By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — If exhibition games are a chance for teams to learn from their mistakes, North Carolina has plenty of issues to sort out.
Sloppy, choppy offense with weak rebounding, mental mistakes, poor perimeter shooting and adventures on inbounds passes were some of the problems the Tar Heels had to overcome before they pulled out an 89–82 overtime victory Tuesday over Charlotte at the Smith Center.
Carolina, which finished 2–1 in the preseason, somehow found a way after trailing by 15 points midway through a first half that UNC coach Michael Malone said included some plays that “looked like the Keystone Cops.”
“I mean, we couldn’t dribble, we couldn’t pass, we couldn’t shoot,” Malone said. “Our guys looked a little nervous, a little shook out there.”
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The Tar Heels were fortunate to survive a night when their mistakes repeatedly threatened to undo their comeback, and Malone made it clear that winning the game didn’t erase the problems.” Malone said. “Everybody was thankful that we got through the game. We’re able to pull out a win. Nobody got hurt, and while also fully understanding, there’s much work to be done.”
After scoring only 12 points in the first two exhibition games, Utah transfer guard Terrence Brown Jr. led the way with 27 points, three assists and two steals, while backcourt mate Neo Avdalas scored 16 points and led the team with nine rebounds and five assists.
Brown finally found the rhythm he struggled with in the first two exhibitions, giving Carolina the aggressive scorer it expected when he transferred after averaging more than nearly 20 points last season at Utah.
Malone made a concerted effort to put the ball in Brown’s hands more often, allowing him to initiate the offense even when Avdalas was on the floor. Brown responded by shooting 9-for-18 from the field and 7-for-9 from the free-throw line.
“I thought Terrence was terrific tonight,” Malone said. “By far, his best game of the preseason, 27 points, and made some big, big plays for us.”
A big reason Charlotte nearly pulled off the upset was guard Keyshaun Tillery’s 24 points and five 3-pointers. His ability to create his own shot repeatedly punished Carolina’s defense, particularly during the 49ers’ early surge.
“He can get his own shot. He can get to the rim. He creates separation, and he was knocking them down from deep tonight,” Malone said. “So just a real threat on the offensive end.”
A UNC bench that produced no first-half points scored 10 of the first 12 points in the second half to help the Tar Heels put together some good plays.
Jaydon Young supplied a critical lift with his perimeter shooting, making three of four 3-point attempts and finishing with 11 points. His experience and composure were valuable as Carolina tried to overcome its sluggish start.
“Honestly, I don’t even go in the game thinking about looks,” Young said. “I honestly just want to play as hard as I possibly can, bring a little spark, and then normally that energy feeds into getting open shots.”
Malone called a timeout with 12 minutes left after Isaiah Denis didn’t go to the right place to receive an inbounds pass. The coach met Denis as the team headed to the bench and had a brief, intense discussion with the sophomore guard.
The play was one example of the concentration lapses that plagued UNC throughout the night. Young said the problems on inbounds plays reflected a broader issue with the team’s attention to detail.
“Not really being locked in as we should the whole entire game. Just taking the play off, and it costs us every single time,” Young said.
UNC missed eight of its first 10 shots. With UNC trailing 10–5 six minutes into the game, Malone called a timeout before the first TV timeout. It didn’t help, as the 49ers went on a 15–2 run, including two Tillery 3-pointers, to take a 25–10 lead.
A Jarin Stevenson 3-pointer ended a more-than-five-minute UNC field-goal drought, triggering an 11–4 run to cut the lead to eight. A Sayon Keita 3-pointer began a 9–0 UNC run to end the first half and cut the deficit to 36–33 by halftime. Maxi Adams hit a corner 3-pointer with two seconds left.
Malone said the players appeared nervous because of the excitement of their first game in front of the home crowd, and the early mistakes only compounded their struggles.
“We still have not won a first half. We’re 0-for-3 in the first half,” Malone said. “We lost to Indiana. We lost to USC. We lost to Charlotte, and the fact that we were only down three at halftime was a miracle because we played around 15 minutes of really bad basketball.”
