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UNC Basketball Prevails in Tight Season Opener vs. Western Carolina
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- UNC Basketball Prevails in Tight Season Opener vs. Western Carolina
(IMAGN Images via Reuters Connect)
Despite giving up 42 points in the second half, the North Carolina Tar Heels held on and took care of business against Western Carolina, 80-72.
The first game of the Michael Malone era saw UNC take a nine-point lead into halftime.
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The Tar Heels shot 42% from the field in this one, and attempted an astonishing 35 free throws.
To say this was a clean game would be an understatement, as the Catamounts attempted 27 from the charity stripe themselves.
Regardless, it was the season opener , so things like that are bound to happen. The only thing that matters is that UNC is 1-0, picking up a much-needed victory to set the tone.
Four Tar Heels finished with double digits
Not one, not two, but four UNC players ended this game with 10+ points. Matt Able, who had a lot of talk surrounding him coming into this game, tied Catamounts' Jaxon Prunty with a game-high 17 points.
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Able led the way for UNC while Terrance Brown added 14, Neo Avdalas had 13, and then Maximo Adams contributed 10 off the bench.
Of the Tar Heels' 80 points, 23 of which came from bench players. Adams led that core group with four rebounds while Isaiah Denis had four assists and one steal.
Starting lineup-wise, Malone's group was just 4-for-17 from three-point range. This is a Tar Heels team that shot 9-for-30 overall from distance, a number that was nowhere near as good as Western Carolina's 10-for-24.
Of Malone's starters, the only one to play more than 30 minutes was Avdalas. He was in there for 31 minutes while Brown played 30. Jarin Stevenson wasn't too far behind at 29, but all five bench players were on the court for at least nine minutes.
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UNC has a few areas to clean up
It's never good to miss 10 free throws in an eight-point game, but rebounding was a major issue for UNC in this one.
The Catamounts grabbed 41 boards, which was nine more than what UNC finished with.
Each team turned the ball over nine times and had a similar number of assists, but those rebounding numbers stand out like a sore thumb.
Obviously, it's only game one, but UNC can't expect to win many games this year when they're getting beat on the glass and missing 21 three-pointers.
UNC is back in action later this week as Wofford comes to town on Friday, Nov. 6.
