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University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
Lucas: The Standard
November 15, 2025 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Kyan Evans was a great distributor in Friday's win.
By Adam Lucas
"Did you see what he did?" Kyan Evans asked.
The Tar Heel point guard was relaxing in the film room after Carolina's 97-53 win over North Carolina Central. Evans had played one of the best games of his UNC career, handing out seven assists and establishing the standard for a Carolina offense that distributed 21 assists on 30 field goals.
There are fewer of you that remember this than there used to be, but Dean Smith used to talk about "assists the way we keep them." It was a fairly regular occurrence for the legendary coach to walk into his press conference, look down at the stat sheet, and scoff when it only listed, say, four assists for King Rice. "King had 11 assists the way we keep them," Smith would say.
"The way we keep them" was shorthand for, for example, making a good post entry pass even if it didn't result in a basket. You could also get an assist "the way we keep them" for throwing a pass to a player who was fouled in the act of shooting. Like most things Smith taught (he was about three decades ahead of the curve on points per possession), doesn't that make a lot more sense? Why should the passer be penalized when the other team fouls to prevent a would-be assist?
That's probably what Evans was wondering in the second half, when he had at least two should-have-been assists wiped out by Eagle fouls. Fortunately, he'd already piled up plenty, including a textbook opening sequence when he assisted on all four of Carolina's first four field goals.
Those four baskets highlighted the offensive potential of this year's team. Mix deadeye shooting with athletic finishing ability and breakneck tempo and you've got a squad.
First field goal: Evans found Luka Bogavac for an easy three-pointer.
Second field goal: Evans tossed a lob to Wilson, who caught it with one hand and dunked it with two.
Third field goal: Beautiful hit-ahead pass from Evans to Bogavac. What made it even better was that it came after a made Central basket. The Heels took the ball out of bounds at the 16:14 mark and Bogavac had dropped it in by 16:09.
Fourth field goal: A very simple pass to Wilson on the wing. It was this play Evans was talking about after the game, as Wilson collected the pass well outside the three-point line, took one dribble, unleashed a Eurostep to cruise past the defender, and slammed home a one-handed dunk.
"Did you see it?" Evans said. Oh, we saw it, Kyan. It was enough to make us believe that even if we—whether we're eight or 88—were running the break with Wilson on the wing, we might be able to record an assist.
"Oh, with Caleb out there, you definitely could," Evans said.
Luckily, we don't have to find out, because Evans is manning that position quite capably.
"It's super fun, honestly," Evans said of directing this offense. "I enjoy being able to get it to everybody on the team. We've got a bunch of athletes on this team who make plays."
Through four games, the Tar Heels have assists on 61.5 percent of their field goals, up from 51.7 percent last year. And if you just want to compare four game samples, the Heels had assists on just 54.4 percent of their baskets four games into last season.
"When we move it from side to side and pass up good shots to get great shots, even when we're missing, I'm happy," Hubert Davis said. "Because they're great shots. When everybody is touching the ball and we're spaced and we have really good ball and player movement, it's really fun to watch. I told them in the second half that as a coach it's a joy to watch them operate on the offensive end when everyone is unselfish and everyone is in the play."
So it's not your imagination that the ball is moving more fluidly so far. But it's not always perfect, and Evans is well aware that at Carolina, the point guard is responsible for everything offensively.
Davis had burned his first half timeout with 24.0 seconds remaining to work on a late-clock set. Carolina held a 39-24 lead but wanted to add a little more.
Central came out in a zone, which seemed to confuse the Tar Heels, and the five players on the court didn't appear to all be running the same play. The half ended with Jonathan Powell missing a contested corner three-pointer—not the shot the timeout was used to create—and Davis standing with his palms up on the UNC sideline.
Evans didn't even make it down the home tunnel on his way to the locker room before the head coach stopped him. "What happened there?" he wanted to know. Evans explained the mix-up, fully aware that a similar error in a similar situation at the end of the second half in a close game could hand the Tar Heels a loss.
"We always want to perform the way we want to regardless of the other team," Evans said. "On that play, we got a little confused, and we didn't perform to our standard."
Right now, though, he appears to be getting a little better every day. Watch the Colorado State transfer on the rare occasions he comes out of the game. If a teammate is sitting next to Marcus Paige, he persuades that player to move--the better to soak in a little more knowledge from Paige.
He's learning when to look for his offense—he swished a no-hesitation three-pointer in the first half on Friday—and when to be a passer. He has 20 assists and seven field goals through four games. The last UNC guard to post a 3:1 assist/turnover ratio was Paige himself during the 2016 season.
The technical skills he's learning and greats he's chasing are all part of learning to play to the Carolina standard. Even when that means tracking assists the way we keep them.
