UNC Basketball Moments After – UNC vs. Duke 63-57 Loss
UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Falters Down the Stretch Against the Devils
by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn
The North Carolina basketball team traveled to Cameron Indoor Stadium to face off against their in-state rival Duke on Saturday night. The Tar Heels got off to good start after leading 7-2 early on and led most of the first half. The Heels were really excelling with their pick-and-roll offense, which allowed them to get wide-open shots from the three-point line and to get downhill and score in the paint.
However, late in the first half, UNC got sloppy with the ball on offense with unforced turnovers and started to take bad shots which allowed Duke back in the game. Duke took full advantage of Carolina’s miscues with 16 fast break points and even took a one-point lead going into halftime despite shooting 38% from the field. Half of Duke’s baskets came in transition as North Carolina fell apart offensively, which changed the whole momentum of the game.
In the second half, UNC struggled to get going offensively missing eight of their first nine shots but was able to keep the game close because of their defense. After the first media timeout, North Carolina finally started to get back to playing Carolina basketball. They were able to get downhill, make shots in the paint, and kick out to shooters for three-pointers. It was a close back-and-forth game down the stretch as both teams traded baskets and went on runs that they thought were going to finish each other off.
However, both teams would respond and as in most Carolina-Duke games, it would come down to a last possession at the end of the game. North Carolina made some head-scratching plays down the stretch with unforced turnovers, bad fouls on defense, and poor shot selection that led to made baskets by the Blue Devils. The Tar Heels would have chances to take the lead, but couldn’t make the winning plays late in the game needed to hold off Duke resulting in their eighth loss of the season. One thing to note is that Tar Heels only shot 3 free throws for the game which is unheard of. They lead the ACC in free throws made and attempted.
UNC Game Stats
| 1 | 2 | T | |
| North Carolina 15-8 | 32 | 25 | 57 |
| Duke 17-6 | 33 | 30 | 63 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| A. Bacot | 14 | 10 | 2 | 6/12 | 0/0 | 2/2 | 4 | 35 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| L. Black | 13 | 10 | 0 | 5/10 | 3/6 | 0/0 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| C. Love | 12 | 1 | 4 | 5/15 | 2/7 | 0/1 | 0 | 36 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| R. Davis | 11 | 5 | 5 | 5/16 | 1/5 | 0/0 | 4 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| P. Nance | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1/10 | 0/5 | 0/0 | 2 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| P. Johnson | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1/4 | 1/3 | 0/0 | 2 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Washington | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1/2 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Dunn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| S. Trimble | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| J. Roach | 20 | 7 | 0 | 8/20 | 1/2 | 3/4 | 2 | 40 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| K. Filipowski | 14 | 7 | 0 | 4/14 | 1/3 | 5/7 | 3 | 35 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| T. Proctor | 11 | 7 | 5 | 5/13 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 3 | 38 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| M. Mitchell | 6 | 8 | 1 | 2/5 | 0/0 | 2/3 | 1 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| D. Lively II | 4 | 14 | 2 | 2/3 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 2 | 34 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| J. Grandison | 6 | 0 | 1 | 2/5 | 1/3 | 1/1 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| R. Young | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| J. Blakes | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
UNC Bright Spots
Armando Bacot had 14 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, and 1 steal.
Leaky Black had 13 points, 10 rebounds, and 1 block.
Caleb Love had 12 points, 4 assists, 1 rebound, and 1 steal.
RJ Davis had 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists
Needs Work
The Tar Heels must be better with their shot selection, move the ball more often and take advantage of their mismatches on offense to give them a more balanced offensive attack in the half-court. They also need to cut down on their turnovers and be better with their transition defense.
The Tar Heels must also be better defensively at guarding pick and rolls and with their help defense.
Final Observations
The Tar Heels are now 15-8 on the season and 7-5 in ACC play. With only a few games left in the regular season, this team is at a crossroads. In the last couple of games, they have been underperforming. They need to evaluate themselves and decide where they want to go as a team. The Heels find themselves having a lot of problems closing games this season that they should’ve won.
We have not seen them play the best basketball or come even near resembling the way they were playing in the NCAA tournament last season. They have all the talent to become that championship-caliber team but have struggled to be consistent with their play. This team’s effort to leave it all on the floor and play disciplined Carolina team basketball on a game-to-game basis has not been there. They can still turn it around, but the team must make adjustments. North Carolina must get more bench production and play better unselfish basketball going forward to help have better results at the end of games. Next up is Wake Forest on Tuesday, February 7 at 7:00 P.M.