North Carolina Central @ North Carolina preview
Dean Smith Center
Last Meeting ( Nov 14, 2014 ) North Carolina Central 60, North Carolina 76
It might not matter the opponent as No. 16 North Carolina tries to find remedies following back-to-back losses.
A schedule change has the Tar Heels taking on visiting North Carolina Central in a Saturday afternoon nonconference game at Chapel Hill, N.C.
"It's still early in the season. We have a lot of potential," North Carolina freshman R.J. Davis said. "For us, fix these mistakes and not let them happen the rest of the season."
The matchup was added this week after both teams had games slated for the weekend wiped off their schedules because of coronavirus issues regarding their would-be opponents. N.C. Central was to play on Friday night at Vanderbilt while North Carolina was scheduled to oppose Elon on Saturday.
North Carolina lost to then-No. 17 Texas on a last-second shot in the Maui Invitational final before falling 93-80 to No. 3 Iowa on the road Tuesday night.
Still, there was a sense of some progress.
"We made some strides," North Carolina senior Garrison Brooks said. "Lessons we're still trying to learn. I think we have to stop turning the ball over so much."
Iowa canned 17 shots from 3-point range, yet North Carolina rallied to take a brief second-half lead.
The Tar Heels (3-2) have fallen into double-digit first-half holes in three of their past four games.
"This team competes," Davis said. "I have a lot of faith in this team. We show a lot of grit. ... Obviously, we're a little bit young, but that shouldn't really matter."
The Tar Heels showed strides offensively in the Iowa game.
"We did share the ball more," coach Roy Williams said. "We didn't dribble it as much."
The Saturday contest will be the second of only two nonconference home games for the Tar Heels.
N.C. Central might not be as equipped to hurt the Tar Heels from the perimeter. The Eagles were 5-for-20 on 3-point attempts in their latest contest, a 78-71 loss at Coastal Carolina on Monday.
Aside from sharing the same area code, the Eagles and Tar Heels have a common opponent this year. N.C. Central opened its schedule by losing 97-67 at Iowa.
"I'm concerned with us and our process," N.C. Central coach LeVelle Moton said.
N.C. Central (1-2) has had only one game since Nov. 26, the defeat to the Chanticleers. Plus, the Eagles' listed game for next Tuesday already has been called off because of Charleston Southern's pause of the season.
Moton, who is in his 11th season as coach of the Eagles, and Williams have forged a coaching friendship.
Moton typically takes his team to face high-profile opponents on the road. Starting the season at Iowa was just another example, so adding the game at North Carolina pretty much fits into his philosophy.
Now it's a matter of raising the level of play.
"They (aren't) giving you no calls because you (haven't) earned the respect to get those calls," Moton said earlier this fall about facing top-level opponents.
C.J. Keyser has been the leading scorer in every N.C. Central game, including a career-best, 33-point outing in the team's neutral-court overtime victory against Southern. The senior guard was the season's first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Player of the Week, a distinction he has earned twice in his career.
North Carolina won November games in 2009 and 2014 against the Eagles.
--Field Level Media