Three Takeaways from UNC’s huge road win over Kentucky

For the third time this season, North Carolina went up against a ranked opponent, and for the second time they came away with a win this time on the road against Kentucky. The three point victory is the first time the Tar Heels have won in Rupp since 2007.

The win over a ranked team also doubled North Carolina’s total from last season when they mostly struggled in these types of games and only had a win against a ranked UCLA to show for it. So with all that, what can we takeaway from the Tar Heel’s big road win over the Wildcats?

For the first time this season against major competition, the UNC bench outscored the opposing bench, and Dixon was a huge reason for that. The freshman guard led all bench players with nine points, but none were bigger than his last five.

With the Tar Heels trailing by one with 53 seconds remaining, Dixon hit a huge step-back three to give North Carolina a two point lead. After Kentucky went down and scored to tie it, Dixon again had the ball in his hands. As the clock was winding down, Dixon drove to the basket and hit the go-ahead basket with just 16 seconds left. This proved to be the game winner, as the Wildcats would not score again.

Dixon set a career-high in minutes while tying a career-high in points. Hubert Davis needs to find more minutes for the freshman guard who clearly outplayed starting point guard Kyan Evans. Evans finished with 2 points on 1-5 shooting, while UNC’s other starting guard, Luka Bogavac, fouled out.

At the 13:08 mark of the second half, Kentucky hit a three (their only one of the game) to take a 48-44 point lead. The Wildcats would not make another field goal until the 2:43 mark, a drought of nearly 10 and half minutes. By the end of that time, though, Kentucky somehow still led the Tar Heels by one. North Carolina only outscored the Wildcats 14-11 during that span.

Give UNC credit for playing good defense, but their offense really needs some tweaking, as the Tar Heels finished just 26-64 for the game and 6-20 from beyond the arc — a slight improvement over the Michigan State game, but still not a great shooting night and one that could’ve been disastrous.

Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar both finished the game with a double-double for the fourth time this season. After a mediocre game against a really good Spartans team in which the duo combined to score 31 points and grab 13 rebounds while shooting 12-22 from the field, Wilson and Veesaar finished with a combined 32 points on 13-31 shooting, while grabbing 22 rebounds.

Wilson did not have his best game, as the freshman finished with a season-low 26.3% from the field, but continued to play aggressive regardless. The two Tar Heel towers helped UNC win the rebound battle 41-30, including an impressive 20-8 on the offensive glass. The only thing they could’ve done better was limit Kentucky’s points in the paint — they had 42 for the game.