Late Night with Roy took place Friday night in front of a near capacity crowd in the Dean Smith Center. Former Tar Heel great Kenny Smith served as the master of ceremonies for the even which included dancing, singing, skits and a moving tribute to 10-time host of the event Stuart Scott.
The feature event was obviously the Blue-White Scrimmage which had a 20 minute running clock. A few observations.
-The game was fairly sloppy with a lot of badly missed shots(especially from Joel James) and very little defense being played. The perimeter shooting was off with no one hitting more than one three.
-Isaiah Hicks was far and away the star of the evening with his aggressive play. He ended up with 14 points to lead all scorers. In all likelihood Hicks will come off the bench but when he does it should provide a shot in the arm in terms of energy.
-Kennedy Meeks, who had tweaked his knee two weeks ago, was a full participant and showed off better mobility with even more weight last than last year.
-Justin Jackson had yet another highly efficient night going 3-4 on two point shots but 0-2 on threes with a credited free throw to finish with seven points.
-Theo Pinson's health has been a point of concern. He had been limited in practice out of an abundance of caution finally doing full court work starting early last week. Pinson noted afterwards that he had seen quite a bit of time at the wing guard spot with Marcus Paige running point.
-Brice Johnson had a typical night for him shooting 4-for-9 for eight points and collecting a game high seven rebounds. On one play he attempted a three from the top of the key, missed but followed his own shot for the rebound then scored on a dunk.
-Marcus Paige looked fit and healthy on his way to eight points. He had an assist on a no look pass to Hicks on the block.
-The freshman Luke Maye and Kenny Williams didn't seem to suffer from any jitters. Maye had six points while Williams hit a jumper for his only points of the game. Given UNC's depth it is unclear how much either will play. Given the wing is not as deep as the post, Williams might see the court a bit more.
-As Roy Williams noted the most important thing was to go out there, play a quick 20 minutes of basketball and no one get injured. Mission accomplished.
Here is the very unofficial box score from the scrimmage.
Highlights
