Why UNC basketball's season opener against Radford felt different than a year ago
Rodd BaxleyCHAPEL HILL – This was different for North Carolina basketball.
Last season, the Tar Heels started the year as the top-ranked team in the nation and eventually missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2010.
Causes for concern could be seen on opening night in UNC's 69-56 win against UNC Wilmington. In that game, UNC lost the rebounding battle (37-32) and had four assists – matching its lowest total since a double-overtime loss to Texas A&M in the 1980 NCAA Tournament.
The Tar Heels had six bench points, four fast-break points and made two of 10 three-pointers against UNCW.
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Nervous and anxious were among the buzzwords for head coach Hubert Davis after the 2022-23 season opener.
But Monday brought the promise of a new season with a chance to flush last year. The 19th-ranked Tar Heels handled business with an 86-70 win against Radford at the Smith Center.
It wasn’t hard to spot the differences between the Tar Heels’ two performances. Here’s what veterans RJ Davis and Armando Bacot, along with third-year coach Hubert Davis, had to say about what they saw Monday night.
UNC basketball improves season-opening numbers
Simply put, UNC got off to a much better start this season than it did last season.
“Looking back on it last year, I think it was a little stagnant in terms of offensive flow. We weren’t getting out as much in transition as we needed to,” RJ Davis said.
“This year, we have a bunch of guys that’s able to get out in transition and always willing to make the extra pass. I feel like we’re moving well without the ball. We have a lot of off-ball movement, a lot of guys cutting and a lot of set plays where we’re getting out in transition.”
With seven newcomers and improvements from their returners, the Tar Heels were better across the stat sheet against the Highlanders.
UNC would likely like to be better on the glass, but it won the rebounding battle (37-34). The Tar Heels had assists on 18 of 31 baskets, produced 18 bench points, 10 fast-break points and went 7-for-20 on 3-pointers.
They also had 48 points in the paint and limited Radford to 34.4% shooting in the second half after allowing the Highlanders to shoot 50% in the first half.
“From an offensive standpoint, I thought we did a good job. … We had 18 assists and I think we could’ve had over 20 – we missed a couple bunnies. I love the way that we share the basketball,” Hubert Davis said.
Leading 56-55 with 15 minutes left, UNC closed the game with a 30-15 run. Despite the defensive miscues in the first half, the Heels showed the ability to close the door in crunch time.
“I was very proud of their response in the second half defensively,” Hubert Davis said.
“In the first half, we were doing a good with guarding their actions for the first 20-25 seconds and then they would go 1-on-1 and we were just breaking down. We were allowing middle drives, easy layups, uncontested jump shots. I thought we did a better job with our 1-on-1 defense and taking pride in that in the second half.”
RJ Davis and Armando Bacot pointed out the lack of communication in the first half on ball-screen coverages. It’s why their head coach urges the Tar Heels to “talk early, loud, clear and constant” defensively.
“He’s always saying he’s not worried about us on the offensive end, cause we’ve shown that everybody has the ability to score,” RJ Davis said.
“We have to lock in defensively. It was little mistakes, like paying attention to details. We do good for 25 seconds and then it gets down to 1-on-1 defense or a mixed box-out. It’s always about paying attention to details and the smallest things. … We gotta play for a whole 30 (seconds), grab the rebound and go.”
Bacot agreed. Even with the “mistakes” at times, the fifth-year leader was pleased to see the Heels come out with a better showing to start the year.
“I think we stuck to our principles,” Bacot said.
“Last year, we didn’t do a good job early on of getting good habits. This game, we were a little sloppy in the beginning. But going into the second half, we’ve got a mature group and we really got out and stuck to the game plan. We didn’t create any bad habits and didn’t get too loose toward the end.”
Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com or @RoddBaxley on X/Twitter.