Now that North Carolina has given coach Michael Malone a victory in his debut with the Tar Heels, it looks like there could be lots of work ahead.
North Carolina welcomes Wofford to Chapel Hill, N.C., for a Friday night game.
“I have to remind myself constantly that this really is going to be a process,” Malone said.
The Terriers will be the second Southern Conference opponent of the week for the Tar Heels (1-0), who had to scrap to defeat Western Carolina 80-72 in their Monday opener.
Wofford (0-1) lost 90-59 at No. 8 Tennessee to begin its season Tuesday night.
“We’ve got a good team,” Terriers coach Kevin Giltner said. “We just didn’t handle that well. … I think a lot of that was a credit to Tennessee.”
Matt Able, a transfer from North Carolina State, put up 18 points for North Carolina on Monday, finishing one point shy of his career-high mark. He was among seven players in their first game as a Tar Heel.
“That’s the whole reason I came here was to win at the highest level, and I feel like it’s a good start,” Able said. “But there’s definitely more to accomplish.”
The North Carolina coaching staff dubbed Terrence Brown as the team’s best defensive performer in the first game.
“He leaves it out there,” Malone said. “I never question if Terrence Brown is going to compete and play hard because that’s just how he’s wired.”
North Carolina showed aggression against Western Carolina, resulting in 35 free-throw attempts, 25 of which the Tar Heels made. Those numbers were both the highest for the program in an opener in 33 years.
The next emphasis will be on rebounding, as the Tar Heels were beaten on the glass 41-32 by the Catamounts.
“Now teams that are scouting us, they know that we’re not good at rebounding, and they’re going to punish us,” said 6-foot-9 guard Neo Avdalas, who had a team-high seven boards. “They’re going to go to the rebound. So we have to get better because when we play defense and we run, it’s our game.”
For Wofford, Cam Lowe’s 14 points and Evan Ramsey’s 10 rebounds were top marks in the Tennessee game. The Terriers trailed 34-31 at halftime before a difficult second half.
“Our urgency level wasn’t what it was in the first half,” Giltner said. “We didn’t weather that storm well at all.”
