CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — No. 1 North Carolina beat down a spirited effort from the College of Charleston for a 102-86 victory Friday in a game that the final score disguised just how tough it was.
Charleston (1-1) fielded an experienced team and started three graduate students — including 24-year-old guard Dalton Bolon — and a senior.
Bolon showed early on that the Cougars were not intimidated by Carolina’s ranking or the Dean E. Smith Center crowd that was engaged for an unranked opponent. He scored 14 points in the first half.
Sophomore forward Ante Brzovic came off the bench with 12 points, making all five of his shot attempts as Charleston led the Heels 50-43 at halftime.
Junior guard Caleb Love helped Carolina (2-0) avoid a potential upset with arguably the most complete game of his career. Love scored 25 points, with nine rebounds and six assists. But his defensive effort was just as impressive with two steals and a blocked shot.
Here’s what we learned from the Tar Heels win:
Offense goes through Bacot
Carolina finally figured out what makes its offense click after playing the first three halves of this season looking fairly unfocused. It actually looked a lot like last year. The Heels play best when they’re playing through senior forward Armando Bacot.
Bacot’s first half looked like a regression to his sophomore season when he was prone to inconsistency. He had one point with just one field-goal attempt and one rebound.
He made up for his disappearing act within the first six minutes to start the second half, scoring nine points on 4-for-5 shooting and three rebounds. Bacot finished with 28 points and six rebounds.
The emphasis on feeding Bacot inside allowed Carolina to get into a rhythm. After having just four assists on 15 made baskets in the first half, UNC had 10 assists on its 20 second-half field goals.
Rebounding issue
Carolina officially has a rebounding problem after two games. Or at least, it has an area that needs to be emphasized a bit more. UNC Wilmington outrebounded the Heels 37-32 in the opener on Monday. After the game, coach Takayo Siddle said he thought the Seahawks could be successful because the Heels had a tendency to not always box out hard.
Charleston coach Pat Kelsey might have seen the same thing. The Cougars had a 35-32 rebounding advantage, and that included a 15-8 edge on the offensive boards.
Leaky’s not just for lock downs
There haven’t been many games during Leaky Black’s five seasons at Carolina where he’s been asked to be a scorer. But the first half was one of those times UNC needed him.
Black, who’s known for his defensive skills, responded by shooting a perfect 4 for 4 with a pair of 3-pointers in the first half to lead the Heels with 10 points in the first half. He finished the game a point shy of his career-high with 15 points, making his only two shots in the second half.
He was up to his normal lock down ways defensively, helping hold Bolon to just two points in the second half.
