19 turnovers. That is how many UNC men’s basketball had against the BYU Cougars, an exhibition that featured two preseason ranked teams (North Carolina at No. 25, BYU at No. 8) and two future NBA Draft picks, in Tar Heel Caleb Wilson and Coug AJ Dybansta. And while Dybansta and his team won the contest, North Carolina can take away that its ball security needs to be improved. The Tar Heels allowed 15 points off its turnovers — perhaps one or two turnovers could have made all the difference and a different outcome. BYU gave up the ball 12 times, as UNC scored 12 points in return.
Here is a breakdown of which players had a turnover for head coach Hubert Davis:
Jarin Stevenson – five turnovers
Zayden High – three turnovers
Derek Dixon – three turnovers
Henri Veesaar – three turnovers
James Brown – two turnovers
Caleb Wilson – two turnovers
Kyan Evans – one turnover
However, for UNC, it was able to get out those sloppy turnovers out of the way ahead of its season opener against Central Arkansas, where a win or loss counts toward its record. In addition, this roster is brand new — a group that is playing for the first time together and something that should fix itself as the year progresses.
Early Is Better Than Later
After the first game for North Carolina, Davis’ team will face the Kansas Jayhawks and head coach Bill Self — another outing of the 2022 national championship game and a chance for the Tar Heels to win its share of the home-and-home series, where the Jayhawks won a nail-biter last season inside the Allen Fieldhouse. But then, UNC will face Michigan State, Kentucky and Ohio State (in that order), all of which are big opportunities to get win over quality teams (assuming each program does well during conference play and sustains a positive record). So, were the19 turnovers that bad in the end?
No, not at all, and it would be a completely different story if it had 19 turnovers during ACC play — the little things could pile up and be what pushes this team in or out of the field come Selection Sunday.
Davis and the staff have a backcourt that features Evans, Seth Trimble, Luka Bogavac (when eligible to play), Derek Dixon, Jaydon Young and Isaiah Denis — the pieces are there. And once chemistry continues to form, then that will serve this team well.
Otherwise, it will be another reason to bring up the concerns about UNC men’s basketball as a whole — from the top to the bottom.
