In order for teams to win college basketball games, they usually need a few key things in order to do so: skill, timing, and luck. Skill is self-explanatory. Timing can mean getting players healthy at the right time, players getting hot at the right time, etc. And then of course there’s luck, which involves having the ball bounce the right way in order to escape a bad situation. The Tar Heels managed to hit all three targets against Ohio State, largely because of Seth Trimble, and now they have an 11-1 record going into the final non-conference game against ECU.
Let’s go ahead and dive into the Heels’ impressive one-point victory over the Buckeyes
UNC’s game plan against Bruce Thornton was successful
Going into yesterday’s game, the biggest concern was how the Tar Heels were going to be able to suppress Bruce Thornton, who was on a tear prior to the game. The return of Seth Trimble couldn’t have had better timing, and thanks to his contributions Thornton was held to just 16 points, and he went 0-4 from three-point territory. It was the second time all season that he was not able to knock down a shot from the perimeter, though in the other game he only had one attempt.
When looking at how UNC was able to accomplish such a feat, Trimble is the easy first answer. He made life extremely difficult for Thornton by rarely giving him room to breathe all game. The other impressive factor is that despite the Trimble assignment, Hubert Davis still had the team switch on ball screens, but Thornton still couldn’t do much against anybody else. Derek Dixon, Kyan Evans, and Jarin Stevenson are a few players that got put into some iffy situations that they came out of successfully. Trimble as always deserves a lot of credit for his defense, but the team overall should be proud of what they were able to accomplish.
Seth Trimble’s return was the difference in this game
We already talked about how Seth Trimble’s defense helped keep Thornton from cutting loose, but really his return had way bigger of an impact than that. Trimble’s ability to get out in transition is something that Hubert Davis has missed dearly, and he finally got that back in this game. The Heels finished with 10 fast break points, which while that doesn’t sound a lot, the team was able to put a lot of pressure on the Buckeyes to defend in transition. Trimble’s ability to make teams stay on their toes at all times makes things really difficult, especially when the guys pulling down the rebounds — Henri Veesaar and Caleb Wilson — are impressive passers for their size.
Trimble is also a vocal leader on this team, and it just felt like everything was clicking on both sides of the ball a lot better. The Tar Heels were a good team in his absence, but it’s hard to deny that this is a much better team when he is healthy. Hubert Davis’ rotations made a lot more sense with his return as well, as he was able to make moves that he wanted to make rather than moves that he had to make (please see the fact that Zayden High didn’t play a single minute). This is looking more and more like a team that can do some serious damage in March, and Seth Trimble is one of the bigger reasons why.
Caleb Wilson continues to shine in the face of adversity
Now that the scouting reports make it very clear who is the most dangerous player on the floor, Caleb Wilson has been getting swarmed whenever he has the ball in the paint. It’s been really frustrating to watch, and so one can only imagine how frustrating it has to be for Wilson himself. But whether that’s true or not, Wilson isn’t really showing any frustration, and he is actually finding ways to succeed regardless. In the first half he only had four points, but he impacted the game by pulling down seven boards and dishing out two assists. Then the second half began, and that’s when he started having some fun.
Wilson managed to score 16 of his game-high 20 points in the second half while throwing in eight rebounds and two blocks for good measure. After having no dunks in the first half, he did what he does best and found his way to the rim a handful of times, and just continued to make the Buckeyes work in order to stop him. It can’t be said enough how impressive it is that a kid so talented can also be so patient and selfless. Caleb Wilson cares about winning more than anything, and that is obvious in what we’ve seen him do so far this season.
