UNC’s Cadeau, after zero points vs. Wagner, must rebound quickly against Michigan State
UNC freshman point guard Elliot Cadeau’s first experience in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday was a slow-motion nightmare.
In his 35th game of the season, Cadeau scored zero points for the first time. He had four turnovers, only three assists and got brutally blocked on one attempted layup. Coach Hubert Davis benched him for long stretches, as Cadeau played only 19 minutes — fewer than he had played in any of the previous 20 games.
“Terrible,” Cadeau later termed it.
And yet the Tar Heels survived it, easily. No. 1 seed Carolina whipped No. 16 seed Wagner, 90-62, even with one of Cadeau’s worst games of the season.
But it might not survive one of those again. Cadeau will have to be better immediately, starting Saturday afternoon when the Tar Heels face No. 9 seed Michigan State in Charlotte at the Spectrum Center (5:30 p.m., CBS).
Cadeau’s teammates have been trying to offer him a boost, knowing that guard play in the NCAA Tournament is essential to winning. The veterans have attempted to give him several pep talks over the past 24 hours.
“Just be like his big brother, in a sense,” UNC guard RJ Davis said of what he’s been telling Cadeau. “Just keep him uplifted and make sure his vibe and spirit is good, because he’s a great player and we’re going to need him. I just told him, ‘You’re a talented player, you’re going to be good and we know what you’re capable of, and you’re going to bounce back Saturday. Have a short-term memory and put this game behind you.’”
Cadeau has indeed been good this season. Unlike Caleb Love, Davis’ backcourt partner the year before, he rarely hunts his shot to the detriment of his teammates (to be fair, sometimes this worked out for Love, but it rarely did a season ago). Cadeau is often content to feed the ball to Davis, Armando Bacot and Harrison Ingram, and he made the All-Freshman team by leading UNC in assists.
But in recent games, Cadeau has been struggling offensively when he does decide to shoot. Over the past four games, he’s 8 for 29 (27.6%) and hasn’t made a single three-pointer. It’s a shooting slump at an inopportune time because, as Cadeau said, “everything feels more serious now.”
Michigan State, meanwhile, has veteran guards who are three or four years older than Cadeau and much more experienced. Grad student Tyson Walker, senior A.J. Hoggard and junior Jaden Akins make up the Spartans’ three-guard starting lineup.
Cadeau, in the meantime, is 19 years old. What bothered him most Thursday wasn’t the zero points; it was his four turnovers.
“I’m not worried about points, assists or anything like that,” Cadeau said. “I’m just worried when I have a lot of turnovers. I have to be more careful.”
On one play Thursday Cadeau was called for a travel, and, as he said Friday, “I’m not sure I’ve traveled all year.”
“I’m just telling him, ‘It happens,’” Bacot said of Cadeau’s subpar performance against Wagner. “The way he’s carried himself all year as a freshman has been amazing. I can remember me as a freshman — it was tough. But I think all year he’s done a great job bouncing back ... know he’ll be huge for us vs. Michigan State. They have a lot of great, experienced guards, so it will be fun to see him out there vs. them.”
