By R.L. Bynum
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — With all the good numbers that freshman point guard Elliot Cadeau put up on Saturday, all he could think about was one number — five turnovers.
Cadeau has always been his biggest critic, even after career-best totals of 19 points and four assists, as well as an ACC-high eight assists. He refused to call it his best game because of that season-high turnover total.
“That’s just how I am,” he said after No. 3 Carolina’s 75–72 victory at Miami. “I’m pretty hard on myself. When I look at this game, I just see the five turnovers. I see a couple when we really needed to score and that’s what I see. I don’t really see the 19 points. I think that’s this how I am. My brother plays tennis, and he’s the same way. I think that’s just how we are.”
That mental approach has a downside in that shaking a slump can be harder.
“It’s actually really hard,” Cadeau said. “But my confidence is at an all-time high right now. I’ve got confidence in myself because I’ve been working really hard on it.”
The bad pass that led to a follow-up Wooga Poplar dunk with 1:40 left to allow Miami to pull within three probably is the mistake he’ll beat himself up the most.
But Cadeau was a huge reason why UNC built a 12-point first-half lead, scoring or assisting on 12 of the Tar Heels’ first 15 points. He showed how much of a difference he makes defensively, notably midway through the first half when he stripped the ball away from Bensley Joseph, which led to a Harrison Ingram 3-pointer at the other end.
Once he looked past those turnovers, seeing the hard work behind the scenes on his perimeter shot finally pay off brought him joy. He hadn’t scored a 3-pointer since the win over Charleston Southern on Dec. 29, hitting two to give him multiple 3s for the first time this season.
Cadeau has been consistent from the perimeter in practice but hasn’t been able to knock down 3s in games until Saturday.
He keeps shooting in practice until he makes 500 jumpers — sometimes 1,000 — that are mostly 3-pointers, with student managers Avery Wilkerson Jr. and George Roehner rebounding for him. That usually happens over three workouts of about 15 minutes each.
“It feels good,” Cadeau said of the perimeter success against Miami. “It’s been a while, and this has helped build my confidence.”
Cadeau was clearly more assertive with his jump shot, attempting three 3-pointers in the first half after attempting at least three only three times in any game.
“Definitely my mindset,” he said. “I’ve been working on it a lot. And I make shots all the time in practice, and they just haven’t been falling. I just have to see some fall and I’ll be good.”
For much of the season, Cadeau has been hesitant to shoot from the perimeter, but Coach Hubert Davis has encouraged him to keep shooting.
“He just tells me if I’m open, he wants me to shoot it at the time, and he wants me to have the confidence in myself to knock it down,” said Cadeau, who made his teammates happy with his approach Saturday. “They were just proud of me that I shot six; they were even more proud of me that I attempted [that many].”
Most opponents have been sagging back on Cadeau on the perimeter because they didn’t think he could make it. Miami guarded him close, and that made him even more dangerous with his quickness.
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“It allowed me to get to the rim,” Cadeau said. “I feel like nobody can guard me if I’m making shots because now you got to play me up close, and I feel like I’m fast; I can move by anybody.”
Cadeau said he has had many conversations with graduate center Armando Bacot that have helped him navigate the struggles that any freshman goes through.
“Mondo has helped me stay focused, especially in moments like this, when it’s a tight game down the stretch,” Cadeau said. “He was talking to me a lot throughout that whole game.”
Bacot tries to keep Cadeau from being so hard on himself by reminding him how tough it is for every young player.
“What I’ve been trying to tell him is that it’s tough playing in the ACC as a freshman,” Bacot said, “especially now with a lot of older guys hanging around and him playing a prominent position like a point guard where a ball is always in your hand; you’ve got to control everything. It’s tough, and you’ll have learning curves, and you’re going to get lessons all throughout it. But the way he bounced back from the last game was huge. We wouldn’t have won the game without them.”
Coach Davis said that Miami’s hard-hedging on defense made it tough for Carolina to get inside but Cadeau created opportunities.
“I just felt like Elliot was really persistent at attacking and trying to get there, not just for him, for everybody else,” he said.
Davis called on Cadeau to make the right decisions in the half-court sets when Carolina slowed its offense while attempting to burn time with a lead late against Miami.
“I feel comfortable in situations like that,” he said. “And the coaches feel really confident in me. So that just helps me a lot. They call plays with the ball in my hands. So that gives me a lot of confidence.”
If Cadeau can keep shooting like that, given his ability to whip past defenders to create offense inside, the future for him and the Tar Heels looks bright.
