No. 9 UNC men's basketball's backcourt finds rhythm late in win over Elon

With just over seven minutes left, Elon's Nick Dorn hit a step-back corner three over Elliot Cadeau. Tie game.

Cadeau turned and looked at the Elon bench. The sophomore guard picked his head up and received the inbound pass.

On the other end, graduate forward Jae'Lyn Withers' pass was stolen by Elon's TJ Simpkins, who dashed down the court. Withers fouled him at the basket.

A shocked Withers waved his arms twice and leaned his head back. Junior guard Seth Trimble put his hands on his head. Two shots. Two points. Elon led 71-69, taking the first lead since the Phoenix held a  19-17 advantage in the first half. 

"That run, I don't know what went wrong with us," Trimble said. "But it was a terrible however many minutes it was."

In No. 9 North Carolina men's basketball's 90-76 win over Elon on Monday night at the Dean E. Smith Center, UNC's backcourt reestablished its rhythm after Elon's unexplainable comeback. Led by graduate guard RJ Davis, Trimble and Cadeau, the trio combined for 19 points to spearhead a 21-5 run, spanning the final six minutes of the game. And during the scoring outburst, one thing permeated them from the offseason: confidence. 

During Elon's 14-0 run, Davis sat on the bench for four minutes. When he checked back in, North Carolina had surrendered a 12 point lead and was suddenly tied at 69-69 with the Phoenix.

And right after the foul that eventually gave Elon the lead, Davis delivered one message to his team.

"We're good. Don't put your head down."

That's when the graduate guard took over. Cadeau swung the ball to Davis at the top of the arc. He drove, hitting a runner. Then, on UNC's next offensive possession, he knocked down a corner three. 

Before that moment, Davis was 3-of-13 from the field.

"I shot the ball like shit," he said. 

But late in the game, Davis leaned on his teammates and his confidence. His teammates told him to keep shooting. He kept telling himself one was going to go in.

And when it finally did, Davis remained stoic, but it reawakened North Carolina.

With just over five minutes left, Cadeau found himself alone in the corner. He didn't hesitate like he might have last season.

Swish.

It's something Cadeau attributed to his work during the summer. After going 10-for-53 from behind the arc last year, Cadeau worked with both assistant coach Marcus Paige and his trainer Matt Irving to build trust in his shot. Although he didn't have a set number of shots per day, it would sometimes reach as high as 400. 

"I think the biggest difference in regards to his shot is just the times and the shot selection," head coach Hubert Davis said. "He's so much more mature and poised out there on the floor. [He's] very confident, understands when to take a shot, when not to."

When Cadeau hit his first shot beyond the arc, his confidence soared. In his 17-point outing on Monday, Cadeau knocked down 3-4 from the outside.

But it wasn't just Cadeau's work in the offseason that paid off on Monday night for North Carolina.

Trimble, who had a career high 15 points — including a 3-pointer to cap off the 21-5 run in the last seven seconds — built his belief too. Every time Cadeau walked into the gym, Trimble was already there. 

Over the offseason, Trimble said he stayed in the gym almost eight hours a day, including UNC's scheduled practices. He worked out with former Tar Heel and three-time NBA champion Danny Green, who played a pivotal role in Trimble's return to the Tar Heels. He put up shots with Paige and basketball managers daily. 

"They helped me a lot, gave me good tips," Trimble said. "But it was just hours of work. It's helped me improve."

And if Monday night's season opener proved anything for the Tar Heels, it's this: they can rely on the trio when they need them the most.

But it doesn't just fall on them. Heading into a game against No. 1 Kansas, North Carolina will need to do a lot more all around. 

"We need them to step up every night and they've done it in practice," Hubert Davis said. "So for it to play out in the game is not surprising to me. But for us to be the team we wanna become everybody has to step up."

@mdmaynard74

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