UNC basketball survives neutral-court test. How the Tar Heels overwhelmed Oklahoma
No. 11 North Carolina’s men’s basketball’s game against No. 7 Oklahoma at the Jumpman Invitational on Wednesday was a neutral-site game in name only.
Even KenPom.com called the event finale a “semi-home” game for the Tar Heels.
The Spectrum Center was rocking for one team and one team only. Roughly 95% of the fans in attendance wore blue, and it sounded like a game at the Dean Smith Center. That support undoubtedly helped the Tar Heels pick up an 81-69 win, dealing No. 7 OU its first loss of the season.
Senior RJ Davis led the Tar Heels (8-3) with 23 points, his seventh straight contest as their leading scorer.
The win ends Carolina’s two-game losing streak and gives the team its third win over a ranked team. It also extends the program’s win streak over OU (10-1), winning all four matchups. The last two contests came in the NCAA Tournament.
Here are three takeaways from the win.
Defensive chaos throws Sooners off
For two teams known for good shooting, Wednesday night’s game was dominated by the defensive effort. North Carolina successfully took Oklahoma out of its system, stopping the Sooners from getting into a shooting rhythm.
In the first half, OU missed five straight shots at two different points of the game. The Tar Heels held the Sooners scoreless for nearly the first six minutes of play. Their defensive success came via forcing the Sooners to play late into the shot clock and stopping them from moving the ball effectively.
UNC logged a season-high 10 steals.
Plus, the Heels forced plenty of other turnovers. OU committed three in the first three minutes and picked up 10 by the end of the first half.
When the shots didn’t fall, Carolina guarded effectively in an attempt to control things it could.
RJ Davis leads again
Carolina doesn’t consider itself “Armando Bacot’s team” or “RJ Davis’ team.” It does, however, rely heavily on their leadership, and Davis continued to step up when it mattered most.
The senior scored the game’s first basket and eight of his team’s first 12 points. Davis finished 5-9 from deep.
Coming into the game, Davis led Carolina in scoring in the last six straight games — the first player to do so since Justin Jackson in 2016-17 when he was named ACC player of the year. Davis also scored 26 points or more in the last five games, becoming the first Tar Heel to achieve the feat since Charlie Scott’s 12-game streak in 1970.
Davis couldn’t extend his 26-point streak, but his ability to make shots — especially early in the game — was key in the victory.
Carolina loses the rebound battle ... again
For a team that wants to lead the rebounding margin, Carolina’s rebounding effort — once again — remains to be a problem. Truthfully, it’s lucky Oklahoma struggled with turnovers.
Let’s be real, the Tar Heels’ ability to force the Sooners out of its system and commit 18 turnovers made up for its sometimes lackadaisical effort off the glass.
It didn’t matter which side of the ball, either. There were multiple times when OU grabbed the ball and the Heels barely moved. They finished with 34 total rebounds and seven on the offensive end. Oklahoma pulled down 41, including 10 on offense.
The Heels discuss frequently the importance of rebounding, but it’s time to walk the walk instead of just talk.
This story was originally published December 20, 2023 at 11:28 PM with the headline "UNC basketball survives neutral-court test. How the Tar Heels overwhelmed Oklahoma."
