Off the cuff: Carolina demolished N.C. State yet the Pack scored 96 points - this after scoring a ridiculously low 24 last weekend in a loss to Virginia Tech. UNC coach Roy Williams said it's tough to come back after that kind of loss but he thought Kevin Keatts had his team ready. And indeed the game was close for the first 10 minutes and the Pack shot over 50 percent and put up a ton of points. But when Carolina gets out in transition like it did and is able to draw fouls, the Heels are hard to beat. Coby White hit seven of eight from the free throw line on his way to 21 points while Nassir Little hit eight of 10 from the line on his way to 12 points. And when Luke Maye controls the inside game with a bunch of rebounds (12), follow shots and general disruption on the boards, he can put up a lot of points. His 31 points were the most since he had 33 against State last season. In that one, he did it more with his outside shot. In this one, again, he did the damage inside. Coach Williams wasn't happy that his defense allowed State to shoot more than 50 percent and that his offense turned the ball over 17 times, 13 of which came in the second half. The pace got frenetic there for a while which lends itself to turnovers but the Heels also put up a bunch of points in transition during the same time period. "I think we're getting better," Coach Williams said of his Heels who are on a six-game win streak. "But we've got to get better." The offense can't be much better as the Heels shot 56 percent for the game and 60 percent in the second half. But it will be defense that determines how far this team goes. |
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