UNC Basketball vs. NC Central: Game preview, info, prediction and more

We preview Saturday’s game between the UNC Basketball program and NC Central, one that was added late to the schedule.

The UNC Basketball program returns to action on Saturday for a game that originally wasn’t on the 2020-21 schedule. But after Elon had to postpone their game with the Tar Heels earlier in the month, the program has found the way to add another game to the schedule.

And it’s much-needed right now.

UNC has suffered two-straight losses as they dropped games to ranked opponents in Texas and Iowa over the past 10 days. The two losses dropped UNC to 3-2 on the year and prior to this game, the next game scheduled for the Tar Heels was on December 19 against Ohio State.

Getting an extra game in, especially with no exhibition schedule this year is crucial. This is young UNC team that needs all the games they can schedule in order to develop some chemistry together before conference play tips off later in the year.

Saturday afternoon’s matchup pits the Tar Heels against a North Carolina Central team that is 1-2 on the year. The Eagles lone win came against Southern back in late November and they lost their season opener to Iowa 97-67. For the Tar Heels, this is simply a “get right” game as they prepare for Ohio State and then the meat and potatoes of their conference schedule.

Although, the Tar Heels also can’t take the Eagles lightly. Despite that 1-2 record, they are scoring 74.3 points per game and have some guys that can really shoot the basketball. Don’t chalk this up as an easy win just yet.

Going into this game, there are a few keys to look for.

The Tar Heels have really struggled to shoot the ball this year from the field, despite averaging 74.2 points per game. They are shooting just 43.1 percent from the field and aren’t getting much from key rotation players early on.

Leading the way for the scoring is senior Garrison Brooks who is averaging 13.2 points per game but behind him, it hasn’t been consistent outside of freshman R.J. Davis who is averaging 12.2 points per game. His backcourt teammate, fellow freshman Caleb Love, is averaging 11 points a game but is struggling to find his shot.

Something to Watch

The UNC guards really need to be better and this is a chance to do that. The duo of Davis and Love are both averaging over 10 points a game but they have been inconsistent. Yes, they are freshman and more playing time will help but we need to see that backcourt duo get on track sooner rather than later.

Through the first five games, Love has handled the primary point guard duties but Davis has had his shot too. Moving forward, I’d expect Davis to be the primary ball handler but he needs to prove he can facilitate through this offense…

Key for UNC

Get the bigs involved. UNC’s rotation of four post players against Iowa played very well, the Hawkeyes just knocked shots down. The Tar Heels did a great job on Luka Garza in the first half before the All-American had a nice second half, so that was a positive sign.

I really like what I’ve seen from Garrison Brooks and freshman Day’Ron Sharpe early this season but both Armando Bacot and Walker Kessler need to play better on the offensive end. It’s obviously too early to think that can’t change but this provides them another chance to get more involved.

Starting Lineup

G — Caleb Love

G — R.J. Davis

G/F — Leaky Black

F/C — Garrison Brooks

C — Armando Bacot

What you need to know

WHAT? NC Central (1-2) AT No. 16 North Carolina Tar Heels (3-2)
WHEN? Saturday, December 12 @ 2:00 p.m. EST
WHERE? Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
TV? Regional Networks Only
RADIO? Tar Heels Sports Network
LINE? N/A
LAST MEETING? UNC won 76-60 on November 14, 2014
ALL-TIME SERIES? UNC leads 2-0
PREDICTION? UNC 105, NC Central 78

For complete coverage of the UNC Basketball program, make sure to check back with Keeping It Heel.