CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina bounced back from its lopsided loss in Las Vegas with a 70-50 win over Appalachian State Tuesday in the Dean E. Smith Center.
The Tar Heels (9-3) were steady before morphing into overwhelming in the second half. They used a 23-8 run over an eight-minute span in the second half to grab a 23-point lead to put the game out of reach. Armando Bacot led the way for UNC with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Brady Manek added a double-double off the bench for the Heels with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
The Heels needed something to feel good about after suffering a 29-point loss to Kentucky on Saturday in the CBS Classic and there were many positives they could take from defeating the Mountaineers (6-7) soundly.
Here’s what we learned from the Tar Heels’ win:
Defensive tweak pays off
For most of the season, Carolina tried ‘icing’ ball screens. It’s probably used more in the NBA than in college, but the technique put more pressure on its guards to either fight through picks or recover fast. Against the Mountaineers, the Heels went back to either switching defenders or having their post player hedge out on the dribbler.
Both Tennessee and Kentucky exploited UNC off ball screens, which led to dribble penetration, which led to 54 points in the paint in both losses.
The Heels defense responded well, keeping the Mountaineers under 40% shooting in both halves. And they didn’t give up many layups or have free dribblers making plays in the lane. UNC limited App State to shoot just 26% in the second half.
Matters of rotation
The Heels just completed their non-conference schedule and it’s still hard to determine what their rotation will look like as ACC play begins. There’s a six-man core who have consistently played every game, that’s Caleb Love, Armando Bacot, R.J. Davis, Dawson Garcia and Brady Manek. After that, it’s not as predictable who will come in on a game-to-game basis.
Tuesday night, Justin McKoy and Anthony Harris were the only two players who played in the first half aside from the core six.
Sophomore guard Kerwin Walton averaged 25 minutes per game through the first five games including his lone start against Purdue. Over the last four games entering Tuesday, he’d only played 10 minutes against Elon. Walton, who was a starter last season, didn’t enter the game until 15:33 left in the second half.
Freshmen D’Marco Dunn and Dontrez Styles still haven’t been able to establish a regular presence in the lineup. Dunn played a season-high nine minutes against Kentucky and was in during the first half before the score got out of hand.
Kerwin’s back
Speaking of Walton, he made his first 3-pointer since he had two against Purdue on Nov. 20. He followed with another and by his third attempt, you could feel the Smith Center crowd wanting to will the ball into the net.
He missed, but it was a good sight for Carolina to get Walton going again. He led the team in made 3s (58) and 3-point shooting percentage (42.0) last season. During his seven-game shooting slump, his percentage this year tumbled back to 33.3 from behind the arc.
Walton had missed his last nine before going 2 for 3 on Tuesday. The Heels certainly have scorers, but opponents knowing they have one more to deal with in Walton can help with their floor spacing and getting open shots.
