North Carolina defeated Northern Iowa, 91-69, on Wednesday in the opening round of the Battle 4 Atlantis. It wasn't as easy as the box score might indicate. The Panthers jumped up early, and took a six-point advantage into the half. The Tar Heels countered with a 34-6 point explosion, and cruised from there.

It was clearly a tale of two halves. The first half UNC team could quickly send the fan base back into flashbacks of last year's squad that didn't make the NCAA Tournament. The second half play can build hopes of yet another highly successful season.

At the present we don't know what the truth is, and where this team stands. What we do know is that there was a clear blueprint for both the struggles of the first 20 minutes, and the stellar play the rest of the way.

Poor Three-Point Shooting

North Carolina only made 3 of 13 three point tries in the first half. This was a big problem on several fronts. First, the obvious negative is that is only a 23.1% rate, and that number meant ten empty offensive possessions.

But the struggle from outside offers a plethora of problems in regards to their offensive philosophy. For starters, 13 of their 27 first half field goal attempts were from behind the arc. That is clearly too many against a smaller team, especially when you have a center named Armando Bacot. In fact, the All-American only took three shots in the first half.

Poor outside shooting, and Bacot's shot number may go hand in hand unless there are quick, low percentage shots. Packed in defenses daring a cold shooting North Carolina team to make perimeter jumpers are old hat for North Carolina fans. They all know the next chapter is Bacot's inability to get touches because of the sagged in defense.

The Tar Heels were 18 of 58 from for 31% from downtown heading to the Bahamas. That number dropped to 29.6% for the season by halftime.

Undisciplined Defense

North Carolina forced 10 turnovers in the first half. That helped keep it in the game early. The gameplan was to wreak havoc with defensive pressure against a less athletic backcourt. The problem was that once Northern Iowa got through the first wave of that pressure, it gashed the Tar Heels to the rate of 41 points and 60% shooting.

There were too many poor angles by the individual Tar Heel defenders, and too much extended pressure that couldn't contain the dribbler. ESPN color commentator Jimmy Dykes kept mentioning how the UNC perimeter defenders were opening up their hips when the ball handler got to them.

Lack of help side defense was also an issue. As the dribble got to the lane, or the ball was swung side to side there was too little head turn, and too much ball watching. The old mantra is see your man and the ball.

The Offense Went From Outside-In to Inside-out

Hubert Davis looked to establish Armando Bacot on the block from possession number one of the second half. I obviously didn't have access to the halftime locker room speech, but I would not be surprised if Davis did not demand a low post touch on every possession. Bacot only had five shots for the second half, but the impact was sudden. Bacot had an early pass out of the low post double team for the three-pointer, and as the defense continued to help down on him the shooters stayed freed up.

Sizzling Three Point Shooting

North Carolina was 9 of 13 from behind the arc for the second half. By the eight-minute mark of the game, UNC had missed 8 of its first 11 shots. Shooters were open in the first half for a reason. Northern Iowa was daring them to make them. They didn't. The shooters were open again in the second half, and they did.

There is no coaching hot take here. I do like the fact that the ball was going inside in a lot of situations, and then back out. Besides the passes out of the low post, there was also quite a bit of kick outs off the drive. But the bottom line is that they need to make the open shots and they did.

Cormac Ryan, specifically, got on a heater, and he is the player that needs to heat up in my opinion. RJ Davis will give them that. Seth Trimble started, but he is in for his defense. Ryan is the wing who can provide the outside punch. He entered the game on a 3 for 14 outside clip for just 21.4%. An 0-3 first half dropped that to 17.6%.

That number went to 3 for 5 after the half that more importantly was boosted by three in a row that sent the Tar Heel crowd into a frenzy, and seemed to energize the team.

The Harrison Ingram/Jae'lyn Withers Combination is a Nice Fit

Harrison Ingram has the potential to cause problems for opponents. Remember that he was a 5-star out of high school. He averaged around 10 points per game in both seasons at Stanford, but his shooting numbers were low, and his outside percentages hovered around 30%. He made 4 of 6 three's Wednesday, and for the year he is now 8 of 18 for 44.4%.

When he makes the three-pointer, he turns into a matchup nightmare. At 6-foot-7, 235 pounds, Ingram is bigger than just about everyone that guards him at the three spot. North Carolina cleared out a side, and Ingram backed down his man to the block with the dribble in the mold of Charles Barkley. Put a bigger man on him, and now he takes them outside and either drives or knocks down the jumper.

Jae'lyn Withers also can free up Ingram when he plays the four. His ability to stretch the floor gives Ingram space from the small forward spot. He had not attempted a three the entire season before going 1-for-2 Wednesday. The Louisville transfer knocking down outside shots also makes it that much tougher to defend Bacot.

There are a lot of if's here, but if Ingram, Withers, and Ryan can get into the outside shooting flow, well then, you get the picture.

Better Second Half Defense

Northern Iowa only scored 28 points in the second half. They shot 9 of 28 overall for 32% after going for 60% in the first. The Tar Heels came out of the locker room with a more disciplined defensive attack that didn't pressure quite as much, and looked to contain more. UNC trailed by six out of half, but quickly took the lead two and a half minutes in. Once Northern Iowa began reeling the Tar Heels began dialing up the pressure again.

There will lots of talk about North Carolina's defensive pressure, but the bottom line is that there was more attention to detail. Stances were lower, feet moved more, and hips didn't open as much. The head turn off the ball, and help side were both much improved.

So far, North Carolina is only giving up 38.5% shooting for the year which is which is 68th in the country. The 64.8 points they give up per game is also tied for 85th.

The question going from here is can the strengths manifest themselves once the price of poker goes up. We will find out soon enough. Villanova is on deck, and a quality opponent is pretty much assured Friday. The Tar Heels also will face Tennessee in exactly one week in the ACC/SEC Challenge.