The UNC men’s basketball team started off the season with a bang, rolling an outmatched Central Arkansas team by a score of 94-54. Most of the (many) new faces the Heels brought in contributed in one way or another — Kyan Evans looked solid running the point, Luka Bogavac filled up the stat sheet despite finding out he was going to play just 30 minutes before tipoff, and the UNC big men dominated in the paint. It was the kind of easy opening game blowout you want from a team that you hope will contend.
Kansas’s visit to Chapel Hill on Friday night will give us a good data point on where this team is early in the season. The Jayhawks aren’t coming in quite as highly touted as in years past, but are still the 19th-ranked team in the country. Here are three things to keep an eye on when the game tips off at 7pm on Friday night.
UNC’s three-point shooting
If there was one flaw in UNC’s win against Central Arkansas, it was the Heels’ three-point shooting. Carolina shot 10-29 from distance in the game, with a couple of those makes coming in garbage time by Jaydon Young. Bogavac finished 1-5 and Johnathan Powell went 1-6; only Evans made more than one three ball. This is a bit of a carry-over from their two exhibition games; they shot 31% in both games combined.
Of course, it’s reasonable to expect Bogavac to take a game or two to get his feet under him, and both Powell and Jarin Stevenson have a history of being able to make some shots. Three-point shooting was a challenge for last year’s team; it’d be good to see a few guys hit some long-range shots against Kansas even if the Heels ultimately don’t win the game.
Caleb Wilson vs. an actual defense
No offense to the Bears, but they just didn’t seem interested in defending UNC’s freshman big guy. Wilson scored his first eight points on dunks, many of them wide open as the Central Arkansas defense stood around in confusion. Some of this can also be attributed to some nice lobs by the guards, but overall Wilson feasted on a team that had no one that could come close to matching up with him athletically.
Kansas will be a tougher test for Wilson. UNC actually has more height in the frontcourt than the Jayhawks (words I’m not used to typing after last year) but Kansas still has some solid defenders. They recorded eight blocks in their opening 94-51 win over Green Bay, with forward Flory Bidunga getting three of them. While it remains to be seen if Bidunga ends up matching up with Wilson or Henri Veesaar, Kansas has the athletes to throw at Wilson to try and keep him in check; it’ll be good to see how the freshman responds.
Getting a statement win early
In case you were in a coma last season and missed hearing it repeated ad nauseam, UNC only ended up having one quality (Quad 1) win last season. It was the biggest reason the Heels were on the bubble going into the NCAA tournament, and a common talking point while discussing UNC’s lackluster season.
There’s no way of knowing what will count at the end of a season as a good win, but in general a win against Kansas holds up very well in the NCAA selection committee room in March. A win against the Jayhawks not only could potentially bank a future Quad 1 win but also help cleanse a lot of the “can’t beat the good teams” vibe that hung around the neck of last year’s team. Plus, it’s Kansas; any win against a fellow blue blood feels good. A big win early could help set the tone for the rest of the season.
