finally looked friendly and the Tar Heels went 8-17. It’s the only time this season they’ve sniffed a good percentage from there, and to avoid teams from playing zones against them they are going to have to hit shots like they did in the second half.
It’s going to be especially worth keeping an eye on against a Navy squad that is hitting 36% from three and due to their size limitations—no one is over seven feet, which you’d kind of expect for a group of folks about to go to the Navy. They know their best chance to pull an upset will be to catch fire from distance, and Carolina will need to be able to at least look closer to their second half selves to keep them honest.
Kyan Evans’ Evolution
If there’s one spot that has created the most consternation for the Tar Heels it’s the point guard. There aren’t a lot of believers in Kyan Evans, but he has just continued to improve as each game has gone on. He had his best performance against the Eagles with a seven assist and only one turnover stat line, and was a ridiculous +34 when he was on the floor.
With Seth Trimble still laid up for at least another few weeks, guard play here is going to be important and Evans will need to continue to grow comfortable in the position. The great news for him is that the Tar Heels in general have set themselves up to be an unselfish team. They had 21 assists on 55 made baskets Friday night, and they are averaging 18.8 per game so far on the season. That’s a full four assists over what the squad did last season, and if it holds it would be the most for a Hubert Davis-led squad by far.
They don’t need Evans necessarily to score, just keep the flow going with this ball sharing and finding the best shot to take. It’s arguably the biggest reason he was brought in, and we’ll see they and he can keep this up Tuesday.
Enjoying Home Cooking
It has been over 100 years since Carolina began the season with five straight home games. Fans have gotten accustomed to at least one road or neutral court contest leading into a big Thanksgiving showdown of some sort. This year is different, as the significant turnover in the roster plus the two less conference games gave UNC some wiggle room to play some teams and build some confidence. This has come as a treat for fans who had gotten used to having to put up with a lot of games away from Chapel Hill in the first part of the season.
Tuesday is the last one of these for almost three weeks as Carolina will take a week off afterwards then head down to Fort Myers to face off against St. Bonaventure and then a big one against Michigan State in what will be another top 25 showdown. They’ll then face off against Kentucky in Lexington before coming back to Chapel Hill for three straight.
Building comfort at home is important and so far it’s playing out exactly as Davis had hoped. The squad has a big win in their back pocket against Kansas and the players are looking more comfortable playing as a team. They’ll need to keep it up because every level of comfort this squad can get will be key in getting big wins later this year.
