Wilson gets alarmingly few shots down stretch in last four games

By R.L. Bynum

It’s a troubling pattern when one of the best freshmen in the country and a first-round NBA draft pick doesn’t get many shots down the stretch.

In the last four games, Caleb Wilson’s shots have been hard to come by. Teams have been double-teaming the sensational forward all season, but Carolina is having particular issues getting him the ball when the Tar Heels have needed points in key stretches.

“Obviously, we’d like to get the ball to him as much as possible,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said Monday during the weekly ACC coaches Zoom press conference. “Also defenses pay him a lot of attention as well, and doubling whenever he catches the basketball and try to get the ball out of his hands.”

Davis didn’t address, when asked, what Carolina can do to get him more shots, instead emphasizing other ways he affects the game.

In the last four games, losses at SMU (97–83), Stanford (95–90) and Cal (84–78) and when UNC barely held on to beat Wake Forest 87–74 at home, Wilson’s statistics in the last 15 minutes of those games are stunningly low.

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Wilson is averaging 15.7 shots and 25.4 points per 40 minutes in all games this season. But in the last 15 minutes of the last four games, he’s only averaging 6.0 shots and 13.3 points per 40 minutes. If you just look at the SMU, Wake Forest and Cal games, that falls to 4.0 shots and 6.7 points.

His only breakthrough during that stretch was when he made all four shots and scored 10 points against Stanford. In the last 15 minutes of the other three games, he’s combined for 10 points on 2 of 7 shooting.

“All I have to say is down the floor, from an offensive standpoint, he either gets an offensive rebound, he either assisted, or he gets fouled and gets to the free throw line,” Davis said.

Wilson has one assist in the last 15 minutes of each of the last four games. He has four total offensive rebounds during the last 15 minutes of the four games, with four of his eight total rebounds coming in the Cal game.

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Wilson’s numbers down stretch

Here are Wilson’s numbers in the last 15 minutes of each of the last four games:
SMU — 2 points, 1–2 FG, 1 assist, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 1 foul
Wake Forest — 5 points 1–2 FG, 3–4 FT, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 1 assist, 1 turnover
Stanford —10 points, 4–4 FG, 2–4 FT, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 3 turnovers
Cal — 3 points, 0–3 FG, 0–1 3FG, 3–4 FT, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 block
Totals — 60 minutes, 20 points, 6–9 FG, 8–12 FT, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals

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Wilson’s play-by-play in last 15 minutes

2nd-half time left	Action	Score
SMU
14:24	Subtituted out	50-58
10:52	Substituted in	61-65
8:48	Missed layup attempt	64-69
7:48	Offensive foul	65-71
7:48	Turnover	65-71
5:59	Assist	70-78
4:01	Defensive rebound	72-86
1:47	Steal	79-92
1:43	Dunk	81-92
Wake Forest
14:53	Made 2 FT attempts	60-53
13:43	Steal	62-53
13:34	Subtituted out	62-53
11:52	Subtituted in	64-53
11:01	Layup	69-54
8:37	Defensive rebound	72-59
7:57	Missed jumper	72-59
3:22	Made 1 of 2 FT attempts	75-73
2:06	Turnover (traveling)	78-76
1:28	Assist	80-76
Stanford
14:30	Offensive rebound	63-53
13:15	Turnover (traveling)	65-57
13:15	Subtituted out	65-57
12:40	Substituted in	65-60
10:51	Missed 2 FT attempts	67-64
10:49	Offensive rebound	67-64
10:46	Layup	69-64
10:28	Steal	69-64
10:21	Dunk	71-64
8:22	Layup	77-72
6:42	Assist	81-77
5:20	Hit jumper	83-77
2:12	Made 2 FT attempts	86-84
1:47	Foul	87-84
0:50	Turnover	87-88
0:15	Foul	88-91
:03	Turnover (traveling)	90-95
Cal
13:20	Defensive rebound	52-66
13:00	Missed jumper	52-66
12:02	Foul	52-66
11:24	Subtituted out	52-67
10:45	Substituted in	52-70
10:22	Offensive rebound	52-70
10:19	Missed jumper	52-70
9:40	Assist	55-70
8:39	Foul	55-72
8:07	Made 2 FT attempts	56-74
7:35	Steal	59-74
6:43	Offensive rebound	62-74
6:07	Steal	65-74
6:04	Split 2 free-throw attempts	66-74
5:37	Block	66-74
3:21	Subtituted out	72-77
1:55	Substituted in	73-79
0:03	Missed 3-point attempt	78-83
0:00	Defensive rebound	78-84

