North Carolina Concludes Their Two Game Homestand With Saint Francis (PA) Monday
On Monday North Carolina who is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference will conclude their homestand with Saint Francis (PA) who is a member of the North East Conference.
North Carolina comes into the game with a record of 4-0 while Saint Francis comes into the game with a record of 1-2.
As for North Carolina’s previous game they defeated Tennessee Tech on Friday sending them to their fourth straight loss.
The ball came Seventh Woods' way in transition and he didn't hesitate. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2018/11/16/mens-basketball-tar-heels-cruise-past-tennessee-tech.aspx
The North Carolina junior immediately flipped the ball behind his back to Cameron Johnson for a corner 3-pointer, one of several blowout-producing baskets for the seventh-ranked Tar Heels after halftime in Friday night's 108-58 win against Tennessee Tech. It was part of an encouraging night for UNC (4-0) at the point, where Woods and freshman starter Coby White need to develop into reliable tempo-pushing floor leaders if the Tar Heels are going to contend for an Atlantic Coast Conference championship after the departure of multi-year starter and former Final Four most outstanding player Joel Berry II. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2018/11/16/mens-basketball-tar-heels-cruise-past-tennessee-tech.aspx
Yes, this was a blowout against an overmatched team, but Woods and White both had solid games by setting up teammates for scores and avoiding turnovers. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2018/11/16/mens-basketball-tar-heels-cruise-past-tennessee-tech.aspx
"I'm pretty doggone pleased with our point guard position," UNC coach Roy Williams said. "I'm never going to be satisfied. ... I want both of them to keep playing and getting better and better." “according to https://goheels.com/news/2018/11/16/mens-basketball-tar-heels-cruise-past-tennessee-tech.aspx
White, a McDonald's All-American who set an in-state prep career scoring record, had 11 points and four assists with two turnovers in 20 minutes. But Woods perhaps stood out more, simply by standing out at all. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2018/11/16/mens-basketball-tar-heels-cruise-past-tennessee-tech.aspx
He's a gifted athlete who arrived at UNC known as a YouTube dunking sensation, but he had struggled to find a steady role while averaging just 1.4 points through his first two seasons. But he had seven points and a career-best eight assists, including the crowd-wower to Johnson for a 65-30 lead with 15:54 left. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2018/11/16/mens-basketball-tar-heels-cruise-past-tennessee-tech.aspx
Along the way, he looked comfortable finding teammates in transition and even hit a 3-pointer — only the third of his career and first since November 2016. More important, he had zero turnovers in his 17 minutes. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2018/11/16/mens-basketball-tar-heels-cruise-past-tennessee-tech.aspx
"It's definitely a confidence builder," Woods said. "It's just trying to build off it in every way possible. And I realize I still have to get better on both ends of the court." “according to https://goheels.com/news/2018/11/16/mens-basketball-tar-heels-cruise-past-tennessee-tech.aspx
North Carolina shot 55 percent on a night filled with impressive statistics, while Micaiah Henry scored 20 points to lead the Golden Eagles (0-4) — who shot 36 percent and had 22 turnovers. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2018/11/16/mens-basketball-tar-heels-cruise-past-tennessee-tech.aspx
"We just need to get better," Tennessee Tech coach Steve Payne said. "We knew what (challenge) we had tonight. We were going to have to play our tails off and things would have to go great to have a chance late — and it didn't." “according to https://goheels.com/news/2018/11/16/mens-basketball-tar-heels-cruise-past-tennessee-tech.aspx
BIG PICTURE
Tennessee Tech: A rough start to the season got rougher. The Golden Eagles had lost by 15 at Memphis, by 15 at home against Presbyterian and by 14 at Savannah State coming into Chapel Hill — putting them at No. 317 in KenPom's national rankings entering Friday's games. This time they fell behind by double figures by the 13:36 mark of the first half and watched the margin grow steadily.
"We just want to compete our tails off and get better," Payne said. "It's hard to. We're a little down. And tonight was a little hard, but I thought we kept fighting, even to the end. ... But right now, we're just not ready. And it's my job to get them ready for it. We'll keep pushing." “according to https://goheels.com/news/2018/11/16/mens-basketball-tar-heels-cruise-past-tennessee-tech.aspx
UNC: The Tar Heels are making offense look easy early. This was their second 100-point output in four games, and they scored 50 points in each half Friday despite shooting just 5 of 23 from behind the arc. Luke Maye's 15 points led six players in double figures. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2018/11/16/mens-basketball-tar-heels-cruise-past-tennessee-tech.aspx
BLOWOUT NUMBERS
The Tar Heels used a 17-2 first-half run to blow the game open and kept stretching the lead in a transition-filled romp. They finished with 29 fast-break points — more than any game in at least three seasons — and had 30 second-chance points after dominating the glass (54-24). “according tohttps://goheels.com/news/2018/11/16/mens-basketball-tar-heels-cruise-past-tennessee-tech.aspx
Unlike North Carolina who won their previous game, Saint Francis (PA) lost to twentieth ranked UCLA on Friday.
