- Mar 19, 2006
- 38,712
- 599
- 113
- 75
at the Smith Center at 7 p.m.
By Lauren Brownlow
The Basics
No. 1/1 Carolina (11-0) will return to action to face the Nevada Wolf Pack (7-4) in the Smith Center on Thursday night. Carolina is off to its best start since 1998 (17-0). Carolina's 11-game win streak is its longest since a 12-game streak last season and a 14-game streak in 2004-05. Nevada is coming off of a 55-52 win at Northern Iowa on December 22nd. The Wolf Pack is on a five-game winning streak. Nevada's four losses have come by an average of just 6.23 points per game. This will mark the third time in five years that Nevada has faced the nation's No. 1 team; the last time it did, it fell to No. 1 Illinois in the second round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament, 71-59.
Last Time: Carolina has played Nevada just twice and won both meetings. The last time the two teams faced each other, Carolina came away with a 109-86 victory in Chapel Hill on February 25, 1989. The two teams faced the season before in Reno and Carolina won, 115-91.
Injury Report: None to report.
Pushing tempo: Carolina scored 45 fast break points against Santa Barbara, its most in games in which the stat was tracked this season. Carolina has forced 17 or more turnovers by its opponents in four of its last five games and has scored ten or more points off of those turnovers in each of its last six games. The Tar Heels averaged 21.5 points off turnovers in its first six games and have averaged 27.6 points off turnovers in its last five games.
"I want to play a fast tempo. I think it suits the personnel that we have. The timeouts are so long and so numerous, you really have to put the hammer down when you're playing where they get refreshed so much during the timeout," Williams said. "Our plan all the time is to push the ball, push the tempo, and play as fast as we can. Yet, I'll tell you that the thing we've worked on the most the last week is our halfcourt offense because I think we've got to be able to do that as well."
The secondary break is a part of Carolina's offense and one that is very effective in terms of forcing teams that want to go at a slower tempo into a faster one. But what has made Carolina more effective - and at its most effective against Santa Barbara - was that everyone on the team was running, all the time. "It really just comes down to us running every time. There have been times where we felt like we didn't really get out in the open court and really push the other team to guard us in the open court. Tonight, I think our wings and even our big men did a great job of actually running the floor and forcing them to guard us," Marcus Ginyard said.
Despite forcing that tempo themselves, Carolina has held opponents to very few fast break points as well. In the games that the statistic was tracked (eight of 11), Carolina has held opponents to fewer than 10 fast break points in every game. Santa Barbara was able to score just two fast break points. On 161 turnovers, Carolina's opponents have scored 143 points. Carolina has allowed 16 or more points off turnovers in just three games this season, and two of those three games were in the first two contests (wins over Davidson and Iona). Davidson's 20 points off of 19 Carolina turnovers were a season-high by a Tar Heel opponent.
Hitting three-pointers: In Carolina's first seven games, the Tar Heels hit four or more three-pointers in all but one game. Since then, Carolina has failed to hit four three-pointers in three of last four games. Combining the Nicholls State and Santa Barbara games, Carolina has shot just 6-of-28 (21.4%) in its last two games. "We didn't shoot the ball exceptionally well to say the very least from the three-point line. Everybody a couple of months ago talked about how bad we shot it, and then we went on a stretch where we shot it very well for three or four games. Now we've shot it poorly two games in a row. Hopefully, we'll get it going again where we shoot it well," Williams said.
Without its last two outings - both 25% or less from beyond the arc - Carolina has made 38.5% of its three-pointers this season. But as it stands, Carolina has hit 35.6% of its three-pointers this season. Carolina has hit 40% or more of its three-pointers in five of its 11 games this season, but has hit 31% or less in six games, including five of its last seven and three of the last four. But the Tar Heels had struggled shooting the ball in general during that period. Carolina hit 50% or more of its two-point attempts of each of its first four games, including a scorching 72.7% against Old Dominion (a game in which Carolina shot 70.9% from the field). But Carolina has since shot better than 50% from two-point range just three times, and two of those three times have come in the last two games.
