11 to 3. About five minutes into the game, the score itself wasn't the problem, but the fact that UConn was in the lead was!
Wasn't North Carolina supposed to be strong this year, aiming straight for the championship? How could they be getting thrashed by UConn right from the start?
Moreover, according to media reports, UConn's roster this year was only of average talent, reaching the Sweet Sixteen was already beyond expectations, making them a genuine dark horse.
Did this mean that North Carolina was about to be upset?
Carter checked his phone to confirm the score on the tablet was correct, then sat down calmly and said, "The game has only just begun."
Indeed, the game had only just begun. Although this start was somewhat unexpected, there was nothing to be alarmed about.
North Carolina fans in the arena slowly adjusted their emotions.
After the timeout, Barnes posted up against Lamb at the high post, calling for the ball. The North Carolina players cleared the space, Barnes forced Lamb to the low post, and then directly chose to turn around for a fadeaway jumper.
Lamb weighed more than ten kilograms less than Barnes, and was indeed at a disadvantage in terms of physical contact, making it difficult for him to jump.
"Swish!"
Barnes' fadeaway jumper hit the mark, his skills were indeed much more comprehensive than Williams'.
5 to 11, North Carolina temporarily stabilized the situation on the court.
UConn's offense, a pick-and-roll between Tang Tian and Walker. This time, North Carolina directly chose to switch. Walker was mismatched against Henson, and his sudden stop jump shot went wide.
Henson's long arms secured the defensive rebound.
North Carolina advanced to the frontcourt, Barnes continued to post up against Lamb.
Zeller and Henson both moved to the weak side, and after Barnes drove Lamb to the basket, he drew a shooting foul.
Barnes' basketball IQ was indeed outstanding, exploiting this mismatch to the fullest.
This was also the limitation of UConn's strength. If their power forward was Henson or Zeller, with Tang Tian playing small forward, this situation wouldn't have occurred.
Unfortunately, they only had Oriakhi.
Calhoun stood up and called Smith over, instructing him to replace Lamb.
Barnes made both free throws, scoring 4 consecutive points to help North Carolina close the score to 7 to 11.
"Defense! Defense!"
At the crucial moment, Barnes stepped up as the core player, greatly boosting the confidence of North Carolina fans, and the deafening cheers in the arena sounded again.
Tang Tian continued to run pick-and-rolls with Walker in the frontcourt, North Carolina continued to switch, and Walker continued to attack Henson.
This time, he chose to go directly to the basket for a layup. Henson jumped to block, Walker pulled off a mid-air reverse layup to score.
The cheers came to an abrupt halt.
At the post-match press conference after defeating Arizona, he said that the matter of defeating Barnes would be left to Tang Tian, but North Carolina had more than just Barnes, and to defeat North Carolina, he would do his best.
With a 6-point difference, the situation on the court was somewhat deadlocked.
North Carolina advanced to the frontcourt, Barnes continued to play one-on-one, and the person defending him changed from Lamb to Smith.
Smith's talent was average, but he had the standard build of a small forward, and wasn't weaker than Barnes in terms of physical contact.
Barnes didn't have it as easy as he did against Lamb, so he chose a face-up attack, accelerating for a step-back layup.
Oriakhi came over to help defend, and Barnes saw this and released the ball early.
The choice of this shot was obvious. If it went in, great, if it didn't, Oriakhi had come out, and his teammates would likely be able to get the offensive rebound.
North Carolina's ability to grab offensive rebounds was definitely top-notch.
"Clang!"
Barnes' shot missed, Zeller was about to jump up to grab the board, Henson also leaped into the air, and even Bullock on the outside rushed in.
This was true North Carolina style, the whole team crashing the boards.
However, Zeller couldn't jump up, Tang Tian was holding him tightly to prevent him from jumping.
Oriakhi turned around and grabbed the defensive rebound before Barnes and Henson.
As soon as he got the rebound, he flicked it to Napier.
Napier and Walker launched a fast break.
North Carolina's rebounding formation was too far forward, only Marshall had time to retreat.
Walker and Napier's two-on-one in the frontcourt, Walker received Napier's pass and easily scored again.
The point difference was widened to 8 points again.
"Rebound! Rebound!" Roy Williams shouted at the North Carolina players, he may have realized UConn's tactics, but didn't seem to want to make adjustments.
This was also understandable. Aside from the fact that grabbing offensive rebounds was a consistent tactic of North Carolina, North Carolina now had two players over 2.10 meters tall on the court, while UConn only had one, which was their advantage.
North Carolina's offense, Barnes' one-on-one against Smith missed, but he grabbed his own offensive rebound and scored.
Roy Williams clenched his fist and waved his hand on the sidelines, this was what he wanted to see.
UConn's frontcourt offense, Tang Tian continued to give Walker a pick-and-roll, and Walker continued to mismatch against Henson.
North Carolina still didn't double-team, Walker faced Henson's continuous low crossovers, suddenly accelerating for a layup.
Henson reached out to block, Walker directly used a strong physical contest before shooting again.
It must be said that Henson's physical resistance was really lacking, after the contact, the blocking hand completely lost its angle and directly hit Walker's hand.
"Slap!"
"Swish!"
The sideline referee blew his whistle, Walker still completed his shot and sent the ball into the basket.
A beautiful and-one!
Walker lost his balance after being fouled, and sat on the ground after landing. When he saw the ball go in, he excitedly hammered the floor and roared to the sky.
When the media released the strength rankings for each position, he and Tang Tian teased each other, but with his proud and arrogant personality, how could he not care, now facing North Carolina, he wanted to prove that those so-called expert predictions were bullshit, and he was the strongest point guard.
Walker made the free throw, and UConn widened the point difference to 9 points.
North Carolina's offensive possession, Barnes' turnaround jump shot missed, Zeller and Henson were firmly boxed out by Tang Tian and Oriakhi, Oriakhi controlled the defensive rebound and gave it to Napier, Napier flicked it back to Walker, Walker rushed to the frontcourt, glanced at Bullock who was chasing him, and scored again with a crossover layup.
After scoring, he punched his chest excitedly on the sidelines, his whole body seemed to be on fire.
The North Carolina fans in the arena were restless.
In this period, Walker scored 9 consecutive points, and UConn widened the point difference to double digits for the first time.
Jordan no longer had the smile he had at the start of the game. He looked at Walker, then looked up at the score. This short point guard was causing too much trouble for North Carolina.
Barnes' shot from a one-on-one against Smith in the frontcourt still missed. His scoring was clearly not as easy against Smith as it was against Lamb before, and perhaps because Jordan was in the arena, his condition wasn't very good.
Tang Tian boxed out Henson, and Oriakhi continued to grab the defensive rebound.
The ball was handed to Napier, Marshall wanted to directly commit a foul in advance to stop UConn's fast break, but Napier dodged with a feint, and after dodging, he threw another long pass, the ball flew over the half-court and into Walker's hands again.
The North Carolina fans in the arena were restless, this 1.85-meter point guard's speed on the fast break was too damn fast!