Cleaning up Turnovers
As previously mentioned, in the opening minutes of the first half, San Diego State bothered UNC with their excellent ball denial. The Aztecs turned deflections into turnovers and forced the Tar Heels into some tough passing angles. UNC turned the ball over six times in the first four minutes of the game when the Heels were up just 10-6. It was still very much a contest then.
After that, North Carolina went on a 37-16 run to close the half. Elliot Cadeau was masterful, conducting the offense like Leonard Bernstein. RJ Davis was hunting his shot, teasing big men who got switched on him and burying deep shots like he was playing HORSE in the middle of a tournament game. Jae'Lyn Withers was burying the past, as well as two three-pointers to lead all players in first half +/- at +26.
When the Tar Heels play clean, they're tough to beat. The shooting will certainly not be that good moving forward. Well, who can say for certain? SDSU had the No. 16 ranked scoring defense in college basketball (63.6 ppg) and Carolina just dropped 95 on their heads. Maybe they'll do as well or close to it against Ole Miss on Friday. The thought of this UNC team steamrolling into Milwaukee is enough to make the Rebels want to surrender worse than they did after the Appomattox Campaign.