UNC Basketball Moments After – UNC vs. Clemson 80-76 Loss
UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Sleep Walks Through the First Half and Can’t Overcome the Hole That They Dug for Themselves
by Derrick Clyburn
The North Carolina basketball team was coming off a big win over their archrival Duke on Saturday seemed to be still in hangover mode. They sleptwalked through the first six minutes of the game and found themselves down 15-2 to Clemson. The Tar Heels seemed disinterested and unprepared to face a desperate Tigers team who hit four 3-pointers during that span.
North Carolina finally woke up with a 10-0 run led by Armando Bacot doing damage in the post. Then Clemson would stretch the lead to as much as 15 points with tough shots and finishes around the rim. Led by PJ Hall and Joseph Girard. The Tar Heels would cut the lead to nine to finish the half.
In the second half, North Carolina came out with more intensity and energy which allowed them to cut the lead to four on several occasions but Clemson always found an answer to push it back out to six or eight points with the scrappy play of Ian Schieffelin and PJ Hall. The Tar Heels couldn’t get enough stops on defense or make enough plays on offense to overcome the first-half deficit. They would tie the game at 70 with four minutes left but could never get over the hump due to missed free throws and taking contested shots that didn’t fall. UNC had a poor shooting night going 36% from the field and would fall to the Tigers 80-76.
UNC Game Stats
| 2 | T | ||
| Clemson 15-7 | 43 | 37 | 80 |
| 3 North Carolina 18-5 | 34 | 42 | 76 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| A. Bacot | 24 | 13 | 1 | 7/13 | 0/0 | 10/11 | 4 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| R. Davis | 22 | 4 | 5 | 7/22 | 5/12 | 3/5 | 3 | 38 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| H. Ingram | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4/7 | 3/5 | 0/0 | 2 | 33 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| E. Cadeau | 5 | 4 | 1 | 2/6 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 3 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| C. Ryan | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1/10 | 0/6 | 0/0 | 2 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| P. Wojcik | 7 | 6 | 1 | 2/4 | 1/2 | 2/4 | 2 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Z. High | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1/2 | 0/1 | 1/2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Washington | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 2/2 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| J. Okonkwo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Withers | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Farris | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| R. Landry | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| S. Trimble | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| C. Lebo | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 76 | 42 | 14 | 24/65 | 9/27 | 19/25 | 20 | – | 4 | 1 | 6 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| P. Hall | 25 | 9 | 3 | 8/20 | 4/10 | 5/7 | 4 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| J. Girard III | 21 | 6 | 3 | 7/16 | 5/10 | 2/2 | 3 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| I. Schieffelin | 14 | 11 | 1 | 5/7 | 0/1 | 4/6 | 3 | 28 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| C. Hunter | 7 | 3 | 5 | 3/12 | 1/3 | 0/0 | 3 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| J. Clark | 6 | 7 | 0 | 1/6 | 0/3 | 4/4 | 3 | 33 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| C. Wiggins | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2/4 | 1/3 | 0/0 | 1 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| D. Hunter | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0/1 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Beadle | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| R. Godfrey | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0/2 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 2 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Heidbreder | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| D. Nauseef | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| M. Kelly | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| A. Thomas | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| A. Latiff | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| B. Leyte | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| A. Hemenway | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 80 | 41 | 14 | 27/68 | 11/31 | 15/20 | 20 | – | 3 | 1 | 5 |
UNC Bright Spots
Armando Bacot had 24 points, 13 rebounds, and 1 assist.
RJ Davis had 22 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds.
Harrison Ingram had 11 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 assist.
Needs Work
The Tar Heels must find a way to get Cormac Ryan involved in the offense. They have to find a way to work on his confidence. Run plays with more pull-up jumpers and dives to the basket. He had 2 points going 1-10 from the field and 0-6 from three in 30 minutes played.
They also must find a way to get Elliot Cadeau more confident in his jump shot. Teams are sagging off of him and clogging the post. North Carolina has to be more mature in handling big wins and not allowing the next opponent to get big leads on them in the first half of games.
Final Observations
The Tar Heels are now 18-5 and 10-2 in the ACC. They seemed to have celebrated too long in their victory over Duke because it showed in their slow lethargic start tonight. North Carolina was able to get back into the game but playing without their best defender Seth Trimble due to an injury in practice allowed Clemson to get easier shots on the perimeter.
Hubert and his coaching staff need to have an intervention for Cormac Ryan’s shooting woes. He is still shooting around 29% from the 3-point line and not much better from the field. Going 1-10 is not going to get it. They still need to get more production out of Cadeau, Withers, and Washington. They need to bounce back and get ready for a two-road game test with Miami and Syracuse. Next up is Miami on Saturday at 4 pm on ESPN.
Cadeau with 1 assist………..