Carolina has cracked the 100-point mark four times already this season. In its first two 100-point outings - victories over Iona and South Carolina State - Carolina hit 19-of-46 three-pointers (41.3%). But the Tar Heels have broken 100 points twice since then in those two wins over Penn and Santa Barbara, despite hitting a combined 5-of-23 three-pointers (21.7%). Last season, Carolina scored 100 points or more in four of its first 11 games. Carolina hit six three-pointers in three of those games and seven in another. On the course of the season, Carolina broke the 100-point mark seven times and the fewest three-pointers it hit to get there was six. In fact, Carolina hit just 14 free throws against Santa Barbara to reach 100 points. That was tied for the second-fewest number of made free throws in a game this season with 14 against Old Dominion. Carolina scored 99 points in that game, but also made seven three-pointers.
Last season, the Tar Heels shot 50% or better from the field in 22 of their 38 games. They were 9-7 in games in which they shot less than 50% from the field; this year, Carolina is already 6-0 in such games. At this time last season, Carolina was 3-1 in such games. Last year's team also had 13 games in which it made fewer than five three-pointers and had a 10-3 record in those games. This season, Carolina is already 5-0. Last year's team was 4-4 in games that it attempted 20 or more three-pointers; this year's team is 2-0 and has not attempted more than 20 three's since its third game.
Names To Know
Marcus Ginyard: Ginyard has struggled early this season shooting the ball, making just 17-of-49 shots from the field (34.7%) and 17-of-45 shots from two-point range (37.8%), missing lay-ups and short jumpers. But Ginyard has found his groove in the last two games, making 13-of-17 shots (76.5%) and averaging 15.5 points in those two contests, marking his first back-to-back double-digit scoring efforts since his freshman year. Against Santa Barbara, Ginyard had a career-high 17 points. As usual, he was sensational defensively as well, holding Santa Barbara star Alex Harris to 17 points on 6-of-18 shooting, including 3-of-12 from two-point range.
"I thought Marcus was sensational with his defensive play and also just being Marcus. I told him during one timeouts that he doesn't have to be anybody but Marcus. You don't have to shoot three-point shots, you don't have to go out and create plays - just be the player that you are and you'll be really good for us," Williams said. "Players who are scorers need to score. Players who are not scorers don't need to try to be what they're not. There are certain things you have to understand are within your limitations. Marcus has been really bothered by his shot I think. We've had one little conversation about it but not anything big. But today, he was driving the ball into the lane. He was getting offensive rebounds. He was putting the ball back in. He was pulling up and shooting from 8-10 feet.
"Marcus' biggest value is defensively, getting offensive rebounds, doing all the little things - making the extra pass, he did that a couple of times today. Sometimes he makes the pass that leads to the assist, just because he makes the simple play. His numbers don't look good offensively, but I know what his value to us defensively and what his value to our team is."
The only statistical area that is slipping for Ginyard in his last few games is his free-throw shooting. He has made just 3-of-10 from the charity stripe in the last two games, including just 2-of-7 against Santa Barbara. Before those two games, he had made 27-of-36 (75%), so it's likely just a temporary funk. He has shot 72.1% or better from the line throughout his career, including a career-best 79.2% last season. However, he averaged just 1.4 attempts per game last season and has averaged 4.2 attempts per game this season. He has attempted at least one free throw in every game this season.
Those increased free-throw attempts are a part of "Marcus being Marcus" as well, attacking the basket and taking smarter shots. He has not attempted a three-pointer in the last four games. He is just a smart player, pulling down at least one offensive rebound in 10 of 11 games this season (and averaging 3.3 offensive boards and 5.0 rebounds in the last three games) and dishing out 22 assists to just 10 turnovers this season (2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio). He has at least one assist in all but one game this year and has quietly been one of Carolina's more consistent scorers with seven or more points in 7 of 11 games this year and nine or more points in four games. He has had three fouls just twice this season, despite always drawing the toughest defensive assignments.
