CHAPEL HILL — A few days before UNC basketball’s season-opening 80-72 win against Western Carolina, Michael Malone identified what he called the Tar Heels’ “two elephants in the room.”

Turnovers and rebounding topped the to-do list entering the 2026-27 season. 

UNC checked off the first item, committing just nine turnovers that led to five points for the Catamounts. The second issue remains a major concern entering a matchup with Wofford (0-1) on Friday, Nov. 6 (7 p.m., ACC Network).

Despite ranking 12th nationally in average height, according to KenPom, the Tar Heels were outrebounded 41-32 by a Southern Conference team that sits 202nd in average height. Western Carolina grabbed 13 offensive rebounds and turned them into 13 second-chance points.

"Before you can run, you have to rebound,” Malone said after his debut in Chapel Hill. 

“We can't worry about guys leaking out. Four games now where our field-goal percentage defense has been terrific in my eyes. You do all that hard work only to see the shot taken, and then they get an extra opportunity. … It's something we just have to continue to harp on it, drill it, demand it.” 

Malone is unrelenting in trying to reinforce the need to improve on the glass.

"I'm going to keep on pounding that rock. It's going to break one day,” Malone said. 

“Hopefully, it breaks by Friday night (against Wofford). It's something that we have to continue to focus on, and demand from our players. It's just not there yet, but it will be. I promise you that. It will get there."

Rewatching the opener suggests the problems are less about size and more about fundamentals. The Tar Heels frequently had players in the paint, but failed to consistently box out, make contact with opposing rebounders or pursue the ball aggressively. 

Virginia Tech transfer Neo Avdalas, a 6-foot-9 guard, led UNC with nine rebounds and said rebounding comes down to “energy,” “passion” and a willingness to “go get the ball.” 

The frustration was evident on after his debut.

“We can’t let it happen. I’m disappointed,” Avadalas said. “We have to be better in that part. … We just have to be better.” 

Freshman forward Maximo Adams, who had four rebounds off the bench, said Malone emphasizes rebounding on a daily basis and improvement comes down to effort. 

“We all have to crash, we all have to rebound the ball,” Adams said. “That’s pretty much it.” 

Utah transfer Terrence Brown, a 6-foot-3 guard, was UNC’s second-leading rebounder with five. 

That was more than senior forward Jarin Stevenson and freshman center Sayon Keita combined. 

"You can't have your power forward and your starting center only have four combined. Terrence had five by himself. Neo had seven by himself. But we'll have to watch (the film). One thing I do know is that it's not like Jarin Stevenson and Sayon Keita aren't playing hard. It's not like they're out there not giving effort,” Malone said. 

"We will watch some film, see what's really causing it. But big picture, yes, we need Sayon and Jarin to be 7-10 boards every night. It's great that our guards are rebounding to the level that they are, but we need other guys to step up. Maxi really helped in that regard off the bench, as did (Alex Samodurov). We were better without turnovers (against Western Carolina), but the rebounding still needs to be cleaned up."

Until that changes, rebounding will remain a messy storyline surrounding the Tar Heels. 

UNC has been outrebounded in three straight games, losing the rebounding margin by an average of 12.3. During that span, opponents have collected 45 offensive rebounds and scored 48 second-chance points. 

Two of those games didn’t count, but they were played. Opponents will see that weakness on film. For Malone, solving the problem and removing the elephant in the room requires a teamwide commitment.  

"When we talk about rebounding, we talk about gang rebounding. When you're on defense, we want all five in the glass,” Malone said. 

“. … It's not just on the bigs. With Jarin, we switch quite a bit 1-4 (defensively). So, sometimes he's on the perimeter. But he's got to find a way to get back into that paint and help us out on that glass. 

“But yes, it is all hands on deck."