1. Carolina led the entire way in earning a 109-70 victory over Wofford to move to 2-0 on the season.
2. The story of this match was the bench. While Carolina took an early lead and maintained it, Michael Malone was able to give a lot of playing time to the reserves. And they responded, putting up 58 points and almost outscoring Wofford on their own. Five of the six players who played the most minutes came off the bench.
3. It’s hard to pick a standout player off the bench because everyone contributed, but Maxime Adams was excellent. Sean May said Monday night that the Heels need Adams to be more active on the glass. He took it to heart, collecting his first career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
4. Jaydon Young also had a great shooting day, hitting four three-pointers and scoring a game-high 15 points for UNC.
5. After making more than half of their three-pointers on Monday, Carolina’s offensive approach changed dramatically on Friday. The Heels took just eight 3s on 32 field goals in the first half and finished the game having made just 25 of 73 shots from distance.
6. The Heels announced on the very first possession of the game that this would be a different performance than Monday night’s win over Western Carolina. Jarin Stevenson took the ball directly to the rim at the first opportunity and completed a two-handed dunk through contact. This set the tone for an aggressive and courageous outing. Stevenson had ten points and three rebounds.
7. It was also the best overall release (if this starts to sound like almost everything was good, that’s because it was) for Terrence Brown in his very young career at UNC. The guard had a team-high 21 points, shot an efficient 7 of 11 and had just one turnover. As a team, Carolina recorded just seven turnovers as it continued to perform well in an area Malone highlighted.
8. Carolina’s transition game was the best this young year. The Heels put up 24 points in the first eight minutes of the game and finished in Bojangle territory. This included 20 fast break points.
9. UNC’s bench played a big role in this first half performance. The reserves contributed 21 points (Alex Samodorov had nine en route to 13 for the game) and 14 rebounds (Maxime Adams had seven, including two offensive). Angelo Brizzi also added some energy and was +21 for the match.
10. Carolina has now won 20 straight games at the Smith Center. This is the tenth-longest home winning streak in program history.
11. Some people just know how to handle a microphone, and you can put Roger Ayers in that category. As the official reviewed a body check of Wofford’s Cam Lowe in the first half, Ayers completed the review by grabbing the arena microphone and announcing, “Upon review, it was an obvious flagrant foul.” You have to appreciate honesty.
12. “We want Holbrook” chants began with 3:26 left, and Malone quickly complied. He inserted Holbrook almost immediately and the Hickory native grabbed a rebound.
13. The Heels return to the Smith Center Tuesday night against Wyoming. This will be Carolina’s 600th game at the Smith Center.
Gn sports
