Men's basketball clamps down on hot 3-point shooting Davidson

CHARLOTTE — Roy Williams isn’t shy to call his players out, especially when it comes to defense.

After No. 6 UNC’s 90-72 victory against Davidson on Saturday at Time Warner Cable Arena, Williams took his seat at the podium for the postgame press conference and began to rattle off the moments that illustrate his team hasn’t met perfection yet defensively.

How about when miscommunication got the best of freshmen Justin Jackson and Theo Pinson — when both ended up on the same side of the court leading to a wide-open Davidson 3-pointer?

“Two freshmen saying, ‘Well, that’s not my guy.’ And so he makes a 3,” Williams said. “We gotta be more alert and make some adjustments there.”

How about when Davidson drew 6-foot-8 sophomore power forward Isaiah Hicks out to the 3-point line on back-to-back possessions? The result? Two long balls sinking through the net to trim UNC’s lead to eight points in the second half.

“When they cut it to eight, Isaiah screwed it up twice in a row, not getting out on the 3-point shooter,” said Williams.

Williams also doesn’t hesitate to give praise, even despite his team’s mental miscues around the 3-point arc.

Davidson entered Saturday shooting lights out from deep, having made 25 of 50 3-point shots in its first two games of the season.

Against the Tar Heels, Davidson connected on 11 long-range shots, but it took the Wildcats 36 attempts to do so — a mere 30.6 percent, far below its two-game 50 percent average.

“I thought defensively it was by far our best game of the year,” Williams said. “And a difficult situation with our big guys having to go out on the floor.”

Of UNC’s big men, Hicks might have had the most trouble guarding the perimeter.

Davidson found success in screening UNC’s frontcourt players as they made their way out to the 3-point line to get a hand up. In the second half, two screens led to two consecutive 3-pointers from 6-foot-7 Davidson forward Peyton Aldridge, who finished the game with a game-high 25 points and six 3-pointers.

“As a big man, it was hard. I’m not used to my man shooting,” Hicks said. “But in practice, coach always says one screen is not an excuse. So that’s pretty much our fault.”

Hicks wasn’t the only UNC player to fall victim to a missed assignment on a Davidson 3-pointer. Junior forward J.P. Tokoto, who’s heralded as UNC’s best perimeter defender, admitted to paying the price a few times on Davidson screens around the 3-point line.

“It going to eat at you,” said Tokoto on giving up a deep ball.

Unlike Williams, Tokoto didn’t have as much praise for the team’s perimeter defending Saturday.

“We could’ve been a lot better. A lot better,” Tokoto said. “It’s early on in the year, so guys are still trying to feel it out on the court.”

Tokoto might have a case. UNC gave up 11 3-pointers to Davidson — the same number the team’s first two opponents scored combined. Yet, Williams’ case might be stronger. The Wildcats only scored 14 2-point field goals — one shy of a season low for UNC’s defense.

There were still the moments Williams couldn’t help but mention in his press conference — when players like Jackson, Pinson and Hicks lacked a bit of awareness defending the perimeter. So who was safe from being called out? Which player had the most perimeter awareness Saturday?

“It was a collective effort,” Tokoto said. “Everybody made mistakes. Everybody did great things. We just gotta keep going.”

sports@dailytarheel.com