When it comes to exhibition games, coaches look to accomplish a few things.
Coaches want their players to gain experience, avoid any major injuries and play in an environment that feels like a regular season (or in some cases, an NCAA Tournament game) to gain some valuable experience before the real action tips off.
On Friday night, North Carolina accomplished all those things but fell short on the scoreboard, suffering a 78-76 loss to No. 8-ranked BYU in Salt Lake City, Utah.
If you had no idea it was an exhibition game, you could've been fooled if you tuned into the second half, most notably the final eight minutes of the game. The two teams traded back-and-forth blows, ultimately setting up a chance for North Carolina to tie (or win) the game with 5.5 seconds left on the clock.
A Seth Trimble drive to the basket was executed close to perfectly, but BYU's defender was able to alter the shot attempt, causing it to fall short.
Of course, there are quite a few things to discuss regarding the action we watched. For starters, the Tar Heels were SLOPPY, especially in the first half, as it should've been expected that this group would need some time to gel.
While we all expected some rust, it was a little more than that, which can be concerning. However, they did start to protect the basketball better as the game went on, an encouraging sign for sure.
Three-pointers were hard to come by, as both teams struggled mightily from deep. Again, for a UNC basketball team that hadn't played any game action against another opponent before Friday night, this isn't all that surprising (especially with Luka Bogavac not being able to play).
While there were some things that need to be fixed, there were some very positive signs to feel really good about.
Yes, Caleb Wilson confirmed he is, in fact, the real deal.
The freshman put together quite the debut, scoring a team-high 22 points while hauling in 10 rebounds, blocking three shots and recording a steal. Trimble, the lone returning player from last year's team who played any type of significant minutes a year ago, added 17 points and 7 rebounds himself, while Henri Veesaar had a 14-point, 8-rebound performance of his own.
While there are no moral victories in sports, this exhibition game will be a very valuable learning experience for the UNC basketball program. Two preseason top-25 ranked teams got an early taste of what going against the country's elite programs feels like, as this experience will certainly benefit them as they soon begin their quest toward a long NCAA Tournament run in just a few short months.
There will be plenty of time to dissect this exhibition game as a whole, but for now, the UNC basketball program gave us a small sample size of just how good this team can be down the road.