How odd does it sound to say that North Carolina is flying under the radar? Is that something you ever imagined would be a pretty good reflection of reality?
Think about it: this is a program with so much history on display in the Dean Dome, their home arena. They have won five national championships, including one less than two years ago (and a year after they were runner-up in a heart-breaking loss). They have put countless players into the NBA. This is a program not unlike Kentucky in that they will be relevant nationally whether they get to the Final Four or aren’t even worthy of an NIT bid.
But of late, the Tar Heels haven’t been winning with a lineup consisting of a half dozen McDonald’s All-Americans like they used to, including during a lot of Roy Williams’ tenure. From a pure talent standpoint, the Tar Heel teams of recent years can barely hold a candle to the ones he had his first five years or so in Chapel Hill. And with their starting backcourt graduating from last season, there was a real question about this team.
After Saturday, however, more of those questions have been vanquished. North Carolina took care of Gonzaga 103-90, scoring at least 50 points in each half against a pretty good defensive team. The Tar Heels shot 54.7 percent from the field, including 13-25 from long range, and had a 42-21 rebounding edge to win despite an incredible 23 turnovers.
Can you imagine how many points this team would have put up without the turnovers?
The Tar Heels nowadays still have some big-time talent like freshman Coby White, who had 15 points and six assists, and classmate Nassir Little comes off the bench for instant offense. But this team nowadays is led by guys like late bloomer Luke Maye (20 points, 16 rebounds) and Cameron Johnson (25 points on 8-12 shooting, including 6-8 from deep), a solid player but not one who screams All-American.
One thing Williams has not changed is his desire to run even on made baskets and even if he doesn’t have a guy like Ty Lawson running the show. The Tar Heels got quick baskets on several occasions Saturday that had to frustrate and demoralize the Bulldogs. He still has an athletic team and uses that.
The Tar Heels are now 8-2 with wins over Stanford, UCLA and now Gonzaga, along with a good mid-major in Wofford on the road. Challenges in Kentucky, Davidson and Harvard remain before ACC play. There’s no shame in losing a close one to Texas in Las Vegas or at Michigan, although the Wolverines dominated the Tar Heels in the second half. In all, this is another solid team that will be right there in the mix in the ACC.
Side Dishes
For more on much of the game action on Saturday, check out the Saturday notes not long after this goes live.
Notre Dame beat Purdue in the first game of the Crossroads Classic, but the Fighting Irish might have suffered a big loss as well. Senior Rex Pflueger, who had a solid game with 10 assists and is the epitome of toughness, landed awkwardly after going up for a play, and injured his left knee. The extent of the injury is not known, but it didn’t look good.
Kansas State also lost player during a win – actually, two players, as big man Dean Wade and guard Kamau Stokes both went down with ankle injuries in the second half. Neither is thought to be serious, but the extent of both injuries are not definitively known. Head coach Bruce Weber said Wade will have an MRI on Sunday to further determine the extent of his injury.
Tonight’s Menu
After a busy day of action on Saturday, the slate is a little lighter today.
- Mohegan Sun Arean in Connecticut is home to the Air Force Reserve Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off, a tripleheader that begins with Rhode Island taking on West Virginia (1 p.m.), then has Dayton taking on Tulsa (3:30 p.m.) and Drexel battling Quinnipiac (6 p.m.)
- In a matchup of old conference rivals and contenders in their respective conferences, Northeastern travels to Vermont (2 p.m.)
- An intriguing matchup is Saint Louis traveling to a Houston team trying to remain undefeated (3 p.m.)
- A non-bracketed game in the Diamond Head Classic should be a good one as Indiana State travels to TCU (5 p.m.)
- Former Big 12 rivals meet as Oklahoma State takes on Nebraska in Sioux Falls (7 p.m.)
