Posted Nov 4, 2024
With Monmouth Men's Basketball set to open the 2024-25 season at Michigan State, the University has announced that head coach King Rice has received a five-year contract extension to remain in the role through 2028-29. Rice, a former UNC point guard, is set to begin his 14th season Monday, and is Monmouth's all-time Division I wins leader with 207. (Monmouth Hawks)

...and I'm glad I watched this on DVR instead of live (I went to another game down here) --- I might've been as livid as Hubert was in the second half.

But yeah, I'll resist the temptation to jump to any conclusions from a first game, but there were some things we need to get cleaned up in a hurry, and these were as much mental as physical. First, credit to Elon --- they're much better than (inherently meaningless) preseason evaluations indicated, but that fact exposed the dangers of the sort of lapses we saw on our end.

With that said, at NO point in a second half should Elon ever lead this UNC team, so let's start with what went wrong:

- Shot-selection went thru some bad spells. RJ was hunting outside of flow due to his clunky start, and some of our shots around the paint were more throw-ups than strong gathers-and-finishes, all of which contributed to the lacksuster 32/80 perfomance

- JWash NOT taking shots he should have

- Some really bad decision-making by Seth in transition --- "give it up to get it back" is the way we're supposed to do things here

- Withers followed a good first half with a WTF second --- just yikes at some of those passes

- Jackson reverted back to his Memphis ice-skates --- take a deep breath, son

- Tyson looked lost, and we weren't effective in deploying him

- I continue to SMH at the stubborness of not forcing these guys into our tempo by mixing in traps

- And our vaunted Zone Offense --- sheesh. Elon deployed a 2-2-1 ameoba look that morphed into a 3-2 on wing passes, and we were just clunky as hell even getting into our pivot rotation.

- Gotta be careful with the cross-court pitch-aheads. Dean did not teach that as a routine for a reason --- you only used it for a WIDE-open look that would lead to a lay-up or create a 2-on-1. When in doubt, I want it in my elite PG's hands to create pressure with the Secondary.

Fortunately, disaster was averted with enough positives:
- When things worked, it was an enticing look at what we're capable of, incl some highlight film moments --- spectacular transition finishes, slick ball-movement, etc... LOVED that Dean Smith back-screen lob play late in first half, for example.

- RJ shook off a rough stretch to be the hero when things got dicey. It's great to have that guy when the chips are down.

- Time to recognize that Cadeau has turned into a not-just-good but excellent defender --- flashing some Joel Berry footwork to go with his quicks and ball-hawking instincts. And I think we can maybe put to rest the backing off of EC and Seth nonsense --- they combiined for 6/8 from deep (and Eliot had one taken away by an untimely whistle).

Anyway, for all the clunkiness, I'm glad Hubert didn't abandon utilizing depth. These are the precious few games that allow that to be built for down the road. So, how are we gonna do at KU? That's impossible to know, but at least the staff sure as hell should have some teaching material on film after this one...

CAROLINA 80, ELON 71
NOVEMBER 4, 2024
ROY WILLIAMS COURT AT THE DEAN E. SMITH CENTER
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.

UNC Scoring Leader: RJ Davis 24
UNC Rebound Leader: Jae’Lyn Withers 10
UNC Assist Leader: Elliot Cadeau 8
Team Records: UNC 1-0, Elon 0-1

• North Carolina improved to 103-12 in season-opening games. The Tar Heels have won 20 consecutive season openers.
• UNC is 37-2 in home openers at the Dean E. Smith Center and 105-10 all-time in home openers.
• Carolina committed six turnovers, fewest in a first game of the season since turnovers officially became a stat in the late 1970s. Previous low was seven in 2017-18 vs. Northern Iowa and 1997-98 vs. Middle Tennessee State.
• Carolina improved to 229-18 against non-conference opponents in the Smith Center.
• Carolina is 22-4 against Elon all-time.

• UNC scored its most points in a season opener since scoring 95 against Tulane to begin the 2016-17 season.
• UNC is 22-1 under Davis when scoring 90 or more points.
• UNC has won 18 straight non-conference games in the Smith Center since losing to Marquette on 2/24/21.
• Carolina attempted 80 field goals, which is the most attempted in a 40-minute game since attempting 87 field goals against Elon on 11/9/18.
• Carolina attempted 32 three pointers...last season, the Tar Heels took 30 or more three pointers three times.

• UNC had 21 assists on 28 field goals. The Tar Heels are 11-0 record under Hubert Davis when they total 20 or more assists.
• RJ Davis scored a game-high 24 points. It was the 46th time he led UNC in scoring his career.
• Davis had his 36th 20-point game. UNC is 28-8 when Davis scores 20 or more points.
• Davis had at least 20 points and five assists for the 15th time in his career, UNC is 13-2 when he does so.
• Elliot Cadeau’s eight assists were the most by a Tar Heel in a season opener since Rashad McCants had eight against Old Dominion on 11/22/03.

in the NCAA Tournament.
• Cadeau’s 17 points were two off of his career high (19 at Miami on 2/10/2024). UNC is 8-0 when Cadeau scores in double figures.
• Cadeau was a career-high plus-28, besting his previous career high of plus-27 against Syracuse on 1/13/24.
• Cadeau had a career-high two blocks.
• Cadeau made a career-high three 3FGs. It was the third time he has made multiple three pointers as a Tar Heel.
• Jalen Washington made his first career start in his 58th game for the Tar Heels.
• Seth Trimble scored a career-high 15 points, topping his previous career high of 12 (three times last season). Trimble has scored in double figures eight times as a Tar Heel. He had tied his career high by halftime when he scored 12 points.
• Trimble tied his career-high with six field goals (also had six against Charleston Southern last season).
• Jae’Lyn Withers made multiple three pointers for the first time as a Tar Heel and the first time since making four at Miami in 2022-23 while playing for Louisville.
• Withers registered his fifth double-figure scoring game as a Tar Heel and the 35th of his career. UNC is 5-0 when Withers scores in double figures.
• Withers posted the third double-double of his UNC career (did so against Louisville and Wagner last season).
• Hubert Davis is 79-31 as head coach of UNC, with a 42-6 record in the Smith Center.
• Elon went on a 14-0 scoring run to take a 71-69 lead. The 14-point run was the largest by an opponent since Wake Forest went on a 14-0 run on 2/7/23.
• Carolina answered Elon’s 14-point run with its own 11-0 run to regain a nine-point lead.
• Carolina’s largest lead was 16 at 42-26 with 5:00 to play in the first half.

Next Game: Friday, November 8 at Kansas (7 p.m. Eastern, ESPN2