But what is important is that this season, Ginyard has shown the ability to provide not only complementary scoring when necessary but also the ability to do all the things that he normally does - as Coach Williams puts it, just "being Marcus."
"What it means to me is just going out there and doing things that I know I do well and just being out there and playing with no pressure of the outcome of any situation, just doing the things that I'm always there doing, that everybody knows that I do, and then just letting the game take care of itself," Ginyard said. "Like Coach said, things are going to just fall in place. There's no need for me to go out there and force the issue or anything. I just felt like I was in the right place at the right time. I was benefiting from those types of things."
Wayne Ellington: Sure, Wayne Ellington might be going through a bit of a shooting slump in terms of his three-pointers. He has made just 3-of-16 in Carolina's last four games (18.8%) after making 18-of-36 three-pointers in Carolina's first seven games. "I told him it was a good thing he could make lay-ups because he wasn't making anything else," Williams joked after the game. Ellington made 6-of-13 shots from the field and 0-of-4 from beyond the arc. But his coach is not worried. He has become much more of a complete player this season, and he looked perhaps more comfortable running the break against Santa Barbara than he has in his career at Carolina.
"They ran a press trying to slow us down, not necessarily trying to double-team us but trying to slow us down. Ty (Lawson) is good enough that he can attack that press if you get somebody up there running. I thought that Wayne did that," Williams said. "Wayne, 6-for-13 and he's 0-for-4 from the three-point line and the boy can shoot the basketball. We all know that. But I think it was sensational for him to get up there."
It was easily one of Ellington's most complete games as a Tar Heel as well, as he earned his first defensive player of the game award this season and scored 17 points in just 25 minutes, his fewest minutes played since the third game of the season. He ranks fourth in the ACC in scoring (17.2 points per game) and leads the league in free-throw shooting at 90.9% (30-of-33). After averaging just 1.6 attempts per game last season, he is already averaging 3.3 attempts this season as he is much more willing to attack the basket.
This season, 34.7% of his attempts and 30.4% of his made field goals are three-pointers as opposed to 47% of his attempts and 40.2% of his made field goals last season. Everything else about Ellington's game has remained consistent - he is averaging 4.7 three-point attempts per game this season and averaged the same number last season - but his two-point attempts are up from 5.3 last season to 8.9 this season, bringing his total attempts from 10.0 last season to 13.6 this season. He is shooting 46% from the field and 49% from two-point range; last season, he shot 43.3% from the field and 48.8% from two-point range. This season, he is shooting 40.4% from three-point range (despite his recent slump) and he shot 37.1% last season.
He has contributed in other statistical areas as well. His 4.1 rebounds per game ranks fifth on the team and his 35 defensive rebounds rank fourth as well. He pulled down just nine rebounds in the first four games of the season and has pulled down 36 boards in the last seven games, or 5.1 per game. His 16 assists are third among the starters but after dishing out just 10 assists in the first nine games, he has had six assists in the last two games.
Marcelus Kemp: The 6-5 senior guard is leading the Wolf Pack in scoring (19.1 points per game) and ranks second in rebounds (5.8 per game), adding 2.9 assists and shooting 81% from the free-throw line. He made the first-team All-WAC last season and has been important in his team's turn-around this season, shooting 42.8% from the field on the year and scoring at least 20 points in four of Nevada's last six games. In Nevada's last outing against Northern Iowa, Kemp had 13 points on 3-of-9 shooting but added six points from the free-throw line and three rebounds, two assists and a block in the road victory. It marked his 21st consecutive double-figure scoring game dating back to last season.
In the season's first six games (of which Nevada lost four), Kemp was averaging 17.7 shots and 18.5 points, including shooting 40.6% from the field and 28.6% from beyond the arc, averaging 6.8 three-point attempts per game. But in Nevada's five-game winning streak, his shooting percentage is up to 46.7% from the field (43.5% from beyond the arc) and he is averaging just 12.0 shots from the field and 4.6 three-point attempts on his way to 19.8 points per game. As a result of his improved shot selection, he has also substantially increased his average amount of trips to the free-throw line. After going just 16 times in Nevada's first six games (2.7 times per game), he has now gone 42 times in Nevada's last five games (8.4 times per game).