Charlotte shoved its lead back to nine when a Tillery 3-pointer ended an 8–2 run to open the second half. Two Young 3-pointers ignited a 21–8 run to give UNC a five-point lead, 58–53, on Alex Samodurov’s steal and layup with 9½ minutes left.
Malone praised Young’s ability to provide instant offense and the poise that comes with his experience.
“Shooting makes up for a multitude of sins, and JY can get hot from the three,” Malone said. “One of the best shooters in the gym every single day.”
After a Keita three-point play stretched the lead to seven, UNC went without a field goal for nearly four minutes. A Finster jumper capped an 11–2 Charlotte run to give the 49ers a two-point lead before a Avdalas 3-pointer ended the field-goal drought to put UNC up by one with 4½ minutes left.
Charlotte responded with six straight points, going up by five to 74–69 on a Chaze Harris jumper with three minutes remaining. A Stevenson 3 and two 2 free throws cut a six-point lead to one with 1:13 left.
With a chance to take the lead, Brown turned the ball over with 34.2 seconds left when the ball went off his knee on a drive toward the basket. After Tillery hit two free throws with 27.2 seconds left, Avdalas cut the lead to one on a drive with 17 seconds left.
Charlotte then called a timeout it didn’t have and Brown split a pair of technical free throws with 16.9 seconds left to tie it. Tillery missed a baseline jumper at the regulation buzzer.
Malone acknowledged that the 49ers’ mistaken timeout helped give Carolina another opportunity, but he also credited Charlotte coach Wes Miller and his players for pushing the Tar Heels to the brink.
“Those guys played hard. They had their chances to win,” Malone said. “I appreciate Wes and these guys from Charlotte coming up here and giving us a hell of a fight.”
Charlotte led by two in overtime before UNC went on a 9–0 run, taking a seven-point lead on a Brown corner 3-pointer with 40 seconds left.
Brown said he initially expected Keita to take a midrange jumper on the decisive possession. When the ball came back to him, he noticed the shot clock and decided to shoot.
“I looked up at the shot clock when I caught it, and I was like, might as well just shoot it,” Brown said. “I felt like it was a dagger. I felt like the game was over when I hit that.”
Carolina’s problems extended well beyond its inconsistent shooting. Charlotte scored 23 points off UNC turnovers and collected 18 second-chance points, continuing the rebounding problems that were glaring in the Tar Heels’ 76–58 loss to Indiana.
Keita finished with only two rebounds in 33 minutes, while Stevenson also grabbed two in 38 minutes. Malone said those numbers were unacceptable, even allowing for Stevenson’s defensive assignments on the perimeter.
“Rebounding is not a skill. It’s a want to. It’s a desire. It’s a toughness,” Malone said. “The greatest rebounds are guys that just have a relentless mindset to go get it.”
Carolina scored the last nine points of the game after falling behind by two. An Avdalas layup tied it, and a Stevenson 3-pointer with 2:12 left gave the Tar Heels the lead for good. Brown’s 3-pointer with 40 seconds left put the game away.
The victory offered some relief, particularly for Brown, but it did little to ease Malone’s concerns about the team’s readiness for the regular season.
Through three exhibitions, Carolina has a negative assist-to-turnover ratio, and the coach remains dissatisfied with the team’s rebounding, finishing around the basket and ball security. Those problems have persisted regardless of the opponent.
“Good teams don’t beat themselves, and right now we’re doing that,” Malone said.
Young agreed that the Tar Heels have shown enough talent to be successful, but their inconsistency has kept them from playing to their potential.
“I think I learned that we can be really, really, really good if we stop beating ourselves,” Young said. “I think we beat ourselves really often, even the games that we won.”
With Western Carolina visiting Monday for the regular-season opener, Malone has little time to address those weaknesses. He said the Tar Heels must take responsibility for their mistakes and become more disciplined before the games start counting.
“There’s no exhibition games. We’re done,” Malone said. “So we open up against Western Carolina next Monday night, so we have to clean things up in a hurry.”
Stevenson and Keita finished with 12 points and Young added 11.
