NCAA Basketball: Impact of UNC freshman Cole Anthony’s long-term absence

UNC will struggle to stay afloat without Anthony

Even before the injury, the Tar Heels haven’t looked as good as many originally expected. They lost three of four games before the Wofford game this past weekend, scoring less than 50 total points in back-to-back games against both Ohio State and Virginia. Anthony’s play has tried to unmask a woeful offense that struggles mightily when he’s not on the court.

That was on full display this past Sunday in a quasi home game against Wofford. UNC was trailing throughout, surrendering 14 made three-points to the Terriers in a 68-64 defeat. Pacific transfer KJ Smith produced seven points and four assists in 26 minutes as Anthony’s replacement.

The real problem for North Carolina when it comes to the lack of scoring is how the grad transfer duo of Christian Keeling and Justin Pierce. After having dominant respective junior campaigns at Charleston Southern and William & Mary last year, they’re combining to produce just 10.5 ppg while each shooting under 33% from the field. At this point, it’ll be a positive if they can score a combined 20 ppg while Anthony is out.

What was hidden in the Anthony news was the announcement that Leaky Black (foot) is also expected to be out for a while. His absence isn’t as impactful but the 6’7 guard did start the first nine games of the season and is a solid defender. The hope is that freshmen Jeremiah Francis and Anthony Harris, who each has been injured as well, can provide a needed scoring lift for the Tar Heels.

The only set of good news North Carolina has to hang on is that after facing No. 2 Gonzaga, the upcoming schedule is as easy as possible. They take on even more disappointing UCLA this weekend as well as Yale before the ACC slate. And if we assume that Anthony is out for the month of January, the Tar Heels will avoid playing Duke, Louisville and Virginia entirely. The opponents include Pittsburgh (twice) Miami, Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech.

The problem is that it’s hard to declare those teams as “beatable” when North Carolina just dropped to Wofford. Even if big men Garrison Brooks and Armando Bacot become a dynamic frontcourt duo, there’s nothing from the remaining set of perimeter players that says they can beat capable power conference teams. With four (likely five losses after the Gonzaga game) already, UNC needs to avoid more losses to remain a viable at-large contender. They easily could have 10 by the time Anthony returns.