JaVale McGee: The sophomore seven-footer is the second-leading scorer for the Wolf Pack at 12.9 points per game but is also averaging 3.5 blocks per game, which not only leads the WAC but also ranks eighth in the country. He also leads the team in stelas with 13. He is leading the team in rebounds with 8.7 per game and is shooting 50% from the field, best among those who have attempted more than 20 field goals this season. He has had six or more rebounds in all but two games this season and has had at least one offensive rebound in every game this season.
In Nevada's last three games, he has pulled down 39 rebounds (13.0 per game) and ten offensive rebounds (3.3 per game). He has also blocked 12 shots. In Nevada's last game against Northern Iowa, he had just seven points on 3-of-9 shooting, marking his first game in the last eight that he has had fewer than 10 points. But he added 12 rebounds, two steals and a season-high seven blocks. Despite his high number of blocked shots, he has yet to foul out this season and has had three or more fouls in only three games. He has had four fouls just once in a Nevada loss.
Quotables
"I tell guys in the (coaches) clinic all the time, one of the reasons I like to play as fast as we do is because coaches always have negative thoughts. If we're going up and down the court so blasted fast I don't have time to have negative thoughts." -Roy Williams
"In some ways, everybody said, `Well, what kind of leader is he going to be? Will he talk enough?' If you're dumb enough that you have to have somebody talk to you - if I play with Tyler Hansbrough I don't need Tyler Hansbrough to say `boo' to me. I'm just going to try to be like Tyler. If I be like Tyler - that's definitely not correct English, but if I be like Tyler, by God, we're going to be pretty good." -Roy Williams
"I told Wayne (Ellington) - he had one (three-pointer) wide open in the corner and missed it - good coach that I am, I said, `Hold your mouth different next time.'" -Roy Williams
Lauren Brownlow is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly.
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By Lauren Brownlow
The Basics
No. 1/1 Carolina (11-0) will return to action to face the Nevada Wolf Pack (7-4) in the Smith Center on Thursday night. Carolina is off to its best start since 1998 (17-0). Carolina's 11-game win streak is its longest since a 12-game streak last season and a 14-game streak in 2004-05. Nevada is coming off of a 55-52 win at Northern Iowa on December 22nd. The Wolf Pack is on a five-game winning streak. Nevada's four losses have come by an average of just 6.23 points per game. This will mark the third time in five years that Nevada has faced the nation's No. 1 team; the last time it did, it fell to No. 1 Illinois in the second round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament, 71-59.
Last Time: Carolina has played Nevada just twice and won both meetings. The last time the two teams faced each other, Carolina came away with a 109-86 victory in Chapel Hill on February 25, 1989. The two teams faced the season before in Reno and Carolina won, 115-91.
Injury Report: None to report.
Pushing tempo: Carolina scored 45 fast break points against Santa Barbara, its most in games in which the stat was tracked this season. Carolina has forced 17 or more turnovers by its opponents in four of its last five games and has scored ten or more points off of those turnovers in each of its last six games. The Tar Heels averaged 21.5 points off turnovers in its first six games and have averaged 27.6 points off turnovers in its last five games.
"I want to play a fast tempo. I think it suits the personnel that we have. The timeouts are so long and so numerous, you really have to put the hammer down when you're playing where they get refreshed so much during the timeout," Williams said. "Our plan all the time is to push the ball, push the tempo, and play as fast as we can. Yet, I'll tell you that the thing we've worked on the most the last week is our halfcourt offense because I think we've got to be able to do that as well."
The secondary break is a part of Carolina's offense and one that is very effective in terms of forcing teams that want to go at a slower tempo into a faster one. But what has made Carolina more effective - and at its most effective against Santa Barbara - was that everyone on the team was running, all the time. "It really just comes down to us running every time. There have been times where we felt like we didn't really get out in the open court and really push the other team to guard us in the open court. Tonight, I think our wings and even our big men did a great job of actually running the floor and forcing them to guard us," Marcus Ginyard said.
