UNC basketball gains confidence from road win at College of Charleston
College of Charleston coach Pat Kelsey abruptly stopped a planned film session with his team on Tuesday afternoon and told them to instead meet him in the Cougars’ practice gym. He wanted to incite the crowd early in their game against No. 18 North Carolina and knew just the play to do it.
Kelsey emphatically instructed them to run a lob play on their first possession, saying “even if the pass went into the fourth row,” he would “eat that turnover.”
“Dimitrius (Underwood) threw a ridiculous pass, Babacar (Faye) hammered it and I got goosebumps,” Kelsey said. “It was awesome.”
It was awesome. And the place erupted. And Carolina was shook.
The start of the game went just as Kelsey planned and fed into the concerns UNC coach Hubert Davis had before the game.
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A standing-room-only crowd of 5,203 at TD Arena was the biggest audience and best atmosphere most of UNC players had ever played in front of because of the COVID-19 restrictions last season. Only junior forward Armando Bacot, senior forward Leaky Black and junior guard Anthony Harris were around for the 2019-20 regular-season finale at Duke.
It’s why Davis told the broadcast crew he met with before the game that he wasn’t sure how the team would react in a road environment.
He does now after the Tar Heels’ 94-83 victory. Carolina (3-0) fell behind by 11 midway through the first half and for a second straight game trailed at halftime.
“To see them respond on the road, in a packed house and against a really, really great basketball team, and to be able to step up in the second half and be able to score, this builds a lot of confidence for us moving forward,” Davis said. “It really does. I mean, if you can be successful in this type of environment against this type of team, you can be successful anywhere.”
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They will definitely be successful playing as they did in the second half. Carolina shot 64 percent from the floor while limiting the Cougars to 4-of-14 shooting from 3-point range after they made seven in the first half.
UNC sophomore guard Kerwin Walton said hearing the crowd booing and yelling at him actually gave him energy. He said it “feels like my first real year of college,” being able to play in front of road crowds.
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Bacot knew there would be trouble with players like Walton and sophomore guard Caleb Love never having that true experience. Last season, they played the majority of the season without any crowds or less than 500 people. The biggest road crowds they faced were 2,850 at Florida State, 2,820 at Notre Dame and 1,876 at Clemson.
None of those environments had the amount of energy they felt Tuesday night.
“In the warm-ups I was just fired up because it was like a trace back to the past,” said Bacot, who set or tied his career-highs with 24 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks. “For the guys like Caleb and the guys that didn’t get to experience it, it was their first true road game. I kind of knew coming out it would be a tough game, especially in the beginning, but it’s just great that college basketball is back.”
The Cougars (3-1) made it tough near the end, too. That’s what home crowds will help do as the Cougars cut an eight-point deficit down to 72-71 with 6:09 left.
Walton’s 3-pointer ignited a 17-6 run to put the game out of reach. Walton finished with 14 points including shooting 4-of-6 from 3-point range.
“We came out real slow, real lethargic in the first half, especially in the first few minutes of the game,” Walton said. “We just kind of realized — get the focus picked up, lock in on defense and just take care of the ball.”
After the game, Kelsey headed over to the student section and thanked them for their attendance and enthusiasm. He gave credit to Carolina for “having the guts to go on the road and play at a place like (TD Arena.) It’s not easy.”
Bacot was thankful for the experience, too. He said the Heels should be better prepared for adversity as they face two ranked teams beginning with No. 6 Purdue in the Half of Fame Tipoff this weekend.
“I would say it just builds character, being in these tough moments and us just staying together as a team and fighting,” Bacot said.
“We’re a pretty new team, got a lot of new coaches, a lot of new players, new faces,” Bacot said. “So just us having these tough games early I think it’ll help us out on in the end — specially these big games coming — knowing how to react in those situations and not panic.”
This story was originally published November 17, 2021 at 6:00 AM with the headline "UNC basketball gains confidence from road win at College of Charleston."