Art’s Angle: An Awakening - Chapelboro.com

One of Dean Smith’s favorite explanations when his Tar Heels lost a game or were out played by an underdog opponent was, “The other team has coaches, too.”

If El Deano was watching Saturday’s game from Hall of Fame heaven, he likely shrugged as well-prepared SMU manhandled the No. 12 UNC team coached by one of his favorite former players. He might have also wondered about these Mustangs who shot 60 percent and forced Carolina to take too many three-pointers with their aggressive defense in the transfer portal era of a game with a far different look that Smith coached.

If he opened the earthly email with pre-game notes from Steve Kirschner, Smith would surely recall his record against SMU was 1-1 after a sort of home-and-home series. On Jan. 13, 1985 at the sold-out Greensboro Coliseum, the fourth-ranked Mustangs edged the UNC team that had lost Michael Jordan and Sam Perkins to the 1984 NBA Draft, as SMU’s 7-foot All-American center Jon Koncak scored 31 points. In Dec. 1986, the reloaded and No. 4 Heels won the rematch at the Reunion Arena in Dallas in overtime.

The two games were likely arranged between Smith and Indiana coach (and buddy) Bobby Knight, whose former assistant Dave Bliss had moved on to SMU for more money after six years at Oklahoma. In those days, players did not (legally) get money to sign with schools. Smith (1987) and Hubert Davis (last season) defeated SMU by double digits in the only other two meetings at the Dean Dome.

As the Tar Heels tipped off in Moody Coliseum for the first time Saturday, the main player leading the scouting report was senior guard Boopie Miller, who UNC fans may remember playing at Wake Forest two years ago. Miller sat out most of the first half with two fouls as the teams combined for 11 three-pointers to go into the break tied at 39. Carolina had trailed by nine points when Luka Bogavac started a string of long balls, followed by Jarin Stevenson and Henri Veesaar; Stevenson’s second bomb gave the Heels their only lead of the half.

SMU head coach Andy Enfield yells during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against North Carolina Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in Dallas. (Photo via AP Photo/LM Otero.)

Andy Enfield is the kind of underrated coach Smith might have referred to. He is known for leading the Dunk City Florida Golf Coast team that made an NCAA Tournament run before heading to Southern Cal for 11 seasons and moving to Dallas the same year SMU joined the ACC from the AAC (no kidding). It looks like a perfect match for a filthy-rich school that receives next to nothing to join a so-called power conference – its sixth league since 1917. But Enfield, a former player and graduate at Johns Hopkins who once owned the NCAA record for free throw percentage (.925), is a good coach with sixth post-season teams and may be even better with money to buy the type of bodies for his physical style of play.

The Mustangs opened in a zone and changed defenses throughout the game, making the Tar Heels run their offense farther out than they want to start sets. What looked like one of Davis’s better defensive teams gave up almost unprecedented “points per possession” since stat geeks started keeping them. Of course, Smith used it all the time when many of us had no idea what he was talking about.

Quoting one of my stat geek buddies: “No. 12 North Carolina’s defensive efficiency, an advanced metric that measures points allowed per 100 possessions, was 139.9 in Saturday’s 97-83 loss at SMU. That’s the second-worst single-game defensive efficiency mark for UNC basketball in the KenPom era, which dates back to Dean Smith’s final season in 1996-97.

“The Mustangs averaged 1.43 points per possession for the game, including a staggering 1.71 points per possession in the second half. Enfield’s team shot 60 percent from the floor, 51.9 per cent from the 3-point line and assisted on 23 of its 36 made baskets. SMU’s effective field goal percentage was 71.7 percent.”

Miller was the star of the show, turning up his offense to lead all scorers with 27 points plus 12 assists. He also pump-faked Caleb Wilson off his ankles, stepped back and buried one of his three 3-pointers in front of the SMU bench, which went berserk in celebration and embarrassment to one of the premier freshman in the game.

Fortunately, Carolina made 12 threes of its own — the most in a loss in almost two years — or it would have been much worse than a 15-point defeat.

North Carolina’s Kyan Evans (0) was held in check by SMU after scoring five three-pointers earlier in the week against Florida State. Evans finished 1-2 with 3 points, 1 assist and 2 turnovers. (Photo via AP Photo/LM Otero.)

You can’t blame Dean if he took an afternoon nap, but Hubert may have had a sleepless night trying to figure out how to make his team tougher, a preseason concern for his staff, the media and astute fans. Veesaar is finding himself pushed too far under the basket by defenses who now have him scouted, especially since he lacks the athleticism of the wondrous Wilson. But the charismatic freshman plays with less joy when opponents also scouted and learned his favorite first move is to dribble the ball rather make a quick pass that could ultimately result in a better shot for him. Other Hall of Fame coaches like Larry Brown, a Tar Heel who also coached at SMU, used the term “stickiness” when his players held on to the ball too long instead of giving it up quickly to eventually beat defenders.

Make no mistakes that SMU — whose football coach Rhett Lashlee watched from courtside after returning victorious from the Holiday Bowl the night before — has the wealthy alumni and large, rabid fan base to become a force in the ACC. College administrators who keep track of such things already call privately-owned SMU the “Duke of the Southwest” for its academic reputation, resources and love of successful teams. SMU students who fashion themselves for the Cameron Crazies think their school is a lucrative launching pad to a financial future. Being a part of the ACC, and winning games like they did Saturday, must make living and working in the fastest growing and most diverse state in the country even more fun.

If the Mustangs shoot like they did on Saturday, it could be a sign that their men’s basketball program is awakening in its new conference as a true contender. The result, as Carolina’s second loss this year, is also a reminder to the Tar Heels of how the conference schedule is not a cake walk. As with SMU, Cal and Stanford (UNC’s next two road games) look better than last season and are in the top half of the ACC standings where the lower half charter or long-time members have 48 of the league’s overall 71 losses so far.

Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.

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Art’s Angle: An Awakening – Chapelboro.com

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