North Carolina freshman Coby White talks career high 34 points against Syracuse

Chapel Hill, N.C. — North Carolina freshman phenom Coby White has had individual performances this season this season that certainly stand out in the box score. Such was the case on Tuesday night, as the projected first round pick in the 2019 NBA Draft has had a career-high 34 points by going 6-11 from deep and 10-10 from the line. What’s most impressive is that he scored as many points as he did and only took 14 shots.

White attempted as many 3s on Tuesday night (11) against Syracuse as he has in any other game this season. He drained six of them in total, some of which were wide open. White said he felt like “they kind of lost track of me,” in which Syracuse junior guard Tyus Battle corroborated that assessment.

“We just lost him,” Battle said “He got open 3s.”

What should come as no surprise, White said that UNC placed an emphasis on getting the ball into the high post. That was the focal point in practice from Roy Williams leading up to the game.

“I think we really focused on trying to get it into middle where the ACC marker was. They knew we were going to have get it in the paint either by drive or by pass.

The inside out approach served White well. He was just one 3-pointer shy of a career-high in made 3’s, but 34 points was his highest total yet. He was happy with his performance, but happier with the victory.

“It feels good, man. But most importantly we got the win. We gotta move on to the next game against Clemson on Saturday.”

Just three games remain for North Carolina in the regular season. Then, White and the Tar Heels will head across the state in attempt to win a conference tournament title before the NCAA Tournament, where North Carolina has some loftier goals.

Said White, “We’ll probably try to win the ACC regular season, then try to win the ACC Championship. And then just go to March Madness and try to win a National Title.”