The Wofford Terriers are expected to be a significantly worse team than the Western Carolina Catamounts, so it doesn’t necessarily erase the worries about UNC’s game against the latter that their following game against the former looked a lot more like what a home game against a mid-major opponent is supposed to look like. But one way that it was absolutely better was that in Game 1, the Heels were outrebounded by 9, which gave Western a bunch of extra chances that they took just enough advantage
of to keep the game uncomfortably close. Against Wofford, the Heels were +7, which isn’t domination by any means but is enough to keep an otherwise outplayed opponent from changing the game. And almost inarguably the biggest reason for that, and thus the reason that the Heels were able to play like the clearly superior team, was Maximo Adams, who absolutely hoovered the ball off the glass in his team-leading 22 minutes. He picked up 11 boards to go with his 11 points and 2 blocks in a game-changing performance that also seems to have changed, at least a little, the severity of a pressure point for these Heels.
Adams led his team both on the offensive and defensive glass, with 4 and 7 rebounds on each side respectively. A couple of those offensive rebounds came from his own point-blank misses, but that’s going to happen to everybody at times — it’s way too soon to call it a trend a la Moses Malone or pre-senior year Kennedy Meeks. And it’s also not even entirely a bad thing if you convert those offensive rebounds into points, as Adams did. He also added a timely three-pointer and a nifty early finish inside when he had post position but at an awkward angle from the basket. He shot 5/10 from the floor for 11 points, which was a welcome contribution and led to the first double-double of the official season for the Heels, but I’m giving him the nod for Player of the Game because of the rebounding. We saw in this game that the Heels can get points from a lot of guys — 5 players scored in double figures, and none of them were the player who led the team in scoring in their first game.
Adams’ energy also, once again, stood out. Whether it was hyping up the crowd after he made a big play or celebrating on the sidelines, he’s clearly become one of the primary energy guys on this team, and that’s a big deal for a team that lost so much personality and didn’t add anybody in the portal who was guaranteed to replenish it.
I had a tough time picking between Adams and Terrence Brown Jr. for the game ball in this one. After a dismal scoring game from the floor against Western that was only somewhat salvaged by free throws, Brown brought the same attacking mindset to the floor against the Terriers, both in transition and in halfcourt, but this time was able to finish much better around the rim. He also threw in some advanced and physical moves in the short midrange that allowed him to convert a couple of short jumpers, looking much more like the player he was last year. And as a bonus, he hit his first three-point attempt of the game. All told, he scored 21 points on 7/11 shooting, converting 6/8 free throws. He added an assist and 2 steals in what was altogether a great game. Isaiah Denis also deserves a mention. His scoring offense seems to have cooled off since that red-hot first appearance, as he shot just 2/10 from the floor, but he chipped in 6 rebounds, a team-high 5 assists, and what would have been a team-high in plus-minus if not for a bunch of Jaydon Young shots going in in garbage time.
