After a loss in the Bahamas, UNC men's basketball aims to finish tough stretch strong

Despite suffering its first loss of the season to a newly minted No. 4 Michigan side, the North Carolina men’s basketball team is showing signs of progression following the Battle 4 Atlantis. 

Head coach Roy Williams and first-year forward Armando Bacot addressed this continued improvement as the Tar Heels prepare for Wednesday's top-10 matchup against Ohio State. 

“I like the fact that we had competition three straight days against good teams,” Williams said. “I think that’ll help us down the road.”

For a program that has traditionally relied on experienced leadership to guide it to success throughout Williams’ tenure, North Carolina finds itself in uncharted territory heading into December with Bacot and first-year guard Cole Anthony leading the team in rebounds and points, respectively. 

Even with younger talent standing out for UNC on the court, leadership from veteran guard Brandon Robinson and junior forward Garrison Brooks has played a key role in keeping the team centered.

Bacot said the team held a players-only meeting organized by Brooks and Robinson following North Carolina's 73-64 loss to Michigan that was a determining factor in pushing the team to a hard fought 78-74 victory against then-No. 11 Oregon in UNC's final matchup in the Bahamas. 

“I feel like that was our best defensive effort of the year,” Bacot said. “We were just really into it.”

Williams was excited about the development of the relationship between Bacot and Brooks on the court, citing it as an important step in Bacot’s improvement in finding a role within North Carolina's system. 

“They do have a good relationship," Williams said. "Garrison is really trying to help Armando every day, every play, every second and you admire Garrison for being able to do that.” 

With the departure of several of last year's contributors, Brooks has certainly stepped into a bigger leadership role off the court, but his improvements on the court can't be ignored. The junior has seen an increase in his points and rebounds per game averages from last season and looks comfortable with taking more shots.

Despite continued improvement and maintaining a top-10 spot in the AP poll, preseason concerns over a lack of experience, injuries and overall chemistry still linger. 

“There’s no question we would’ve liked to win all three games, that’s always our goal,” Williams said. “We still haven’t shot the ball well, that’s getting to be a concern. And the fact that we’re still not playing at the pace we like to play at, we’ve got to work on that because our offense right now is not very good.” 

Williams went on to note the difficulty of the five-game stretch the team is in the midst of right now between the Battle 4 Atlantis field and upcoming games against No. 6 Ohio State and No. 5 Virginia. 

“That five-game stretch is definitely as tough as anybody’s had in the preseason,” Williams said. “We’ll find out even more after the next two.” 

Despite the difficulty of North Carolina’s early schedule and the inexperience of the team against this level of competition, the Tar Heels are not used to losing and will look to keep it that way for the rest of this difficult stretch.

“Us losing our first game, we realized that we weren’t invincible and that we could lose,” Bacot said. “I feel like I was locked all the way in. I didn’t like the feeling of losing.”

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