North Carolina’s preseason wrapped up Tuesday night with a lot more stress than the Tar Heels probably wanted, even though the scoreboard eventually showed an 89-82 overtime win over Charlotte.
The game opened ugly for UNC. The Tar Heels missed eight of their first 10 shots and went five full minutes in the first half without a field goal. On top of that, Matt Able was ruled out an hour before tip-off, which forced a different look and opened the door for other players to carry more of the load.
Neoklis Avdalas and Terrence Brown made the most of that opportunity. Brown had struggled badly in the first two exhibition games, but this time he looked far more like the player who averaged 19.9 points at Utah.
Avdalas, meanwhile, showed off the full package - rebounding, pushing the ball in transition, and scoring efficiently. His ability to generate easy offense was especially valuable when North Carolina’s half-court possessions weren’t producing clean looks early on.
Even with the win, this was not the kind of performance that leaves anyone feeling comfortable. The Tar Heels needed overtime to get past Charlotte, and they spent most of the night chasing the game. North Carolina held the lead for just a little over nine minutes, and it had to work back from a double-digit deficit to avoid a loss.
The same issues from the previous two exhibition games showed up again. UNC had trouble on the boards against a team it should have handled better, and the game became a fight from start to finish. Charlotte even had the lead with seconds left in regulation before North Carolina finally forced overtime.
That’s the part that will stick with Tar Heel fans. Exhibition results don’t count in the standings, but nearly losing to Charlotte is still a warning sign.
North Carolina has time before ACC play begins, and this roster clearly needs more time to settle in and build chemistry. For a team hoping to rebound from two straight first-round NCAA Tournament exits, Tuesday night was an uncomfortable reminder that there’s still plenty of work to do.
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The search for a replacement is already underway, with former Michigan GM Sean Magee helping consult on the process. What makes the next hire especially interesting is the possibility that the role could be built to report to both athletic director Steve Newmark and head coach Bill Belichick, a structure that would say a lot about how much influence Belichick is expected to wield in Chapel Hill and how UNC wants its football operation to function moving forward. [Read more 🡒]
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For the Tar Heels, the miss adds another layer to a rivalry that tends to show up in the recruiting lanes long before it ever reaches the court. Dukes class keeps building around top-end talent, while UNC now has to keep pressing ahead with other targets and make up ground elsewhere in a cycle where every high-end decision matters. [Read more 🡒]