The Saint Francis men's basketball team led No. 20 UCLA 29-28 with 2:03 to play in the first half before the Bruins closed the half on an 8-0 run. UCLA would pull away in the second half with a 59-point second half in a 95-58 victory. “according to https://sfuathletics.com/news/2018/11/17/mens-basketball-no-20-ucla-pulls-away-in-second-half-for-95-58-win.aspx
Turning Point
Redshirt junior Isaiah Blackmon's (Charlotte, N.C./West Charlotte) offensive rebound and put back gave SFU the lead but Saint Francis couldn't close out the half with the advantage after an Ali Prince three. The critical moments came in the final seconds of the half. SFU was whistled for a foul. The Bruins made the first and missed the second but Moses Brown pulled down the board and finished at the rim. “according to https://sfuathletics.com/news/2018/11/17/mens-basketball-no-20-ucla-pulls-away-in-second-half-for-95-58-win.aspx
Krimmel's Reaction
"Tonight was certainly a tale of two halves," said head coach Rob Krimmel. "We wanted to start fast and we were able to do that with our half-court defense and attention to detail. In the second half, we stopped executing at the level we needed to. We had too many turnovers which allowed them to get out and run and get too many easy baskets at the rim." “according to https://sfuathletics.com/news/2018/11/17/mens-basketball-no-20-ucla-pulls-away-in-second-half-for-95-58-win.aspx
First Half Summary
The Red Flash stormed out of the gates by knocking down three of their first four three-point shots to lead 11-2. Saint Francis never trailed by more than four points at any point of the half until the final seconds of the period. “according to https://sfuathletics.com/news/2018/11/17/mens-basketball-no-20-ucla-pulls-away-in-second-half-for-95-58-win.aspx
Second Half Summary
SFU cut the deficit to five on two separate occasions on buckets from seniors Jamaal King (Salisbury, Md./Bishop O'Connell (Va.)) and Luidgy Laporal (Petit-Boutg, France/Harcum C.C.) before the Bruins began to distance themselves. A corner three from King made it 48-37 with 15:57 before a 14-0 run put the game to rest. “according to https://sfuathletics.com/news/2018/11/17/mens-basketball-no-20-ucla-pulls-away-in-second-half-for-95-58-win.aspx
Inside the Box Score
SFU shot a season-low 30.6% from the field (22-72).
The Red Flash held UCLA to 15-39 (38.5%) from the field in the first half before the Bruins exploded to make 25-31 shots in the second half (80.6%) to finish 40-70 (57.1%) for the game.
After making three of its four three-pointers, SFU went just 3-for-18 from behind the arc the rest of the way to finish 6-of-22 (27.3%).
UCLA made 7-of-19 from three (36.8%).
Saint Francis and UCLA both made 8-of-16 free throws (50.0%).
SFU committed 15 turnovers to eight for UCLA. Points off turnovers were 23-5 in UCLA's favor and fast break points were 20-0.
UCLA scored 60 points in the paint to 26 for SFU. Second chance points were 20-11 for UCLA. “according to https://sfuathletics.com/news/2018/11/17/mens-basketball-no-20-ucla-pulls-away-in-second-half-for-95-58-win.aspx
Notes
Saint Francis led for 9:59 of the 40 minutes.
Laporal finished with a career-best eight points on 4-of-8 from the field.
Junior Keith Braxton (Glassboro, N.J./Delsea) recorded seven points and a team-high 11 rebounds.
Redshirt junior Isaiah Blackmon (Charlotte, N.C./West Charlotte) added nine points and seven rebounds.
King netted nine points while freshman Myles Thompson (Camden, N.J./Camden) and senior Andre Wolford (North Olmstead, Ohio/Saint Ignatius) added seven.
SFU didn't put a single scorer in double figures for the first time since the 2015-16 season. “according to https://sfuathletics.com/news/2018/11/17/mens-basketball-no-20-ucla-pulls-away-in-second-half-for-95-58-win.aspx
Tip-off is set for 8:00pm from the Dean E. Smith Center. The game will be televised on ACC Network Extra. “according to https://goheels.com/schedule.aspx?path=mbball