North Carolina’s last pre-Christmas game might come with a form of desperation.
In need of a quality result, the Tar Heels will aim to get one against No. 18 UCLA on Saturday afternoon at Madison Square Garden in New York as part of the CBS Sports Classic.
“It’s an opportunity for us to get back up and move forward,” North Carolina coach Hubert Davis said. “And we’re going to do that.”
The Tar Heels (6-5) are 0-4 against ranked teams this season, although they own a neutral-court victory against current No. 22 Dayton.
“You have a choice, but you really don’t have a choice,” Davis said. “You can stay down, you can point fingers, you can whine and complain, you can make excuses, or you can get your tail back up and step forward and start swinging again.”
It will be no easy task against the Bruins (10-1), who own a nine-game winning streak since falling to New Mexico. Most recently, they throttled visiting Prairie View A&M 111-75 on Tuesday night.
UCLA is anticipating a bigger challenge this weekend.
“Carolina has got some really fast guys off the bounce,” Bruins coach Mick Cronin said.
UCLA has plenty to build off. The team made 29 of 37 free throws, so concerns about that area might be easing.
“I’m really happy with our improvement at the foul line,” Cronin said. “That’s really important.”
There also was 7-foot-3 center Aday Mara grabbing 10 rebounds off the bench. That pleased Cronin, but there will continue to be an emphasis to reduce his turnovers.
“I know he can pass,” the coach said. “He has got to quit traveling. … I’m just trying to get him to catch it, turn, pivot, and hit the first open man.”
UCLA’s Tyler Bilodeau, the team’s top scorer at 14.1 points per game and rebounder at 5.5, took a hard fall early in the second half Tuesday and didn’t play again.
“It was time to get some other guys some minutes, try to get some other guys going,” Cronin said. “There was no reason for him to be out there.”
Cronin said there are no concerns about him being available against the Tar Heels, whose 90-84 loss to No. 7 Florida on Tuesday night in Charlotte included a big comeback and then a falter down the stretch after they took the lead. Shoddy ball handling proved costly.
“We just got to value each and every possession,” Tar Heels guard Ian Jackson said.
UCLA is among the nation’s leaders in forcing turnovers at an average of 18.5 per game.
The Tar Heels received an encouraging boost against Florida from guard RJ Davis, a preseason All-American. He scored 29 points, aided by three 3-point baskets. It’s only the third time this season he has made more than two 3-pointers in a game.
Solving his shooting woes could be a tonic. He’s at 25.3 percent on 3-pointers, though his 10-for-19 rate overall from the field vs. Florida was the first time he has been at 50 percent or better this season.
“RJ has been a big-time player for five years,” Hubert Davis said. “I’ve never been concerned or thought about percentages in terms of his shooting, but my focus is the growth and the potential of this team.”
–Field Level Media