Despite forcing that tempo themselves, Carolina has held opponents to very few fast break points as well. In the games that the statistic was tracked (eight of 11), Carolina has held opponents to fewer than 10 fast break points in every game. Santa Barbara was able to score just two fast break points. On 161 turnovers, Carolina's opponents have scored 143 points. Carolina has allowed 16 or more points off turnovers in just three games this season, and two of those three games were in the first two contests (wins over Davidson and Iona). Davidson's 20 points off of 19 Carolina turnovers were a season-high by a Tar Heel opponent.
Hitting three-pointers: In Carolina's first seven games, the Tar Heels hit four or more three-pointers in all but one game. Since then, Carolina has failed to hit four three-pointers in three of last four games. Combining the Nicholls State and Santa Barbara games, Carolina has shot just 6-of-28 (21.4%) in its last two games. "We didn't shoot the ball exceptionally well to say the very least from the three-point line. Everybody a couple of months ago talked about how bad we shot it, and then we went on a stretch where we shot it very well for three or four games. Now we've shot it poorly two games in a row. Hopefully, we'll get it going again where we shoot it well," Williams said.
Without its last two outings - both 25% or less from beyond the arc - Carolina has made 38.5% of its three-pointers this season. But as it stands, Carolina has hit 35.6% of its three-pointers this season. Carolina has hit 40% or more of its three-pointers in five of its 11 games this season, but has hit 31% or less in six games, including five of its last seven and three of the last four. But the Tar Heels had struggled shooting the ball in general during that period. Carolina hit 50% or more of its two-point attempts of each of its first four games, including a scorching 72.7% against Old Dominion (a game in which Carolina shot 70.9% from the field). But Carolina has since shot better than 50% from two-point range just three times, and two of those three times have come in the last two games.
Carolina has cracked the 100-point mark four times already this season. In its first two 100-point outings - victories over Iona and South Carolina State - Carolina hit 19-of-46 three-pointers (41.3%). But the Tar Heels have broken 100 points twice since then in those two wins over Penn and Santa Barbara, despite hitting a combined 5-of-23 three-pointers (21.7%). Last season, Carolina scored 100 points or more in four of its first 11 games. Carolina hit six three-pointers in three of those games and seven in another. On the course of the season, Carolina broke the 100-point mark seven times and the fewest three-pointers it hit to get there was six. In fact, Carolina hit just 14 free throws against Santa Barbara to reach 100 points. That was tied for the second-fewest number of made free throws in a game this season with 14 against Old Dominion. Carolina scored 99 points in that game, but also made seven three-pointers.
Last season, the Tar Heels shot 50% or better from the field in 22 of their 38 games. They were 9-7 in games in which they shot less than 50% from the field; this year, Carolina is already 6-0 in such games. At this time last season, Carolina was 3-1 in such games. Last year's team also had 13 games in which it made fewer than five three-pointers and had a 10-3 record in those games. This season, Carolina is already 5-0. Last year's team was 4-4 in games that it attempted 20 or more three-pointers; this year's team is 2-0 and has not attempted more than 20 three's since its third game.
Names To Know
Marcus Ginyard: Ginyard has struggled early this season shooting the ball, making just 17-of-49 shots from the field (34.7%) and 17-of-45 shots from two-point range (37.8%), missing lay-ups and short jumpers. But Ginyard has found his groove in the last two games, making 13-of-17 shots (76.5%) and averaging 15.5 points in those two contests, marking his first back-to-back double-digit scoring efforts since his freshman year. Against Santa Barbara, Ginyard had a career-high 17 points. As usual, he was sensational defensively as well, holding Santa Barbara star Alex Harris to 17 points on 6-of-18 shooting, including 3-of-12 from two-point range.
