Heel Tough Blog: Kansas Recap

@UNC_Basketball

Last night, inside a raucous Dean Dome, the Tar Heels took down the Kansas Jayhawks, in a battle of college basketball heavyweights, giving Carolina their first win over KU since 2002, and giving Hubert Davis arguably his biggest non-conference win of his coaching career. It wasn’t always pretty for Carolina, who actually trailed Kansas 37-29 at the half, after turning it over 10 times, leading to 17 Kansas points, combined with just 3-15 shooting from the outside. But what kept Carolina in the game was the work they did on the glass, which, from the opening tip, you knew who the bigger, more aggressive team was going to be on the glass. Everything changed in the opening minutes of the second half, where Carolina blitzed Kansas with an 8-2, forcing a quick timeout by Bill Self, and in the process, brought the Smith Center crowd back into the game. That wouldn’t be the only timeout Self would have to use in the second half, as Carolina would go on an extended 27-9 run to turn an eight-point halftime deficit into a double-digit lead by the under-12 media timeout. After building a lead as big as 16, Kansas would never really threaten, as Carolina’s 58-point second half, on 67% shooting, completely overwhelmed the Jayhawks. 

Four UNC starters scored in double figures, led by freshman Caleb Wilson, who scored 24 points, on 9-12 shooting, to lead the way. Wilson has now played two official games and two exhibition contests, and has scored at least 20 points in each of them. Henri Veesaar added 20 points on 8-12 shooting, Seth Trimble scored 17 on 7-17 shooting, and Kyan Evans scored 12 points, all in the second half, as we saw what Carolina’s offense can look like when firing on all cylinders. While they struggled to shoot from the outside, their consistent rim pressure overwhelmed Kansas defensively, as Carolina outscored the Jayhawks 48-20 in the painted area. 

You can’t run from the fact that this storied program, which has excelled at different points under Hubert Davis, has been on a rollercoaster during his tenure. In three of his first four seasons, UNC has been a bubble team come Selection Sunday, and even missed the NCAA Tournament, after starting the season preseason ranked #1 in the country. Last year, after starting the season preseason ranked #9 in the country, they were the last team in the field. So this is a big year for Hubert Davis to establish himself as the right man to lead Carolina Basketball for the next 10-15 years. If that happens, we’ll look back at last night as the turning point for him, because for two hours on a Friday night in Chapel Hill, Carolina Basketball looked like Carolina Basketball, it felt like Carolina Basketball, because it was Carolina Basketball. 

1. Receptive Coaching: After going to the locker room down 8, Hubert Davis held his team in the locker room until there were less than 3 minutes until the start of the second half. After a sloppy first half, you know he was challenging his team, and everyone in the gym was eager to see how they’d respond. Two minutes into the second half, you could tell they got the memo, outsourcing Kansas 8-2, and forcing a quick Jayhawk timeout. In his postgame press conference, Davis acknowledged his team’s ability to be coached up and apply that to the action on the court, and that is a sign of what this group is. Coachable. Furthermore, you know turnovers were a topic of discussion at the break, and after committing 10 first-half turnovers, Carolina gave it away just once in the second half. In a day of time where NIL and the transfer portal dominate the conversation around the sport, it’s hard to find a group that’s willing to be coached, but this group appears to be open to it, and that’ll go a long way as the season moves along.

2. Best Second Half Ever?: You could argue that the second half last night was the best 20 minutes of basketball Carolina has played under Hubert Davis, maybe outside of a stellar second half in their at Duke back in 2022. Per Adam Lucas of GoHeels, Carolina scored on 10 of their first 11 possessions, 19 of the first 23 trips, 21 of the first 26, and 23 of the first 31, to begin the second half, on their way to shooting 67% from the field, including 5-12 from behind the arc. While Carolina won the battle in the paint, 48-20, they dominated it in the second half, 36-10. It’s not fair to expect that level of dominance on a consistent basis, but it’s a glimpse at what this team can look like when firing on all cylinders. 

3. Kyan Evans Grows Up: Evans is still learning how to play point guard at North Carolina, and he took a major step in the right direction in the second half, where he scored all 12 of his points, on 5-7 shooting, to go along with 3 assists. All he had to show for himself in the first half was one rebound, turnovers, and you could hear the Smith Center crowd get restless when he turned down open looks at the basket. Credit to Evans for responding the way he did in the second half, constantly penetrating the Kansas defense, for easy looks at the rim or lob passes to Henri Veesaar, who put on a dunking clinic in the opening minutes of the second half. With two mid-major opponents next week, it offers Evans a chance to further his development, as he continues to adapt to playing point guard the Carolina Way. 

4. Caleb Wilson: We are only two games into his career, but we’re already running out of words to say about this freshman, who was the best player on the court last. While you love his 24 points, on an efficient 9-12 shooting, what you love more is his energy and his effort, which never stop, no matter the score. It was Wilson diving on the floor for a loose ball, it was Wilson who was forcing a held ball to give Carolina back the possession, it was Wilson who was vocal after highlight plays excited the crowd. When your best player is also your most competitive player, and is willing to do whatever it takes to win, that’s when you know you have something special, and this kid is certainly that. 

5. Total Team Effort: Virtually every player who played last night impacted the game in a positive way, and that speaks to the depth of this roster. When Caleb Wilson left with two fouls in the first half, Zayden High stepped up and gave Carolina quality minutes, including hitting a three. Jarin Stevenson’s night could easily get overlooked, but his six rebounds were third on the team, and he played just 23 minutes. Derek Dixon didn’t score, but he steadied the ship when Kyan Evans was struggling in the first half, and kept the engine moving in the second half, when Carolina was rolling. Add in Jonathan Powell’s three, and 5 points for Luka, and it was a stat sheet filled with Carolina players impacting winning in a way that we haven’t seen all too often under Hubert Davis. 

6. Streak Ended: Carolina hadn’t beaten Kansas since 2002, in the old preseason NIT event. Four of the previous losses had come in the NCAA Tournament, including the 2008 Final Four and the 2022 national championship game. With last night making it the first time that KU had ever been to Chapel Hill, it felt good to finally get a win over a program that Carolina has so much history with. 

The Four Corners Podcast: