North Carolina was scorching hot from the perimeter in its 91-87 win at Duke on Saturday night. The Tar Heels were also quite effective inside the arc, as well.
It was a rare evening of inside-outside hoops for Roy Williams’ team, and the obvious conclusion is UNC is much better off when its big men are getting the ball on the lower blocks and scoring while the perimeter guys are also occasionally knocking down shots.
That is what every coach wants. Fans, too. But Saturday was just the third time this season in which UNC converted at least 47 percent of its shots inside the three-point arc while also hitting seven or more threes in the same game. And it was huge in the Heels escaping Cameron Indoor Stadium with the win.
Not only were the Tar Heels 24-for-49 inside the arc, with 36 points coming in the paint, but they were 10-for-15 from outside. This was the first time all season each of UNC's primary big men, Day'Ron Sharpe, Armando Bacot and Garrison Brooks, each scored in double figures in the same game. Duke had trouble defending the Heels in the paint, and as a result Carolina had its highest scoring game of the season.
It was also the first time two Heels converted four threes in the same game, as Caleb Love (4-for-5) and Kerwin Walton (4-for-4) were on fire.
“They hurt you inside, but their three-point shooting was incredible tonight,” Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski said after the game.
Carolina hit five threes in the first eight minutes but were just 5-for-13 inside the arc. Usually, success down low can open up looks on the perimeter because opposing teams will drop defenders to double or shade down low. But in this case, the outside shooting may have helped loosen Duke’s approach in the paint.
In fact, it wasn’t really until the second half when UNC’s bigs began having consistent success inside. But once they got going, they were nearly unstoppable. Carolina scored 50 points after halftime, including 22 points in the paint, and 11 of the 15 free throws Brooks, Sharpe and Bacot attempted came after halftime, too. UNC was 4-for-6 on trifectas after the intermission, as well.
“Our big guys are the strength of our team,” UNC Coach Roy Williams said. “I think the rebounds were big for us in the second half, second chance points, and we made shots. I mean, guys, 10 for 15 from three point line is something we'd like to do every night.”
In only two other games this season have the Tar Heels shot 47 percent inside the arc while making at least seven three-pointers.
UNC was 18-for-40 inside the circle versus UNLV while hitting seven threes, and Carolina was 17-for-36 at Georgia Tech on twos, but also converted eight threes to go with it. The Heels split those games, beating Vegas in Asheville while falling in Atlanta.
Of course, how a team shoots the ball isn’t the only gauge on whether or not they are successful in a game. Carolina’s other occasional issues flared up in the loss at Tech. The Heels allowed just 13 points off of turnovers to UNLV while holding the Rebels to 29 percent shooting from the field, but the Yellow Jackets scored 19 points off turnovers and shot 52.9 percent from the floor, including converting 10 of 22 three-pointer attempts.
Duke shot 53.7 percent from the field, including making 11 of 25 from three, and the Blue Devils also scored 20 points off turnovers, but Carolina’s marksmanship pushed it to the winner’s circle.
The Tar Heels have converted seven or more threes in just six games, four of which they won. The others were versus Notre Dame and at Miami, a night they were just 12-for-41 inside the arc. The bigs really struggled in Coral Gables, but so did the Hurricanes.
There is no denying UNC is an inside-first team, but it has flared up enough from the perimeter it can affect games outside, too. The mantra moving forward is to have both going on the same night, like what happened at Duke.
Both Kerwin Walton and Caleb Love were on fire in Cameron.
“I was in that zone,” said Love, who led all scorers with 25 points. “Just going into the game, I just knew I had to be a big part of my team getting this win.”
Walton, Love and the Heels may not necessarily have to be that hot to win games down the road but hitting enough from outside combined with the interior guys doing their thing clearly lifts the Tar Heels to another level.
They did it Saturday, now the question is when will they do it again?