Tar Heels Dismantle the Spartans, Cruise to 79-56 Victory Over UNC-G

Kennedy Meeks muscled his way to a team-high 18 points as #24 North Carolina convincingly defeated another in-state foe Tuesday night, UNC-Greensboro, 79-56.  Complete domination in the paint allowed the Heels to jump all over the Spartans early and never look back.  An obvious size advantage in favor of the Heels was the glaring difference in this one.  Carolina used its inside presence to beat down the Spartans and completely controlled the game throughout.  Joel James matched a career-high in points with 11 in 16 efficient minutes of play off the bench showcasing nice footwork, good hands, and a sweet running skyhook.

Meeks and James were the only Tar Heels to score in double figures but Carolina shared the wealth inside on a night when UNC Preseason All-American Marcus Paige struggled mightily shooting the ball.

Paige finished only 1-of-8 from the field, 1-of-6 from 3 point range for six points, but the perimeter offense didn't need to shine on this night.  That is because defense and rebounding ruled the evening.  Carolina doubled up the Spartans on the glass, outrebounding UNC-G 51-25.  20 of those 51 rebounds came on the offensive glass, a place where UNC did major damage.  Due to most of the scoring coming from inside the paint, Carolina made 49.2% (30-61) of its field goal attempts which definitely masked perimeter shooting woes where UNC only made 21.4% of its 3-point shots.

The Tar Heels succeeded in bouncing back from a tough road defeat to top-ranked Kentucky on Saturday by utilizing its size and length to overpower the injury-plagued Spartans.  Depth played a huge role in the lop-sided victory for the Heels.  In addition to James' double-digit scoring game, Isaiah Hicks was an inside presence with eight points.  Also, Joel Berry II showed once again that he can contribute off the bench scoring eight points without committing one turnover.  In fact, the Carolina bench outscored the Spartans 37-17 and highlighted the Spartan's lack of personnel in that area.  UNC-G's Diante Baldwin (playing in only his 3rd game of the season due to an injury) netted 13 points off the bench but the scoring ran dry elsewhere among the Spartans' reserves.

Despite a horrible night for the Spartans shooting from 3-pt range and from the free throw line, Kayel Locke was a bright spot for UNC-G scoring 17 points and pulling down four rebounds.  Team scoring leader Tevon Saddler (averaging 16.4 pts/gm coming in) was held to just six points on 3-of-8 shooting.  Saddler was saddled with early foul trouble and eventually fouled out with 11:15 in the game.  Not what UNC-G Coach Wes Miller, former Tar Heel and a member of the 2005 National Championship team coached by Roy Williams, had hoped for from his squad.  Carolina's stingy defense created all sorts of shooting problems for the Spartans.  When the UNC big men clogged the lane, UNC-G had one option and that was to shoot.  Unfortunately for the Spartans, that didn't work out so well, either.  In my pre-game analysis, I mentioned that UNC-G would have to shoot well from the perimeter Tuesday night to counter the Tar Heels size inside. But, UNC-G managed to make only 5-of-24 three-pointers (20.8%) and that average looks a little better due to a couple late 3's from Nicholas Paulos.  Free throws didn't go any better as the Spartans made less than half of them (11-26 for 42.3%).

UNC still has a number of areas to work on and improve, mainly turnovers, as the Heels gave it away 17 times tonight (that's coming off a 18 turnover game versus Kentucky).  J.P. Tokoto, after starting so clean in the early games, has begun to throw the ball away in high doses.  Tokoto had another six turnover game (he had six against Kentucky) and Brice Johnson added four turnovers.  Carolina will take full advantage of some practice time now that exams are done and there is no class during the holiday break.  Coach Williams mentioned in his post-game news conference that he is looking forward to practices being "Long, Long, and Long" over the next coming days as the Heels prepare to meet #12 Ohio State in Chicago at the CBS Sports Classic on Saturday.  UNC will have full practices on Wednesday and Thursday before flying to Chicago Thursday night.  The Heels will then have a full practice on Friday in the United Center to get ready for Saturday's most important showdown with the Buckeyes.

The next four days are, undoubtedly, the most crucial days of the Tar Heels season to this point.  Practice is exactly what the doctor ordered for this team and expect Carolina to immerse itself deeply in getting better and ironing out issues that keep popping up.  Practice will bring a focus back to doing the right things and should have the Heels prepared for top competition in Chicago.

Official Box Score: UNC 79 - UNCG 56


Next Game:     #24 North Carolina (7-3, 0-0 ACC)
                                                  vs
                         #12 Ohio State Buckeyes (8-1, 0-0 Big Ten)

Date/Time:      Saturday, December 20, 2014 @ 1:00pm EST
Location:         United Center in Chicago, IL
TV/Radio:       CBS / Tar Heel Sports Network