North Carolina’s first win under Michael Malone came with a clear message attached: the Tar Heels are still a work in progress, and Friday night’s visit from Wofford is another test of how quickly they can tighten things up.
The Tar Heels return to Chapel Hill, N.C., after opening the season with an 80-72 fight against Western Carolina on Monday. Wofford arrives off a much rougher start, having fallen 90-59 at No. 8 Tennessee on Tuesday night.
“I have to remind myself constantly that this really is going to be a process,” Malone said.
North Carolina’s opener showed both the promise and the messiness of a team with seven players making their first appearance as Tar Heels. Matt Able, the North Carolina State transfer, led the way with 18 points and finished just one shy of his career high.
“That’s the whole reason I came here was to win at the highest level, and I feel like it’s a good start,” Able said. “But there’s definitely more to accomplish.”
The Tar Heels also got a strong defensive note from Terrence Brown, who the coaching staff identified as the team’s best defender in the first game.
“He leaves it out there,” Malone said. “I never question if Terrence Brown is going to compete and play hard because that’s just how he’s wired.”
One area North Carolina has already flagged is the glass. The Tar Heels were outrebounded 41-32 by Western Carolina, a problem Malone and his group know can’t linger. Neo Avdalas, a 6-foot-9 guard who grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, said opponents will notice if that weakness stays in place.
“Now teams that are scouting us, they know that we’re not good at rebounding, and they’re going to punish us,” Avdalas said. “They’re going to go to the rebound. So we have to get better because when we play defense and we run, it’s our game.”
Wofford had its own issues in Knoxville, though Cam Lowe still managed 14 points and Evan Ramsey finished with 10 rebounds. The Terriers were within 34-31 at halftime before Tennessee pulled away after the break.
“We’ve got a good team,” Terriers coach Kevin Giltner said. “We just didn’t handle that well. ... I think a lot of that was a credit to Tennessee.”
Giltner pointed to the second half as the turning point.
“Our urgency level wasn’t what it was in the first half,” Giltner said. “We didn’t weather that storm well at all.”
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