"I thought Marcus was sensational with his defensive play and also just being Marcus. I told him during one timeouts that he doesn't have to be anybody but Marcus. You don't have to shoot three-point shots, you don't have to go out and create plays - just be the player that you are and you'll be really good for us," Williams said. "Players who are scorers need to score. Players who are not scorers don't need to try to be what they're not. There are certain things you have to understand are within your limitations. Marcus has been really bothered by his shot I think. We've had one little conversation about it but not anything big. But today, he was driving the ball into the lane. He was getting offensive rebounds. He was putting the ball back in. He was pulling up and shooting from 8-10 feet.
"Marcus' biggest value is defensively, getting offensive rebounds, doing all the little things - making the extra pass, he did that a couple of times today. Sometimes he makes the pass that leads to the assist, just because he makes the simple play. His numbers don't look good offensively, but I know what his value to us defensively and what his value to our team is."
The only statistical area that is slipping for Ginyard in his last few games is his free-throw shooting. He has made just 3-of-10 from the charity stripe in the last two games, including just 2-of-7 against Santa Barbara. Before those two games, he had made 27-of-36 (75%), so it's likely just a temporary funk. He has shot 72.1% or better from the line throughout his career, including a career-best 79.2% last season. However, he averaged just 1.4 attempts per game last season and has averaged 4.2 attempts per game this season. He has attempted at least one free throw in every game this season.
Those increased free-throw attempts are a part of "Marcus being Marcus" as well, attacking the basket and taking smarter shots. He has not attempted a three-pointer in the last four games. He is just a smart player, pulling down at least one offensive rebound in 10 of 11 games this season (and averaging 3.3 offensive boards and 5.0 rebounds in the last three games) and dishing out 22 assists to just 10 turnovers this season (2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio). He has at least one assist in all but one game this year and has quietly been one of Carolina's more consistent scorers with seven or more points in 7 of 11 games this year and nine or more points in four games. He has had three fouls just twice this season, despite always drawing the toughest defensive assignments.
But what is important is that this season, Ginyard has shown the ability to provide not only complementary scoring when necessary but also the ability to do all the things that he normally does - as Coach Williams puts it, just "being Marcus."
"What it means to me is just going out there and doing things that I know I do well and just being out there and playing with no pressure of the outcome of any situation, just doing the things that I'm always there doing, that everybody knows that I do, and then just letting the game take care of itself," Ginyard said. "Like Coach said, things are going to just fall in place. There's no need for me to go out there and force the issue or anything. I just felt like I was in the right place at the right time. I was benefiting from those types of things."
Wayne Ellington: Sure, Wayne Ellington might be going through a bit of a shooting slump in terms of his three-pointers. He has made just 3-of-16 in Carolina's last four games (18.8%) after making 18-of-36 three-pointers in Carolina's first seven games. "I told him it was a good thing he could make lay-ups because he wasn't making anything else," Williams joked after the game. Ellington made 6-of-13 shots from the field and 0-of-4 from beyond the arc. But his coach is not worried. He has become much more of a complete player this season, and he looked perhaps more comfortable running the break against Santa Barbara than he has in his career at Carolina.
"They ran a press trying to slow us down, not necessarily trying to double-team us but trying to slow us down. Ty (Lawson) is good enough that he can attack that press if you get somebody up there running. I thought that Wayne did that," Williams said. "Wayne, 6-for-13 and he's 0-for-4 from the three-point line and the boy can shoot the basketball. We all know that. But I think it was sensational for him to get up there."
It was easily one of Ellington's most complete games as a Tar Heel as well, as he earned his first defensive player of the game award this season and scored 17 points in just 25 minutes, his fewest minutes played since the third game of the season. He ranks fourth in the ACC in scoring (17.2 points per game) and leads the league in free-throw shooting at 90.9% (30-of-33). After averaging just 1.6 attempts per game last season, he is already averaging 3.3 attempts this season as he is much more willing to attack the basket.
