Back to the Grind
North Carolina took a six day break after the Georgetown win to let the team settle down for exams. When I was a student at UNC, I didn't even go to the gym during this period. The Tar Heels are more disciplined than I am, but they still looked a bit rusty out of the gate.
At the end of the first half, the much taller Tar Heels were only out-rebounding Upstate by two. They were only leading by single digits. Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar were doing their normal thing, dominating the block, but were not producing at a clip you'd expect them to, considering the competition.
And Upstate was doing that thing that smaller teams do when they come to the Dean Dome. The Spartans make eight three-pointers per game. They had six at halftime. Over half of their field goals were from downtown. Honestly, the lead could have been 15 at the half if Upstate wasn't shooting so well.
UNC's natural advantages and the talent gap saw this game out, but a slow start like this against quality ACC competition could put the Tar Heels in an early hole too deep to dig out from.