By Adam Lucas
1. Carolina overcame a sluggish first half to pull away for a 77.58 win over East Tennessee State.
2. Perhaps inspired by the halftime puppy race, dog-lover Henri Veesaar set another career high, scoring 26 points to go with his eight rebounds. He was 10-for-11 from the field and 4-4 from the free throw line on an extremely efficient night, even sinking two of his three three-pointers. Veesaar continued a trend in which either he or Caleb Wilson has led the Tar Heels in scoring and rebounding in ten of the 11 games this year. The 10-for-11 performance by Veesaar is the fourth-best shooting performance by a Tar Heel in the Smith Center and the fifth-best in the building from any team.
3. In a game like that, it helps to have a steady source of offense. Caleb Wilson has been about as steady as you can be, and the free throw line is an important part of that offense. The freshman went 6-for-8 from the charity stripe on Tuesday. That’s the eleventh straight game (in other words, all of them) this season that he has made at least five free throws. Bob Lewis, Pete Brennan and Lennie Rosenbluth hold the school record with a 12-game streak (Tyler Hansbrough also had an 11-game streak). The key part of that is made free throws; Wilson isn’t just getting to the line, he’s converting.
4. The Heels did a nice job holding on to the ball against a team that tries to create some havoc defensively. Carolina committed just seven turnovers against a team that is in the top 45 nationally in defensive turnover percentage.
5. A very deliberate first half saw Carolina go on a late spurt to build a 38-30 halftime lead. But the overall locker room tone was not pleased. Hubert Davis changed his starters for the second half, inserting Jonathan Powell in place of Luka Bogavac, who struggled to make an impact in his nine first half minutes (Bogavac had the same number of shot attempts, rebounds and assists as Wanda in the first half).
6. The biggest offender: the fact that the Heels got just one offensive rebound (granted, they only missed eight shots) against an opponent with a significant height deficit. ETSU turned their five offensive rebounds into nine points. John Holbrook got that many offensive boards in his 90 seconds of second half action.
7. The Bucs also capitalized on some late shot clock chances, regularly running the shot clock down to the final seconds and on multiple occasions making a buzzer-beating basket. The Heels eventually went to some trapping to try and speed them up and take them out of what they wanted to do. Overall, Carolina actually did a pretty credible job defensively against a tough team to defend. ETSU became the third straight opponent to record a sub-40% field goal shooting game. It’s not a coincidence that Carolina has won those three games by an average of 20 points each.
8. Great to see James Brown have some good moments in his reserve role. Brown scored off an offensive rebound and was fouled in the second half, and then got another offensive board later in the period. He can still be foul-prone and obviously struggled from the line (0-5), but if he can just rebound and be a defensive presence he’s doing what the Heels need him to do. Another reserve, Jaydon Young, was quietly +19 and hit his only shot attempt, a three-pointer. He’s steadily starting to earn more minutes.
10. Carolina’s matchup with East Tennessee State was created when the Atlantic Coast Conference went from 20 league games to 18 games. “Coach Lebo called me,” ETSU head coach Brooks Savage said on the Tar Heel Sports Network pregame show. “I jokingly picked it up and said, ‘Are you calling about scheduling?’ When he said that he was, I just said, ‘What time do you want us to be there?'” Savage’s ETSU program, which has 19 wins in each of his first two seasons and is on pace to do it again this year, has reached a difficult level at which they’re good enough to beat major opponents…which makes it even more unlikely for those opponents to schedule the Buccaneers. “If you’re a team nobody wants to schedule, that means you’re doing something right,” Savage said. “But it also makes scheduling tougher.”
11. A reminder that the Carolina Basketball Holiday Kids Clinic returns this year. It will be held on Dec. 31 with two separate age groups. Attendees get instruction from Carolina players on the Smith Center court and it’s always an enjoyable morning. Registration is available online.
12. Tomorrow marks two years since the death of Eric Montross. He would love this particular Tar Heel team that plays inside-out, and every time Henri Veesaar makes a hook shot or Caleb Wilson tries to dunk on someone you can almost hear that familiar Eric chortle. If you’re so inclined, the very best way to remember him on Wednesday would be to call or text someone you know who is going through a battle with cancer and spend a few minutes reminding them you care. As Eric frequently said (and demonstrated so often), those personal gestures are very meaningful and truly do make a difference.
