UNC lets loose: 3 takeaways from the Tar Heels’ decisive home victory over American

A week ago Friday, North Carolina found itself in the din and madness of one of college basketball’s purest and liveliest environments, at Kansas. The Tar Heels found themselves on the other side of a close, agonizing defeat in a game that felt a lot more like March than early November; a game that was better than any this early in the season ever has any right to be.

And so this, on Friday night against American, was something of a reprieve for UNC. A back-to-the-regularly-scheduled-programming of the early part of the schedule, which is often — but hardly always — a time for tune-ups and lineup-experimentation, and when a team and its coaches can all get to know themselves a little bit better.

For the Tar Heels, 107-55 victors at the Smith Center, a rout like this could soon fade into the background of a long season. And this might, in time. But Friday might also be remembered as the night Cade Tyson broke out of his early season doldrums (and finished with 11 points), and one in which Jalen Washington and Elliot Cadeau (18 points apiece) flashed scoring ability that could become more routine.

Photos: North Carolina basketball hosts American University

For long stretches of the second half, the Tar Heels put on a show. More important, they imposed their will — and pace — against an opponent that prefers to play a much, much slower pace.

“For this team to play at that pace like it, it’s all tied to defense,” UNC Coach Hubert Davis said. “I mean, it was the same way in the second half against Kansas — we we got stops, and when you get stops and you finish it with the rebound, we’re pretty good in transition, (with) just our pitch-ahead.

“I said at the beginning of the year, in order for us to be good in transition, one — you got to be in the best shape of your life. And two, there needs to be a full commitment.”

The commitment was there for UNC, especially in a second half in which it outscored the Eagles 64-21. It was then, especially, when the roars returned to the Smith Center, after a tighter-than-expected season-opening victory against Elon earlier this month. Indeed, during the final 20 minutes, UNC let loose a little. Opportunities to do so don’t come as often when the schedule becomes more challenging — as it will, soon enough, for the Tar Heels.

They travel next week to Hawaii, for the always-competitive Maui Invitational. An anticipated rematch against Alabama (which knocked the Tar Heels out of the NCAA Tournament a season ago, in the Sweet 16) awaits on Dec. 4, before the ACC opener against Georgia Tech. It could be a little while before there’s a second half as stress free as this one was, Friday night.

The takeaways for the Tar Heels after a decisive — and fun? — victory against American:

Elliot the Aggressor

Elliot Cadeau scored in double figures seven times in 30 games a year ago, during a freshman season in which his confidence took a while to build. He’s already finished in double figures in two of UNC’s first three games of this young season — including an 18-point performance Friday night.

Cadeau had 15 of those by halftime, on 5-for-7 shooting from the field. It was his scoring — and overall aggressiveness, in both playmaking and shot-creation — that rescued the Tar Heels from an otherwise middling first half.

The most noticeable differences in Cadeau between the start of this season and most of the last is clear enough. He appears a lot more confident, for one. His shot, which he spent a lot of time refining in the off-season, is more fluid. Cadeau is also less hesitant off the dribble.

“He can get there pretty much anytime he wants to, you know?” Davis said of Cadeau’s driving ability.

He also appears faster, though, which is likely a result of more experience in UNC’s offense. One example came in the first half, when he split a pair of helpless American defenders and scored easily on an uncontested layup.

Cadeau’s first-half scoring output Friday night was more than he finished with, total, in all but two games a season ago. The Tar Heels desperately needed him to become a more capable and reliable scorer to complement RJ Davis and, so far, the returns are perhaps even better than expected.

Less than ideal start for RJ Davis

Is it too early to worry about RJ Davis? Yes.

Is it OK to be just a little concerned about his start from the perimeter this season? Also yes.

Let’s not overreact here. Three games is a small sample size. But in those three games, Davis, the reigning ACC Player of the Year, has made just five of his 25 3-point attempts. (That’s 20%, for a player who made nearly 40% of his 3s a season ago — and 36.8%, overall, in his years at UNC.)

“Those percentages are going to even out,” Hubert Davis. “There’s going to be times where he’s going to close his eyes, just throw the ball up and it’s going to be able to go in.”

That’s true — though maybe not in a completely literal sense. Hubert Davis said he met with RJ earlier this week, and shared a story about his senior year at UNC, back in the early 1990s. All of Hubert Davis’ closest friends had left the team to graduation. He said he felt a bit adrift, and out of sorts. It took him a while to regain his sense of place, and rhythm.

“And I feel the same way with RJ,” Hubert Davis said. “When I told him that story, I could just see his face lighting up, and he goes, ‘Yeah, that’s kind of how I feel, you know?’”

It seems only a matter of time before the 3s start falling again for RJ Davis. He’s too good of a player, and too good of a shooter. But the longer the slump persists, the more it becomes, well ... “a thing;” and a confounding and troubling one, at that.

Going back to the end of last season, and UNC’s defeat against Alabama in the NCAA Tournament West Regional semifinals, Davis missed 28 of his 32 3-point attempts. That’s difficult to believe for a shooter of his caliber.

To his credit, Davis has maintained his knack for scoring, despite the woes from the outside. He entered Friday night averaging 20 points in UNC’s first two games. He was one of five UNC players to finish in double figures in scoring against American.

So it hasn’t been all bad. Far from it. But Davis has been so good from the outside, for so long, that anything less than his standard becomes more noticeable. Through the Tar Heels’ first three games, the slump has indeed been noticeable. But, better to go through it now as opposed to later.

Cade Tyson shows signs

Cade Tyson arrived at UNC as the most heralded member of its incoming class of transfers, and he was expected to play an important role on the wing for the Tar Heels this season. The comparisons to Brady Manek are not fair but, well, they existed for a reason. Tyson, who excelled in two seasons at Belmont, was seen as a player who could provide that sort of outside shooting touch.

The early, early returns for Tyson were ... not great. He scored two points in 17 minutes against Elon. He played only a minute, missing his only attempt from the field, in the defeat at Kansas a week ago.

The first half was not great, either, for Tyson on Friday night, when he went scoreless in nine minutes. At last, though, came an awakening in the second half, when he scored all 11 of his points and made three 3-pointers. Upon each one falling, the roar at the Smith Center seemed to grow louder.

And upon each one falling, Tyson appeared to gain confidence. He must’ve gained it, at least, given he kept shooting.

“Coach Davis and my teammates just reassured me that they still have confidence in me,” Tyson said of going through his early-season woes.

UNC does not need Tyson to be Manek, who turned out to be one of the stars of that run in 2022 to the Final Four (a run that included a couple of memorable victories against Duke), but the Tar Heels need Tyson to be a contributor, and to provide a threat on the outside.

And fair or not, again, his ability to do that was in question after the Tar Heels’ first two games. The competition grows more difficult, indeed, but it was an encouraging sign for Tyson to break out — at least for a half — Friday night. It was something he can build upon.