On Nov. 22, Kenny Williams experienced perhaps his worst game of the season.
Not only did the North Carolina men’s basketball team fall in an upset to unranked Texas, 92-89, on Thanksgiving, but Williams scored just two points as his scoring average dipped to a modest 5.2 points per game. To make matters worse, he watched Longhorns senior guard Kerwin Roach II light him and his team up for 32 points on 12 of 15 shooting.
More than a month later, Williams has scored double figures in six of the seven games following that loss and upped his scoring average to 8.5 points per game while bringing continued energy and intensity on the defensive end of the court. His latest showing of 11 points helped No. 15 UNC defeat Harvard, 77-57, on Wednesday night at the Smith Center.
“I think I’m being more aggressive,” Williams said regarding his play of late. “I’m not just relying on the 3-point shot to get me my points. I’ve gotten to the foul line a little bit, I’ve been driving the ball and laying it up a little bit, I’ve even thrown in a couple, literally a couple, mid-range so I’m just trying to be aggressive, stay aggressive on offense and keep myself a weapon, keep the defense honest.”
Williams showed that aggressiveness in the first half, converting three layups in the last four minutes of play to help extend his team’s lead to double digits at the intermission. In the second half, he found more spacing for himself and added two free throws and a 3-pointer as he continued to heat up with the ACC slate right around the corner.
“You know what he did, he missed two open threes early and he took the ball to the basket and made two or three big-time layups late in the first half...” head coach Roy Williams said. “He’s finding a way to do things to help us.”
Although Kenny Williams has seen his struggles on the offensive side of the ball this season, he has been consistent throughout as the team’s defensive stopper and vocal leader. After the win over the Crimson, Roy Williams admitted his team is “nowhere near, not in the same universe,” of where he wants it to be headed into conference play and the senior guard echoed his head coach’s sentiment.
“For sure, I’m right there with him,” Kenny Williams said. “So of course we want to be playing better. We’re still having the lapses we were having in November and it’s January, so we’ve got to fix that and we’ve got to fix it quick because the ACC is a gauntlet. You guys know, every game is tough and we’re starting on the road, I think our first two, so we’ve got to fine tune these things.”
Specifically, UNC has allowed opponents to score 73.1 points per game, a number only surpassed by two North Carolina teams over the past 15 years. The Tar Heels have held their opponents to just a 41 percent clip from the field, yet their inability to take care of the ball has resulted in lost possessions. Through 13 games, UNC has turned the ball over 14.1 times per game, the worst mark by a Roy Williams-coached team since the 2009-2010 season.
