UNC 83, Gardner-Webb 80
UNC wins on a late 3 pointer by David Noel that bounces on the rim four times before rattling through. After being tied at the half, UNC broke open a 11 point lead, but Gardner-Webb pulled it back to just 3 with a couple minutes left to go. Gardner-Webb started fouling to save the clock, but we missed 8 of the last 9 free throws. GW made a 3 to tie it before Noel made the game-winner with just 1.3 seconds to go. After going undefeated at home last year, the heels have won their last 19 games at home.
Coach Williams summed it up well: "It looked like a very inexperienced team."
It wasn't a pretty game with 20 turnovers, but the team showed good heart and didn't give up. Gardner-Webb won the regular season in the Atlantic Sun conference last year so they weren't a push-over. McPhee was on fire and drained several 3's. Jennings drove on us often and popped it out to McPhee. Dribble penetration is a pet peeve of Coach Williams, so I'm sure he'll be on the team about that. Reyshawn had a nice dunk down low off an inbound play at the beginning of the second half. Then he had another flying dunk off a fast break. He had a decent game. Marcus Ginyard had a solid defensive game. I could see him becoming the type of stopper Jackie Manuel was for us last year. Danny Green had a quiet game playing only 13 minutes, but scored 17 points on 4-6 shooting and 6-6 from the charity strip and 0 turnovers. Bobby Frasor was a little shaky, but his fundamentals look good. I think he had a case of the Freshman jitters. Quentin Thomas made a couple of costly turnovers late. This would have been a good time for him to step up as the floor leader, but I'd have to go with Frasor at this point. David Noel had a very good game. He looks like the leader of the team and plays with the most poise. He had 17 points including the game winning 3. But the talk around the water cooler on Monday will definitely be about Tyler Hansbrough. He may be a freshman age-wise, but he sure doesn't play like it. He has a great sense around the basket like Sean May and Antawn Jamison. He has amazing touch with his jump hook. I think it is pretty clear now that Hansbrough is the go-to guy for Carolina. Let's just hope teams don't start double-teaming him.
At 1-0, we are off to a better start than last year's NCAA championship team!!! :-)
