UNC Basketball: 5 Things we learned from Maui Invite

The freshmen guards have to play better

With just four players returning from last year’s team that played significant minutes, Roy Williams is going to have to reply on his top 3 recruiting class from a year ago. Six freshmen will all be in the rotation for the Tar Heels this season with Day’Ron Sharpe and Walker Kesser in the paint, Caleb Love, R.J. Davis starting in the backcourt and Kerwin Walton and Donovon Johnson as the wings.

This is a very talented class that should be one of Williams’ best when it’s all said and done, potentially having a few four-year players. And while most have played well early on, UNC is going to need more from their starting backcourt.

Both Davis and Love struggled in the Maui finale against Texas, especially down the stretch.

Davis has had a solid start to the season averaging 12.3 points and 4.3 rebounds while shooting 40 percent from the field. He has struggled at times early on but nothing to the point where we should be worried. In fact, he’s been a big surprise early on.

As for Love, he’s really struggled to find his shot. He’s the prized recruit in this 2020 class but early on is only averaging 11 points per game while shooting 27 percent from the field. In the loss to Texas, Love finished with 5 points and shot just 15 percent from the field. That included air-balling a three-pointer late that would have given UNC the lead.

This backcourt is going to be the key to success for the Tar Heels and if they don’t play better, they are going to find themselves in tough situations. Shooting and defense need to improve but also the facilitating into the post. Get those bigs involved and score some buckets.