North Carolina left Tuesday night with an 89-82 overtime win over Charlotte, but the box score did little to quiet one of the clearest concerns hanging over the Tar Heels: the rebounding just isn’t where it needs to be.
UNC had three exhibition tune-ups - USC, Indiana and Charlotte - before the real season starts next Monday, and the issue showed up in the last two more than the first. The Heels dominated the glass in the opener against USC, winning that battle 47-33 in an 88-70 victory.
Since then, the numbers have swung the other way in a hurry. Indiana beat North Carolina on the boards 53-31, and Charlotte outrebounded UNC 36-30 while also taking a 12-6 edge on the offensive glass and piling up 18 second-chance points.
The frontcourt has been at the center of it. Jarin Stevenson and Sayon Keita started in the paint in all three exhibition games, but against Charlotte they combined for just four rebounds. Michael Malone did not dodge the problem afterward.
"[Sayon] can't have two rebounds in 33 minutes," he said. "That can't happen.
But we need everybody else. Jarin had two rebounds in 38 minutes.
That's your 4 and 5 at four rebounds and a lot of minutes on the floor."
Malone did point out that Stevenson spent plenty of time switching on the perimeter, which pulled him away from the basket and away from ideal rebounding position on some possessions. Stevenson still acknowledged the need to clean it up.
"We gotta work on it in practice," the senior from Chapel Hill said. "We gotta come with a different mindset. I know Coach Malone's gonna be on us about it next practice, and it's something we just have to figure out."
If the frontcourt has been uneven, Neo Avdalas has been one of the stabilizing pieces on the glass. The 6-foot-9 sophomore guard grabbed a team-high nine rebounds against Charlotte, matching the total he posted in the win over USC. He has been especially valuable on long rebounds, giving UNC another body in the fight.
"From the guards, obviously both Jarin and Sayon can't take everything," Avdalas said. "We have to go to the long rebounds and help Sayon, Jarin, and the other guys to gain the rebounds."
Terrence Brown Jr. echoed that thought, making it clear that the burden can’t fall entirely on the bigs.
"It's really just a heart thing. Sayon goes down there, he works his butt off.
J-Steve goes down there, works his butt off. Neo goes down there, got nine rebounds today.
It's me and the other guys on the team just going in there and taking the load off them and getting boards."
Even so, Malone made clear that the answer is bigger than effort alone. His message was blunt: rebounding comes down to desire, toughness and commitment.
"Rebounding is not a skill," Malone said. "It's a want to.
It's a desire. It's toughness.
… I can't make our guys bigger and stronger. I just don't have that power.
I wish I did. This is our roster until Cameron Fens is eligible."
Jaydon Young, who had three rebounds against Charlotte, framed it the same way. The senior guard pointed to the basics that should already be second nature.
"Of course, boxing out, all the little things like that," Young said. "Stuff you learn when you're in fifth grade. But I think it has a lot to do with heart and repping it out."
There isn’t much time left to sort it out. North Carolina opens the regular season Monday night against Western Carolina, and while the Tar Heels may be able to survive some rebounding slippage early, that margin shrinks fast once the schedule tightens. If this team is going to fix the problem, it has to happen now.
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