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Five Thoughts On UNC’s 107-75 Win Over Oklahoma State

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North Carolina dominated Oklahoma State early and overwhelmed them late to the tune of a 107-75 victory in the second round of the Maui Invitational. It was clear early on that the Cowboys were badly out-manned by the Tar Heels who have five (!) players at 6’8” or taller on their roster.

UNC jumped out to an 18-5 lead in the first six minutes of the game as OSU looked completely rattled. They recovered late in the first half but got their doors blown off in the second half as UNC hit 58 percent from the field (for the game) and 47 percent from 3-point range.

Jawun Evans had 30 points for the Cowboys, but the only other Cowboy in double figures was Lindy Waters with 10. OSU only had five assists on 26 made shots in the game.

For North Carolina, superfreak Justin Jackson had 22 points and Joel Berry added 24 as the two combined to shoot 14-22 from the field. The Tar Heels out-rebounded OSU by 16 boards, and the game was never really in doubt after about the 10-minute mark in the first half.

It is Oklahoma State’s first football or basketball loss since September (how crazy is that?) Let’s get to my five thoughts on the game.

1. Jawun Evans Was The Best Player On The Floor

In a game with the No. 4 team in the country on Tuesday night, Oklahoma State had the best player on the floor. The problem? Carolina had Nos. 2-13. Evans has flaws (which we will get to in a minute), but not only is he the only Cowboy who would get real playing time a a place like Carolina, he could be the college player of the year there. Will he be at OSU? Probably not, but it was fun to see him measure his outrageous talent against one of the best teams in the country.

The thing that strikes me about Jawun (among many things) is how in control of his own body he is. Watch him without the ball. He’s always positioning his feet and his butt and his hips to be poised for the next cut/pass/shot/whatever. It’s incredible to watch a 10-year NBA star do that, much less a college sophomore.

Could the Big 12 POY race come down to him and Josh Jackson?

2. OSU just gets killed down low

The Formula actually worked on Tuesday. OSU shot eight more shots than UNC and was +2 in the turnover battle. The problem? Carolina got easy buckets and crushed on the glass (47-31 rebounding edge). OSU’s bigs (if you can call them that) looked like they were trying to touch the tabs on one of those high jump poles at the NFL Combine but couldn’t even reach the bottom rung.

It’s true that OSU has three guys 6’8” or taller, but two of them are Lucas N’Guessan and Mitch Solomon. Solomon had two fouls in two and a half minutes. And no offense to him, but there’s little he can do against Kennedy Meeks and Justin Jackson. UNC came in as the second-best offensive rebounding team in the nation at around 49 percent (they grab almost half of all available offensive rebounds). They took 57 percent (!) on Tuesday.

Oklahoma State actually out-offensive-rebounded them but collected just 38 percent of available offensive rebounds to them (on a lot of missed shots). The result was difficult, contested shots that resulted in a 36 percent shooting mark from the field for the Cowboys. Not going to beat many top four teams like that.

3. The Officiating, We Need To talk

There were 26 fouls in the first half — 13 on each team. There were phantom fouls and fouls that should have been traveling and fouls that wouldn’t have been called if my three-year-old was on the receiving end. It was an atrocity to watch.

Jay Bilas finally threw his hands up and called the refs out for the absurdity. This is not fun for fans — especially coming off a game in which both teams (OSU and UConn) shot 40+ free throws the night before (just the 47th time in 32,000 games since 2010 btw).

I have no idea what can be done to fix this, but college basketball does have a problem, and the outrageous number of fouls called is a big part of it.

4. Our offense is … something

Oklahoma State had five assists in the game. Five. Less than six. Let’s talk about Jawun for a second. I love him. I think he’s freaking unbelievable and could be a NBA Draft pick. But he has not been all that efficient this year. He put up 30 points, yes, but it also took 25 shots to do it. Compare that with Berry’s 24 points on 10 shots.

Now part of this is because … who are you going to pass it to? If you can get in the lane (which he can), UNC is coming at you with more arms than a NRA convention. OSU’s wings actually cut fairly well, but who among them is a finisher? Leyton? No. Carroll? Sort of. Crime Dog? Sure, I guess. Mitch? Uhhh. What else is Jawun going to do but put it up?

There is still little to no offensive sets actually being run which is frustrating, and Underwood will be angry with just five assists. But I’d like to at least seem they try and feign some efficiency at some point. Having a rim runner to run pick and rolls with Evans would be a delight. Barring DeAndre Jordan re-discovering some college eligibility, though, I’m curious to see what Underwood does to make Jawun more efficient as the year goes on.

5. This is a great learning Experience for OSU

OSU was never going to beat UNC. It just wasn’t going to happen. But now you at least get some film and some feeling on where you stack up against one of the best teams in the country. What do you do differently? What worked? Why are you giving up 50 percent on 3-pointers? Why wasn’t Forte open more? How can you use guys around Evans and not just turn him into Smart 2.0?

There is a barometer, and it wears Carolina blue. Now you’re going to be measured against it for the rest of the non-conference season. That’s a good thing if you’re the Cowboys.

Other Notes

• Lindy Waters is a homeless man’s Justin Jackson (which I’m great with). He continues to impress me for a freshman. He never seems fazed, and I could watch him shoot all day.

• How many rounds is Roy getting in this week? Over/under 11.5? Nine-hole rounds don’t count. Gotta go the full 18.

• One of our DTs for two of their bigs in hoops. Who says no?

• Do you think Mitch Solomon would get playing time at Carolina or nah?

• I’d love to have just one guy that looks like Justin Jackson at Oklahoma State. What is it like to root for somebody like that? He looks and plays like an alien. I could not be more impressed (or jealous).

• Underwood was dressed like he needed to sell nine vacuums by the end of the month so the Christmas bonus would kick in.

• Forte’s 0/3 no show was odd. I know he’s not the greatest against teams with the length of UNC, but you’d think he would have had a couple of buckets.

• UNC’s effective shooting percentage was 64 percent. [monkey covering his eyes emoji]

• OSU turned UNC over on 17 percent of its possessions. That’s actually pretty decent. Easy buckets given up though …

• Can I be president of the Jay Bilas fan club?

Conclusion

North Carolina is amazing. Thoroughbreds all over the floor. Pros at every position. Everything you want your program to be. Oklahoma State has a chance to be good (not great) this season, but you’re going to lose 999 times out of 1,000 when you play Roy’s Heels on a neutral floor.

I’m fine with it (although I wish it had been, say, a 12-point loss instead of what it was. Wednesday makes or breaks OSU’s Hawaii trip. Win on Wednesday, and you had a tremendous trip. Lose, and it was pretty average.

Next Game

Wednesday against Georgetown (all the Jordan schools!) at 6:30 p.m.

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