LOS ANGELES — It was one of the main questions after UNC basketball’s March Madness win against Michigan State in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

How will the Tar Heels deal with Alabama if the Crimson Tide's defenders sag off of Elliot Cadeau and dare the freshman point guard to shoot jumpers?

The Spartans made it a point to give Cadeau space, daring him to throw up long shots rather than pressuring and allowing him to knife through the lane as a playmaker.

Now, as the top-seeded Tar Heels (29-7) prepare for the fourth-seeded Crimson Tide (23-11), Cadeau could face a similar situation Thursday (9:39 p.m. ET, CBS) at Crypto.com Arena.

“I view it kind of as,” Cadeau said Wednesday in UNC’s locker room before pausing for a few seconds, “it just catches me off guard a little bit, cause I never got played like that in my life.

“I just view it as a challenge. They want me to prove to them that I can shoot it. That’s just what I gotta do.”

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Through 36 games, including 30 as a starter, Cadeau is averaging 7.3 points, 4.1 assists and 1.8 turnovers per game.

UNC is 7-0 when Cadeau reaches double figures, but the 19-year-old guard has missed 40 of his 48 attempts from 3-point range. He’s missed his last 12 shots from beyond the arc.

Despite his shooting struggles, Cadeau hasn’t lost the confidence of head coach Hubert Davis.

“I want him to be confident to knock down his shots. … One of the things that I have told him, ‘When teams play you that way, I want you to treat that as a compliment. It really is. What they’re saying is your ability to get to the basket, to score, to create, to get fouls just disrupts us as a team so much, we’re just trying to keep you out of the lane,’” Davis said earlier this week on his radio show.

“He’s so gifted when he gets in there to be able to get everybody else involved and his ability to be able to finish himself. We talk about the right times to be able to shoot those, and also have the confidence to knock it down.”

Cadeau’s effectiveness as a facilitator – he’s a top-100 player on KenPom.com with an assist rate of 28.6% – along with his ability to push the pace and finish at the rim, puts pressure on defenses to throw different looks his way.

Davis also highlighted Cadeau’s activity as a screener and cutter, two areas that can help him put defenders in a bind when they sag off of him.

No matter the scenario, Cadeau said, Davis continues to instill confidence in UNC’s lone underclassman starter.

“He just told me how they used to do that to him when he first got in the NBA. He told me that he went through that,” Cadeau said.

“He told me to stay resilient and get the shot I want, not the shot that they give me. He says when I take the shot, I should shoot it with confidence. And he believes in me.”

Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com or @RoddBaxley on X/Twitter. 

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Elliot Cadeau's 'challenge' entering UNC basketball's game vs Alabama