Game Recap: Things we learned from UNC’s win over Fairfield

It wasn’t pretty early on, but the North Carolina Tar Heels turned it on in the second half and gave the Chapel Hill crowd a positive feeling leaving the Dean Dome.

The Tar Heels came into the game fresh off a season-opening win over Temple and would face an opponent they should have handled without many problems. But to Fairfield’s credit, they hung in there for the majority of the game.

Carolina used a career-high 17 points from Nate Britt who put together arguably his best game of his career. Britt’s decision to switch his primary shooting hand has helped as we’ve seen him develop over the last two seasons.

Britt spoke with ESPN’s C.L. Brown after the game:

"“Marcus told me how much the game slowed down his junior year and I feel like it’s done the same for me,” said Britt, who is averaging 16 points. “…In pick up (games), your mind isn’t all over the place you’re kind of relaxed. When I say the game slows down, that’s kind of how it feels.”"

Still, the Tar Heels struggled to put away the Stags as they couldn’t hit free throws or establish the offense.

Three takeaways

Poor free throw shooting

Go back to the 2013 season when the Tar Heels lost a bad game to Belmont 83-80 in the Dean Dome. It was the third game of the season and nearly no one expected the Tar Heels to lose. In that game the Tar Heels were 22-of-48 from the free throw line as they struggled all season and it cost them.

Now two years later and the Tar Heels are still struggling from the line. In Sunday’s win, they shot just 18-of-32 from the free throw line and it almost cost them.

Yes, the Tar Heels are good and yes they will likely make a run in the NCAA Tournament, but if there’s one weakness it’s free throw shooting. I’d like to see that cleaned up a little bit as the season goes on.

Avoid the early season upset

The Tar Heels had some fans uncomfortable early on as they struggled to build a lead on the Stags.  The first half was close as they took just an eight point lead into halftime, and give the Stags some credit for playing very well.

Each of the last four seasons, the Tar Heels have suffered an upset in November. Two of those have come to Butler including last season in the Battle For Atlantis Tournament.

Now the Tar Heels really weren’t in danger of an upset on Sunday, but it wasn’t a comfortable setting in the first half and had some wonder.

Brice Johnson plays well

While Johnson didn’t have the best game on Friday, he turned in a nice performance on Sunday. Johnson finished with 16 points on 4-of-8 shooting and was one of the bright spots from the charity stripe. He finished 8-of-10 from the free throw line, getting there early and often.

Johnson’s impact is key to the Tar Heels success this season and especially with Marcus Paige out for some time. The senior forward is also underrated and plays with a chip on his shoulder.

Let’s hope Brice continues to play well this season.

Next game

The Tar Heels will try to avoid that “November upset” I mentioned earlier as they will host Wofford on Tuesday. The Terriers hung with Missouri in the season opener losing by just 9 points on the road. This wont be the an easy walk thru, so the Tar Heels cant afford a slip up.