The first half of Tuesday night’s game at the Smith Center went about as well as Wyoming could have hoped for. The game was being played at a slower pace, with both defenses playing to their strengths. The Cowboys dominated on the offensive glass, gathering a whopping 15 offensive boards to give themselves second (and often third and fourth) chances to score per possession. And while this was a strength of this Wyoming team coming into the game – they actually ranked first in offensive rebounding
rate in the country according to KenPom, albeit in two games – part of the reason they got so many opportunities to collect their own misses was Sayon Keita’s excellent play on defense. This is one of a few reasons we named Sayon Keita Player of the Game.
While Keita is still a work in progress, the talent and raw physical abilities of the 7’1” freshman were on full display last night. He rejected three shots in the first half and ultimately finished the game with six blocks while forcing Wyoming into altering several more attempts. The big man from Mali also helped the Heels claw back some of their rebounding deficient in the first half. Wyoming outrebounded UNC 25-15 in the first half; Keita grabbed five boards in the second frame to help UNC win the second half battle on the glass, 22-18. He also scored the majority of his points in the second half as the Heels pulled away from Wyoming, often on ally-oop dunks. Keita ended up with 13 points (on 6-9 shooting), eight rebounds, six blocks, and three steals. His offensive game is still somewhat limited, but based on last night’s performance, he’s in midseason form on the defensive end of the floor.
Normally we highlight one other player as an honorable mention, but several other Tar Heels deserve a shoutout. Maximo Adams was once again a spark plug, falling one rebound shy of a double-double; he finished with 13 points and nine rebounds. Terrence Brown’s shooting percentage wasn’t pretty (6-16 from the floor), but his ability to drive to the rim and create his own shot proved vital to UNC. He had a personal 9-0 run that pulled UNC out of a 31-31 tie and gave them a 39-33 lead that the Heels wouldn’t relinquish. And finally, while Isiah Denis isn’t the same type of player that the departed Derek Dixon is, he is taking his place in one way: he’s become that player who clearly put in the work and is making the freshman to sophomore jump. Denis finished with a career-high 14 points, which also led all UNC scorers. His contributions were critical in the first half, where he went a perfect 4-4 from the field for 11 of UNC’s 31 points as the rest of the Heels struggled to get on track offensively.
UNC will welcome Georgia to Chapel Hill for their next game on Friday.
