No one was expecting Carolina to struggle against an unranked team, but according to Coach Williams, after seeing them play before, he wasn’t surprised by their tenacity.
Wofford College didn’t let UNC walk away easy with a win, and they didn’t solidify their lead until late in the second half. Kennedy Meeks continues to be the leader on the court finishing with 16 points along with Brice Johnson and Joel Berry III. UNC lead majority of the first half with the largest lead being 10. Carolina wasn’t the normal aggressive team in past play. The Tarheels only saw the free throw line twice and made only one. Wofford College couldn’t beat Carolina in the paint so they contested them behind the arch. Wofford went 4-10 at the three, while Carolina only made one, which was from Britt.
In the second half, we saw a more aggressive and dominate UNC. Carolina outscored and outplayed Wofford, but Wofford definitely wore the Tarheels out with their speed of play. Wofford wouldn’t let the Tarheels get too far into their lead until the last 8 mins of play. Carolina finally mustered up the strength and started shooting lights out. Carolina went on an 8-0 run that gave them the push over to a double-digit lead. But what really gave UNC the game was their points off turnovers, Wofford only had 8 compared to UNC’s 20. With a strong presence inside the paint and Joel Berry III finally showing us that preseason glimmer, UNC remained undefeated.
Williams spoke briefly about his team’s effort and their progression from Sunday:
“We gave better effort defensively. Wofford is a hard team to guard and I know Mike has a good group of kids. We knew it was going to be a difficult game. For our team, I thought Kennedy and Brice played better from Sunday. We didn’t shoot it as well from the 3, we were 1-9, I would like for us to get better from behind the line. But compared to how we played Sunday, I feel a lot better in our progression.”
Next up, UNC is an away game at UNI, Saturday at 2pm.