Off the cuff: The Tar Heels certainly played with more energy and aggressiveness against UCLA. Carolina had 13 steals and did a better job of guarding the three-pointer. Perhaps Butler, who scored nine threes, is a better three-point shooting team but UNC held UCLA to one of 14 from beyond the arc. With only normal starters Marcus Paige and Justin Jackson in the opening lineup, the Tar Heels responded. But while new starters Isiah Hicks and Nate Britt did well, the Tar Heels trailed 16-9 after the first six minutes. Switching up the starting lineup can energize the benched players - Tokoto, Johnson and Meeks - going forward. While it might hurt their feelings a bit, the three ended up playing more minutes than the starters. Starting is really that important on a team as deep as Carolina (10 players played at least 10 minutes). But eventually some players will start seeing less playing time as Coach Williams settles in on maybe eight main players. |
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