Tar Heels met with early adversity in opening win over UNCW

The Tar Heels didn't play their best in a 69-56 win over UNCW, but the adversity was much needed, and they have plenty of time to get things fixed.

UNC opened its much-anticipated 2022 campaign with a 69-56 win over UNC-Wilmington on Monday, but they did so playing far and away from its best basketball. 

The No. 1 team in the country was met with adversity early, finding itself in a dogfight with a Seahawks team that lost seven players from last season. 

The Tar Heels were down 8-2 shortly after tip-off and didn't make a FG until junior guard Caleb Love hit a three almost four minutes in. 

The first half was an offensive struggle as a whole with UNC shooting 38 percent from the field and 29 percent from three. Minimal ball movement didn't help as the Tar Heels only recorded one assist and four turnovers in the period. 

Defensively, UNC played well, recording six blocks, five steals and creating 11 points off turnovers in the whole game. The Tar Heels made little mistakes that kept UNCW in it, however, letting their opponent drive down the lane and making bad help defense decisions leading to open jump shots. 

The largest problem was getting out-rebounded 37-32, especially since being an exceptional rebounding team was a point of emphasis leading up to the season. The Seahawks grabbed significantly more offensive rebounds (16) compared to UNC (7), creating more opportunities to score. 

Despite not pulling away for a big win, these types of games are good for UNC to know that it's very beatable and will need to learn how to play though hardship. All off-season, the team has been in the national spotlight, earning a preseason No. 1 and being one of the favorites to win the 2023 title. However, it's a long season, and the Tar Heels have more than 30 games to play before they get that far. 

Although UNC is returning the core of its championship roster with a deeper rotation off the bench, the team looks like it still needs time to put it all together. The Tar Heels still need to get new faces Pete Nance, Seth Trimble, and Tyler Nickel acclimated and Puff Johnson healthy to help foster production off the bench. 

The good thing out of Monday's opener is that UNC has plenty of time to work those things out, and it can do so while still winning. 

UNC will be back at the Dean E. Smith Center on Friday at 7 p.m. in a battle against College of Charleston.