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Team	League	Overall	NET*
No. 5 Duke	6–0	17–1	2
No. 18 Clemson	6–0	16–3	25
No. 14 Virginia	5–1	16–2	14
Miami	4–1	15–3	31
N.C. State	3–2	12–6	34
Syracuse	3–2	12–6	75
Stanford	3–3	14–5	69
Virginia Tech	3–3	14–5	54
No. 23 Louisville	3–3	13–5	16
No. 22 North Carolina	2–3	14–4	29
SMU	2–3	13–5	33
Wake Forest	2–3	11–7	57
California	2–4	14–5	59
Georgia Tech	2–4	11–8	141
Notre Dame	1–4	10–8	78
Boston College	1–4	8–10	165
Pittsburgh	1–4	8–10	114
Florida State	0–5	7–11	134

* — Through Sunday games
Saturday’s results
California 84, No. 22 North Carolina 78
No. 14 Virginia 72, SMU 68
Virginia Tech 89, Notre Dame 76
Georgia Tech 78, N.C. State 74
Boston College 81, Syracuse 73, OT
No. 18 Clemson 69, Miami 59
No. 5 Duke 80, Stanford 50
Wake Forest 69, Florida State 68
No. 23 Louisville 100, Pittsburgh 59
Tuesday’s games
N.C. State at No. 18 Clemson, 7 p.m., ACC Network
Florida State at Miami, 7 p.m., ESPNU
SMU at Wake Forest, 9 p.m., ACC Network
Wednesday’s games
Notre Dame at No. 22 North Carolina, 7 p.m., ESPN2
Pittsburgh at Boston College, 7 p.m., ACC Network
Virginia Tech at Syracuse, 9 p.m., ACC Network
Saturday’s games
No. 18 Clemson at Georgia Tech, noon, ACC Network
N.C. State at Pittsburgh, noon, ESPN2
No. 22 North Carolina at No. 14 Virginia, 2 p.m., ESPN
Miami at Syracuse, 2 p.m., ACC Network
Virginia Tech at No. 23 Louisville, 3:30, The CW
Florida State at SMU, 4 p.m., ACC Network
Wake Forest at No. 5 Duke, 5:45, The CW
Boston College at Notre Dame, 6 p.m., ACC Network
California at Stanford, 8 p.m., ACC Network

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Date	Month/day	Time	Opponent/event (current ranks)	TV/ record
	October
24	Friday	L, 78–76	vs. No. 13 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. 19 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. 10 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	7 p.m.	vs. Notre Dame	ESPN2
24	Saturday	2 p.m.	at No. 14 Virginia	ESPN
31	Saturday	2 p.m.	at Georgia Tech	ACCN
	February
2	Monday	7 p.m.	vs. Syracuse	ESPN
7	Saturday	6:30	vs. No. 5 Duke	ESPN
10	Tuesday	7 p.m.	at Miami	ESPN or ESPN2
14	Saturday	2 p.m.	vs. Pittsburgh	ESPN
17	Tuesday	7 p.m.	at N.C. State	ESPN or ESPN2
21	Saturday	1 p.m.	at Syracuse	ABC
23	Monday	7 p.m.	vs. No. 23 Louisville	ESPN
28	Saturday	6:30 or 8:30	vs. Virginia Tech	ESPN or ESPN2
	March
3	Tuesday	7 p.m.	vs. No. 18 Clemson	ESPN or ESPN2
7	Saturday	6:30	at No. 5 Duke	ESPN
10–14	Tues.-Sat.	ACC tournament	Spectrum Center, Charlotte

Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics