UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Let One Slip Away

by Derrick Clyburn

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The Tar Heels basketball team has had so much adversity this season. Tonight was supposed to be a celebration of Cole Anthony returning to action after missing 11 games to injury. At times it seemed that North Carolina reverted back to the old team that stood around and watched Cole Anthony score.

The offense was stagnant with no freedom of movement. The defense allowed dribble penetration all game and Garrison Brooks struggled mightily going 0-7 from the free-throw line. Cole Anthony scored 26 points but shot an ill-advised 3 point shot down by one to end the game.

UNC Game Stats

               1  2  T
North Carolina 30 40 70
Boston College 32 39 71

North Carolina
          Pts  FG  3FG FT  REB A TO Min +/-
1 BLACK    4  2-5  0-0 0-0  2  1 2  28  -5
3 PLATEK   3  1-2  0-1 1-2  3  0 1  16  -9
4 ROBINSON 12 5-16 2-9 0-0  3  0 1  37  1
5 BACOT    11 2-5  0-0 7-8  10 1 2  31  4
15 BROOKS  10 5-15 0-0 0-7  10 2 3  34  2
2 ANTHONY  26 5-14 2-8 14-14 5 3 1  26  11
13 FRANCIS 2  1-1  0-0 0-0  2  0 0  3  -3
32 PIERCE  2  1-2  0-1 0-0  2  0 2  13 -7
42 HUFFMAN 0  0-0  0-0 0-0  1  0 0  2  -1
55 KEELING 0  0-1  0-0 0-0  2  2 0  10  2

TOTALS  70 22-61 4-19 22-31 42 9 12 200
           36.1% 21.1% 71.0%

Boston College
           Pts FG  3FG  FT REB A TO Min +/-
0 FELDER    6  3-4 0-0  0-2 4  0 0  18  -2
1 HAMILTON  5  2-5 1-3  0-0 5  0 3  27  -1
5 HEATH     12 5-10 1-3 1-1 1  6 5  29  1
11 THORNTON 15 4-13 0-2 7-8 3  3 2  28  0
41 MITCHELL 5  2-6 1-3  0-0 8  2 1  30 -1
2 RISHWAIN  0  0-0 0-0  0-0 0  0 2  6  3
3 HAMILTON  18 6-12 3-6 3-4 3  0 0  31 -2
13 KRALJEVIC 0 0-0 0-0  0-0 1  0 1  5   1
21 POPOVIC  10 4-5 1-1  1-2 8  1 1  24  5
24 HERREN JR. 0 0-1 0-0 0-0 1  0 0  2   1

TOTALS 71 26-56 7-18 12-17 35 12 15 200
          46.4% 38.9% 70.6%

UNC Bright Spots

Cole Anthony 26 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists.

Brandon Robinson had 12 points and 3 rebounds.

Armando Bacot had 11 points, 10 rebounds, and 1 assist.

Garrison Brooks had 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 assists.

Needs Work

We knew that the Tar Heels need time to acclimate Cole Anthony back into the system, but they need to play at the high level that got them the 2 game win streak. Their basketball IQ needs to be better in close games. UNC needs to move without the ball and play better help-side defense.

Final Observations

This was a very disappointing loss for the Tar Heels. They had worked so hard to get to the point of being a solid team and adding Cole Anthony back in the lineup was supposed to be a plus. UNC took a step backward. They couldn’t get a stop in the last 7 possessions to close the game and the offense was stagnant other than Cole Anthony. Garrison Brooks had one of his poorest games of the season going 0-7 from the free-throw line, taking tough rushed shots around the basket and committing 3 turnovers.

Roy Williams and staff are going to have to figure out how to solve this dilemma. North Carolina is heading into its toughest part of the schedule with Florida St. and Duke coming up next.