"Did you see what he did?" Kyan Evans asked.
The Tar Heel point guard was relaxing in the film room after Carolina's 97-53 win over North Carolina Central. Evans had played one of the best games of his UNC career, handing out seven assists and establishing the standard for a Carolina offense that distributed 21 assists on 30 field goals.
There are fewer of you that remember this than there used to be, but Dean Smith used to talk about "assists the way we keep them." It was a fairly regular occurrence for the legendary coach to walk into his press conference, look down at the stat sheet, and scoff when it only listed, say, four assists for King Rice. "King had 11 assists the way we keep them," Smith would say.
"The way we keep them" was shorthand for, for example, making a good post entry pass even if it didn't result in a basket. You could also get an assist "the way we keep them" for throwing a pass to a player who was fouled in the act of shooting. Like most things Smith taught (he was about three decades ahead of the curve on points per possession), doesn't that make a lot more sense? Why should the passer be penalized when the other team fouls to prevent a would-be assist?
That's probably what Evans was wondering in the second half, when he had at least two should-have-been assists wiped out by Eagle fouls. Fortunately, he'd already piled up plenty, including a textbook opening sequence when he assisted on all four of Carolina's first four field goals.
Those four baskets highlighted the offensive potential of this year's team. Mix deadeye shooting with athletic finishing ability and breakneck tempo and you've got a squad.
First field goal: Evans found Luka Bogavac for an easy three-pointer.
Second field goal: Evans tossed a lob to Wilson, who caught it with one hand and dunked it with two.
Third field goal: Beautiful hit-ahead pass from Evans to Bogavac. What made it even better was that it came after a made Central basket. The Heels took the ball out of bounds at the 16:14 mark and Bogavac had dropped it in by 16:09.
Fourth field goal: A very simple pass to Wilson on the wing. It was this play Evans was talking about after the game, as Wilson collected the pass well outside the three-point line, took one dribble, unleashed a Eurostep to cruise past the defender, and slammed home a one-handed dunk.
"Did you see it?" Evans said. Oh, we saw it, Kyan. It was enough to make us believe that even if we—whether we're eight or 88—were running the break with Wilson on the wing, we might be able to record an assist.
"Oh, with Caleb out there, you definitely could," Evans said.
Luckily, we don't have to find out, because Evans is manning that position quite capably.
"It's super fun, honestly," Evans said of directing this offense. "I enjoy being able to get it to everybody on the team. We've got a bunch of athletes on this team who make plays."
Through four games, the Tar Heels have assists on 61.5 percent of their field goals, up from 51.7 percent last year. And if you just want to compare four game samples, the Heels had assists on just 54.4 percent of their baskets four games into last season.
"When we move it from side to side and pass up good shots to get great shots, even when we're missing, I'm happy," Hubert Davis said. "Because they're great shots. When everybody is touching the ball and we're spaced and we have really good ball and player movement, it's really fun to watch. I told them in the second half that as a coach it's a joy to watch them operate on the offensive end when everyone is unselfish and everyone is in the play."
So it's not your imagination that the ball is moving more fluidly so far. But it's not always perfect, and Evans is well aware that at Carolina, the point guard is responsible for everything offensively.
Davis had burned his first half timeout with 24.0 seconds remaining to work on a late-clock set. Carolina held a 39-24 lead but wanted to add a little more.
Central came out in a zone, which seemed to confuse the Tar Heels, and the five players on the court didn't appear to all be running the same play. The half ended with Jonathan Powell missing a contested corner three-pointer—not the shot the timeout was used to create—and Davis standing with his palms up on the UNC sideline.
Evans didn't even make it down the home tunnel on his way to the locker room before the head coach stopped him. "What happened there?" he wanted to know. Evans explained the mix-up, fully aware that a similar error in a similar situation at the end of the second half in a close game could hand the Tar Heels a loss.
"We always want to perform the way we want to regardless of the other team," Evans said. "On that play, we got a little confused, and we didn't perform to our standard."
Right now, though, he appears to be getting a little better every day. Watch the Colorado State transfer on the rare occasions he comes out of the game. If a teammate is sitting next to Marcus Paige, he persuades that player to move--the better to soak in a little more knowledge from Paige.
He's learning when to look for his offense—he swished a no-hesitation three-pointer in the first half on Friday—and when to be a passer. He has 20 assists and seven field goals through four games. The last UNC guard to post a 3:1 assist/turnover ratio was Paige himself during the 2016 season.
The technical skills he's learning and greats he's chasing are all part of learning to play to the Carolina standard. Even when that means tracking assists the way we keep them.
Players Mentioned
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