This season, 34.7% of his attempts and 30.4% of his made field goals are three-pointers as opposed to 47% of his attempts and 40.2% of his made field goals last season. Everything else about Ellington's game has remained consistent - he is averaging 4.7 three-point attempts per game this season and averaged the same number last season - but his two-point attempts are up from 5.3 last season to 8.9 this season, bringing his total attempts from 10.0 last season to 13.6 this season. He is shooting 46% from the field and 49% from two-point range; last season, he shot 43.3% from the field and 48.8% from two-point range. This season, he is shooting 40.4% from three-point range (despite his recent slump) and he shot 37.1% last season.
He has contributed in other statistical areas as well. His 4.1 rebounds per game ranks fifth on the team and his 35 defensive rebounds rank fourth as well. He pulled down just nine rebounds in the first four games of the season and has pulled down 36 boards in the last seven games, or 5.1 per game. His 16 assists are third among the starters but after dishing out just 10 assists in the first nine games, he has had six assists in the last two games.
Marcelus Kemp: The 6-5 senior guard is leading the Wolf Pack in scoring (19.1 points per game) and ranks second in rebounds (5.8 per game), adding 2.9 assists and shooting 81% from the free-throw line. He made the first-team All-WAC last season and has been important in his team's turn-around this season, shooting 42.8% from the field on the year and scoring at least 20 points in four of Nevada's last six games. In Nevada's last outing against Northern Iowa, Kemp had 13 points on 3-of-9 shooting but added six points from the free-throw line and three rebounds, two assists and a block in the road victory. It marked his 21st consecutive double-figure scoring game dating back to last season.
In the season's first six games (of which Nevada lost four), Kemp was averaging 17.7 shots and 18.5 points, including shooting 40.6% from the field and 28.6% from beyond the arc, averaging 6.8 three-point attempts per game. But in Nevada's five-game winning streak, his shooting percentage is up to 46.7% from the field (43.5% from beyond the arc) and he is averaging just 12.0 shots from the field and 4.6 three-point attempts on his way to 19.8 points per game. As a result of his improved shot selection, he has also substantially increased his average amount of trips to the free-throw line. After going just 16 times in Nevada's first six games (2.7 times per game), he has now gone 42 times in Nevada's last five games (8.4 times per game).
JaVale McGee: The sophomore seven-footer is the second-leading scorer for the Wolf Pack at 12.9 points per game but is also averaging 3.5 blocks per game, which not only leads the WAC but also ranks eighth in the country. He also leads the team in stelas with 13. He is leading the team in rebounds with 8.7 per game and is shooting 50% from the field, best among those who have attempted more than 20 field goals this season. He has had six or more rebounds in all but two games this season and has had at least one offensive rebound in every game this season.
In Nevada's last three games, he has pulled down 39 rebounds (13.0 per game) and ten offensive rebounds (3.3 per game). He has also blocked 12 shots. In Nevada's last game against Northern Iowa, he had just seven points on 3-of-9 shooting, marking his first game in the last eight that he has had fewer than 10 points. But he added 12 rebounds, two steals and a season-high seven blocks. Despite his high number of blocked shots, he has yet to foul out this season and has had three or more fouls in only three games. He has had four fouls just once in a Nevada loss.
Quotables
"I tell guys in the (coaches) clinic all the time, one of the reasons I like to play as fast as we do is because coaches always have negative thoughts. If we're going up and down the court so blasted fast I don't have time to have negative thoughts." -Roy Williams
"In some ways, everybody said, `Well, what kind of leader is he going to be? Will he talk enough?' If you're dumb enough that you have to have somebody talk to you - if I play with Tyler Hansbrough I don't need Tyler Hansbrough to say `boo' to me. I'm just going to try to be like Tyler. If I be like Tyler - that's definitely not correct English, but if I be like Tyler, by God, we're going to be pretty good." -Roy Williams
"I told Wayne (Ellington) - he had one (three-pointer) wide open in the corner and missed it - good coach that I am, I said, `Hold your mouth different next time.'" -Roy Williams
Lauren Brownlow is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly.
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