UNC season statistics
| Team | League | Overall | NET* | WAB* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 1 Duke | 17–1 | 29–2 | 1 | 2 |
| No. 10 Virginia | 15–3 | 27–4 | 13 | 11 |
| Miami | 13–5 | 24–7 | 32 | 28 |
| No. 19 North Carolina | 12–6 | 24–7 | 23 | 19 |
| Clemson | 12–6 | 22–9 | 36 | 33 |
| No. 24 Louisville | 11–7 | 22–9 | 14 | 25 |
| N.C. State | 10–8 | 19–12 | 35 | 45 |
| Florida State | 10–8 | 17–14 | 69 | 74 |
| California | 9–9 | 21–10 | 65 | 49 |
| Stanford | 9–9 | 20–11 | 59 | 51 |
| SMU | 8–10 | 19–12 | 39 | 50 |
| Virginia Tech | 8–10 | 19–12 | 53 | 52 |
| Wake Forest | 7–11 | 16–15 | 64 | 81 |
| Syracuse | 6–12 | 15–16 | 83 | 92 |
| Pittsburgh | 5–13 | 12–19 | 109 | 146 |
| Notre Dame | 4–14 | 13–18 | 93 | 121 |
| Boston College | 4–14 | 11–20 | 159 | 217 |
| Georgia Tech | 2–16 | 11–20 | 167 | 210 |
* — Through Sunday games
Saturday’s results
No. 1 Duke 76, No. 19 North Carolina 61
Boston College 77, Notre Dame 69
Clemson 79, Georgia Tech 76
No. 24 Louisville 92, Miami 89
Florida State 92, SMU 78
Stanford 85, N.C. State 84
Wake Forest 80, California 73
Pittsburgh 71, Syracuse 69, OT
END OF REGULAR SEASON
ACC tournament
Spectrum Center | Charlotte
Tuesday through Saturday
| Date | Month/day | Scores | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. BYU in SLC | Exhib. |
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 95–53 | vs. Winston-Salem St. | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 94–54 | vs. Central Arkansas | 1–0 |
| 7 | Friday | W, 87–74 | vs. No. 17 Kansas | 2–0 |
| 11 | Tuesday | W, 89–74 | vs. Radford | 3–0 |
| 14 | Friday | W, 97–53 | vs. N.C. Central | 4–0 |
| 18 | Tuesday | W, 73–61 | vs. Navy | 5–0 |
| Fort Myers Tip-Off | ||||
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 85–70 | vs. St. Bonaventure | 6–0 |
| 27 | Thursday | L, 74–58 | vs. No. 11 Michigan State | 6–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 67–64 | at Kentucky | 7–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 81–61 | vs. Georgetown | 8–1 |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 80–62 | vs. USC Upstate | 9–1 |
| 16 | Tuesday | W, 77–58 | vs. ETSU | 10–1 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 20 | Saturday | W, 71–70 | vs. Ohio State | 11–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 22 | Monday | W, 99–51 | vs. East Carolina | 12–1 |
| 30 | Tuesday | W, 79–66 | vs. Florida State | 13–1, 1–0 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | L, 97–83 | at SMU | 13–2, 1–1 |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 87–84 | vs. Wake Forest | 14–2, 2–1 |
| 14 | Wednesday | L, 95–90 | at Stanford | 14–3, 2–2 |
| 17 | Saturday | L, 84–78 | at California | 14–4, 2–3 |
| 21 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | vs. Notre Dame | 15–4, 3–3 |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 85–80 | at No. 9 Virginia | 16–4, 4–3 |
| 31 | Saturday | W, 91–75 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 5–3 |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | W, 87–77 | vs. Syracuse | 18–4, 6–3 |
| 7 | Saturday | W, 71–68 | vs. No. 1 Duke | 19–4, 7–3 |
| 10 | Tuesday | L, 75–66 | at No. 25 Miami | 19–5, 7–4 |
| 14 | Saturday | W, 79–65 | vs. Pittsburgh | 20–5, 8–4 |
| 17 | Tuesday | L, 82–58 | at N.C. State | 20–6, 8–5 |
| 21 | Saturday | W, 77–64 | at Syracuse | 21–6, 9–5 |
| 23 | Monday | W, 77–74 | vs. Louisville | 22–6, 10–5 |
| 28 | Saturday | W, 89–82 | vs. Virginia Tech | 23–6, 11–5 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | W, 67–63 | vs. Clemson | 24–6, 12–5 |
| 7 | Saturday | L, 76–61 | at No. 1 Duke | 24–7, 12–6 |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte | |
| 12 | Thursday | L, 80–79 | Quarterfinals: vs. Clemson | 24–8 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 19 | Thursday | L, 82–78, OT | First round: vs. VCU in Greenville, S.C. | 24–9 |
Photo via @UNC_Basketball
