The North Carolina Tar Heels are now 2-0 on the young season, taking down Wofford 109-70 on Friday night in the Dean Dome. After a shaky start with the Western Carolina win on Monday, North Carolina answered all of the questions on Friday night.
They jumped out to an early lead and never really looked back. Unlike Monday's win, UNC dominated this game from the start and closed it out to put their seal on it.
That was led by Terrence Brown who had 21 points to lead the Tar Heels, with four others also scoring in double figures, including three off the bench. UNC certainly has to feel better about themselves after this game and now being 2-0.
Before we turn the page and focus on Wyoming, head coach Michael Malone met the media on Friday night to
discuss the big win. Here is what he said via TarHeel247:
On Jarin Stevenson being aggressive
"I think he has responded really well. I remember when I first got the job, and I met with him maybe the day after I got the job, with his mom and dad, and we talked about, 'How do we get him more aggressive?' And I talked about knowing him and his personality; I'm never going to ask him to be something he's not, but on the court, his play can speak loudly. And that first play, I just said in front of the team, I thought it set the tone.
"And so, being aggressive to drive, being aggressive on the glass, being aggressive to get to the free-throw line, and he is such a quality young man. For all of our guys, we have a great group of kids. I just want them to have success because they work so hard every day. And as a coach, that's all you can ask for: guys that are bringing the energy and the effort, and we're showing improvement. We're just gonna keep on pounding that rock.
"On a second note, I just want to say I thought the crowd was great tonight. Shout-out to our student body for showing up tonight and bringing energy on a really dark, rainy Friday. But I appreciate the crowd and the energy they brought. They had a lot to do with the win as well."
On the difference in not taking steps back tonight
"Not getting bored with success. Something we have been talking about: when you build a lead, when you get off to a good start. Because if you go back to the Western game, we started the game off 10-0. Things were looking great. The next thing you know, it is a two-point game. We started the second half on a four-zero run. We are up 13. They go on an eight-zero run. They cut it to five.
"So we can never pull away because we just were not understanding why we got the lead, or if we did understand that, we were reluctant to stay with that. I thought tonight, something we talked about was to just keep playing the right way, keep building habits, and play as close to 40 minutes as possible, and I was proud of our guys. I kept on reminding them in the huddle, even as the lead was getting bigger: we're building habits.
"This is not just a nice game. This is going to help us in a game down the road, and I thought our guys showed maturity in that regard tonight."
On Maximo Adams being a factor
"Yeah, Maxi was great tonight — obviously, his first career double-double. We won the rebound battle. We still gave up, I think, 17. But thank goodness, 19-to-10 second-chance points in our favor tonight, which was nice. And we took another step forward in terms of taking care of the basketball: eighteen assists, only eight turnovers. But Maxi can play the three. He can play the four. There'll be times where maybe he plays the five for us.
"But just relentless pursuit, and we have seen that every day in practice. So tonight was not just like a one-off. This is something that Maxi prides himself on: attacking the glass, working the offensive boards, getting us extra possessions. He was our defensive player of the game tonight: seven defensive boards, two blocks, three deflections. I thought he had a huge impact and imprint on the game tonight."
On five players scoring in double figures
"Obviously, it was great to see us make some shots tonight. We got to the foul line again a lot, which shows that we are being aggressive. But we are connected, to your point, to have that many guys in double figures. Terrence gets 21. Jarin gets 10. Maxi's double-double. I thought Samo off the bench,13 and seven, gave us some really good minutes. And my favorite stat of the night was the 20-to-4 on fast-break points.
"That is something we have been harping on. How do we want to play? We want to play fast. Well, you can not play fast if you are not rebounding the ball. And we still gave up way too many offensive rebounds, but our guys work hard. We give a lot of guys a chance to play, and they go out there and play to the best of their ability. Take Isaiah Denis, for example."
"That is two games now, nine assists, no turnovers. That is pretty good for a primary ball handler with the second unit. So, just continue to -- we are not satisfied. We have got a lot of things we can clean up, but just once again, keep on coming in every single day and finding ways to improve. And if we continue to do that every single day, by the end of the season, hopefully we will be a pretty good team."
On improving in transition game
"Yeah, I think we're still learning each other. Let's not forget that. I think I mentioned this after the last game. We have a starting five that's never played one minute together prior to the season. We have 11 new players, and so I think each day that goes by, each battle, each contest that we go through kind of brings us together even more. And you have that family, you have that togetherness, and that cohesion that improves.
"And now guys are getting used to playing with each other, and getting used to playing different lineups, and the more comfortable you get, that allows you to show progress. And just trying to really instill being selfless is a huge part of what we're trying to build here, and it's not about you. When we're up by 20, it's not about you. It's still the team. It's still we, and if we can continue to maintain that and drive that home, that's when you have a chance to build something special. And I think our guys are doing that."
On getting different groups in the game
To give your starters a rest. And when you know you can go to your bench unit, whether it's Isaiah, Jaydon, Angelo, Maxi, Samo, whoever it might be, those guys come in the game and build on what the starting unit did. That's what you need to have. You have to have a great start by your starters. When you go to your bench four, five, six minutes in, you need that bench unit to come in and build on that, and not allow the other team to kind of get back in the game.
"So I felt we had a real positive impact from our bench tonight. They brought the energy, and when they stepped into the game, they were ready to go, which is what you want to see."
On what he's looking for from Maximo Adams and Alex Samodurov in the front court
"Yeah, just to play their game. Obviously, it always starts on the defensive end first and foremost. Maxi, as a four, we switch a lot. I give Samo a lot of credit tonight because he was battling a very big kid, and he took around four or five elbows to the head, it seems, and he kept on getting up. For him to have the night that he had -- 13 and seven -- he just kept on staying with it.
"And he got us three offensive rebounds. What you saw tonight a little bit too is that when Jarin is at the five, when Samo is at the five, we have the ability to play pick and pop. And so now you have Sayon on the rim. You can also go a different style of basketball and get some pick-and-pop in there as well. So different looks, but the second unit as a whole, they were outstanding."
This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: Michael Malone speaks after UNC basketball's win over Wofford