Notes
— UNC opens the season at home Monday against Western Carolina. The Catamounts won an exhibition game on Oct. 20 at Appalachian State 83–76. No score or statistics are available for Western Carolina’s Monday exhibition game against USC Upstate. The Catamounts only have four returning players from last season’s team, which finished 15–16 and went 10–8 in the Southern Conference.
— The overtime game came after the only previous meetings, both UNC wins, went into overtime: 93–83 in the 1998 NCAA tournament on March 14, 1998, in Hartford, Conn., and 75–73 on Dec. 12, 1998, in the Smith Center.
— Adams started in place of Matt Able, who wasn’t in uniform for the game. UNC didn’t say why he didn’t play, but he took shots in early warmups and didn’t appear injured.
— In the first half, Charlotte led in rebounding 20–17, points in the paint 14–12, second-chance points 8–1, and bench points 9–0.
UNC 89, Charlotte 82, OT
| Date | Time/ scores | Month/day | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | Exhibitions | |||
| 9 | W, 88–70 | Friday | vs. No. 21 USC in Greensboro | |
| 18 | L, 76–58 | Sunday | vs. Indiana in Indianapolis | |
| 27 | W, 89–82, OT | Tuesday | vs. Charlotte | |
| November | Regular season | |||
| 2 | 7 p.m. | Monday | vs. Western Carolina | ACCN |
| 6 | 7 p.m. | Friday | vs. Wofford | ACCN |
| 10 | 7 p.m. | Tuesday | vs. Wyoming | ACCN |
| 13 | 7 p.m. | Friday | vs. Georgia | ESPN2 |
| 20 | 9 p.m. | Friday | vs. Marshall | ACCN |
| 23 | 7 p.m. | Monday | vs. Monmouth | ACCN |
| 27 | 7 p.m. | Friday | Dick Vitale Invitational vs. West Virginia in Charlotte | ESPN |
| December | ||||
| 1 | 7:30 | Tuesday | ACC/SEC Challenge vs. No. 12 Arkansas | ESPN |
| 6 | 3 p.m. | Sunday | vs. Butler | ESPN2 |
| 12 | Noon | Saturday | at Georgetown | Peacock |
| 15 | 7 p.m. | Tuesday | Tobacco Road Classic vs. N.C. State in Greensboro | ESPN2 |
| 19 | 2:30 | Saturday | CBS Sports Classic vs. No. 23 Kentucky in New York | CBS |
| 21 | 8 p.m. | Monday | vs. The Citadel | The CW |
| 30 | 4 p.m. | Wednesday | vs. California | ACCN |
| January | ||||
| 2 | 4 p.m. | Saturday | at Boston College | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 5 | 9 p.m. | Tuesday | at No. 11 Louisville | ESPN or ESPNU |
| 9 | Noon | Saturday | vs. N.C. State | ESPN2 |
| 13 | 7 p.m. | Wednesday | at Florida State | ESPN2 or ESPNU |
| 16 | 2:15 | Saturday | vs. Stanford | The CW |
| 19 | 9 p.m. | Tuesday | vs. No. 9 Virginia | ESPN |
| 23 | Noon | Saturday | at Syracuse | ESPN or 2 or U |
| 26 | 7 p.m. | Tuesday | vs. SMU | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 30 | 6 or 6:30 | Saturday | Nashville Hoops Showdown vs. No. 3 Illinois in Nashville, Tenn. | ESPN |
| February | ||||
| 2 | 7 p.m. | Tuesday | at Notre Dame | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 6 | 2:15 | Saturday | vs. Georgia Tech | The CW |
| 8 | 6 p.m. | Monday | vs. No. 11 Louisville | ESPN |
| 13 | 5:30 | Saturday | at No. 2 Duke | ABC |
| 20 | 7 p.m. | Saturday | at Wake Forest | ACCN |
| 22 | 7 p.m. | Monday | vs. No. 14 Miami | ESPN |
| 27 | 7 p.m. | Saturday | at Virginia Tech | ESPN |
| March | ||||
| 2 | 9 p.m. | Tuesday | at Pittsburgh | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 6 | 6 or 6:30 | Saturday | vs. No. 2 Duke | ESPN |
| 9–13 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament in Greensboro |
Photo by Drew Horwitz
