North Carolina Knocks Off Alabama In The Bahamas, Will Play Michigan On Thursday
After beating Elon in Chapel Hill North Carolina then traveled to the Bahamas to take on Alabama who is known for their success on the grid iron rather then the hardwood to advance to play Michigan on Thanksgiving in the Battle 4 Atlantis.
Time and again, the ball went up on the backboard or bounced off the rim only to end up in the hands of North Carolina players who bulled their way through traffic to get to it. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/11/27/mens-basketball-tar-heels-vs-alabama-recap.aspx
The Tar Heels (5-0) entered as the nation's No. 1 team in rebounding margin. They certainly won't hurt that average with this performance: They nearly doubled the Crimson Tide to finish with a 60-31 edge on the glass, with those 60 rebounds setting an Atlantis tournament record.”according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/11/27/mens-basketball-tar-heels-vs-alabama-recap.aspx
UNC had as many offensive rebounds (23) as Alabama had defensive rebounds and finished with 23 second-chance points.”according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/11/27/mens-basketball-tar-heels-vs-alabama-recap.aspx
As for the North Carolina offense,
The Tar Heels didn't shoot the ball particularly well (40.8%) while freshman point guard Cole Anthony didn't have a huge offensive game. He finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists — including a perfect alley-oop inbounds pass that Garrison Brooks hammered down with 3:23 left as part of his 20 points to match a career high. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/11/27/mens-basketball-tar-heels-vs-alabama-recap.aspx
John Petty Jr. scored 23 points with seven 3-pointers for the Crimson Tide (2-3), though 15 points and five of those 3s came in the first half. Preseason all-Southeastern Conference pick Kira Lewis Jr. added 20 points, but Alabama shot just 38% for the game.”according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/11/27/mens-basketball-tar-heels-vs-alabama-recap.aspx
Leaky Black finished with career highs of nine points and nine rebounds for the Tar Heels, who also got a career-high 12 points from senior Brandon Robinson in his season debut. Robinson had been sidelined since he sprained an ankle during an exhibition game.”according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/11/27/mens-basketball-tar-heels-vs-alabama-recap.aspx
While North Carolina won and advanced to the winners bracket Alabama meanwhile had a setback and will play in the losers bracket on Thursday which also happens to be Thanksgiving where they will play Iowa State.
The Alabama men's basketball team fell to No. 6 North Carolina, 76-67, on Wednesday afternoon in the first round of the 2019 Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis.
The Crimson Tide (2-3) battled hard throughout the first half and trailed by six at the half. However, with Alabama trailing by three early in the second half, North Carolina went on a 14-2 run that lasted just over six minutes and resulted in a 51-36 lead with less than 14 minutes remaining. “according to https://rolltide.com/news/2019/11/27/mens-basketball-alabama-notches-two-20-scorers-despite-falling-to-no-6-north-carolina-in-battle-4-atlantis-tournament.aspx
The Tide was able to whittle the score to single digits on several occasions, but the Tar Heels, which leads the nation in rebounding margin, owned a huge 60-31 advantage on the boards to keep UA from making a run to get back in the game. “according to https://rolltide.com/news/2019/11/27/mens-basketball-alabama-notches-two-20-scorers-despite-falling-to-no-6-north-carolina-in-battle-4-atlantis-tournament.aspx
Junior John Petty Jr. led the team in scoring, finishing with 23 points on the strength of 7-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc. Sophomore Kira Lewis Jr. also added 20 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists in the loss. It was his third 20-point game of the season. “according to https://rolltide.com/news/2019/11/27/mens-basketball-alabama-notches-two-20-scorers-despite-falling-to-no-6-north-carolina-in-battle-4-atlantis-tournament.aspx