UNC Basketball Moments After – UNC vs. Ga. Tech 74-73 Loss
UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Plays Sluggish Unfocused Basketball and Lose on the Road to the Yellow Jackets
by Derrick Clyburn
The North Carolina basketball team traveled to Atlanta to face off against Georgia Tech on Tuesday night. Everyone seemed to know that this was a trap game for the Tar Heels except the players. They played sloppy sluggish basketball which allowed the Yellow Jackets to hang around and build confidence during the first half. The Tar Heels had 10 turnovers. The Jackets played with nothing to lose hitting tough shots and playing scrappy defense and went into intermission tied at 37.
In the second half, the Tar Heels played with little more urgency for a few possessions but fell back into the uncharacteristic sloppy play. This allowed Georgia Tech to begin to believe that they could win the game. North Carolina struggled to hit shots and the Jackets would build an 8-point lead. The Tar Heels would fight back with a 3-pointer from Harrison Ingram a tough drive by Seth Trimble and a basket by RJ Davis to make the game a one-possession game.
Georgia Tech would hit two tough shots down the stretch. Kyle Sturdivant would hit an off-balance-bank-in 3-pointer and Naithan George would hit a fadeaway left-hand layup over Bacot with 7.6 seconds remaining. North Carolina called timeout and drew up a play for RJ Davis with 4.3 seconds left. RJ received a pass from Bacot drove hard to his left toward the basket and shot it with contact from two Jacket defenders but didn’t get a call from the officials and the game was over with the Jackets holding on for a 74-73 victory.
This was North Carolina’s worst shooting performance of the season. They shot 36.4% from the field, 28.6% from the 3-point line, and 52.9% from the free-throw line. This poor showing produced their first ACC loss of the season. RJ Davis would lead all scoring with 28 points and 5 rebounds.
UNC Game Stats
| 1 | 2 | T | |
| 3 North Carolina 17-4 | 37 | 36 | 73 |
| Georgia Tech 10-11 | 37 | 37 | 74 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| R. Davis | 28 | 5 | 4 | 11/24 | 3/8 | 3/4 | 2 | 36 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| C. Ryan | 9 | 2 | 1 | 3/14 | 3/10 | 0/0 | 1 | 34 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| A. Bacot | 9 | 9 | 2 | 4/8 | 0/0 | 1/2 | 3 | 29 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| H. Ingram | 8 | 13 | 3 | 3/14 | 2/7 | 0/1 | 1 | 36 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| E. Cadeau | 5 | 2 | 5 | 2/7 | 0/1 | 1/1 | 5 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| J. Washington | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3/3 | 0/0 | 2/4 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| S. Trimble | 6 | 1 | 2 | 2/7 | 0/2 | 2/5 | 2 | 22 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Z. High | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Withers | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| P. Wojcik | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| D. Farris | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| J. Okonkwo | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| R. Landry | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| C. Lebo | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 73 | 39 | 17 | 28/77 | 8/28 | 9/17 | 16 | – | 8 | 0 | 11 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| N. George | 16 | 4 | 4 | 4/10 | 0/3 | 8/10 | 4 | 30 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| M. Kelly | 15 | 5 | 0 | 5/13 | 3/6 | 2/2 | 3 | 29 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| K. Reeves Jr. | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1/5 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 1 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| B. Ndongo | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| E. Dowuona | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 4 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| K. Sturdivant | 18 | 2 | 4 | 6/10 | 4/4 | 2/2 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| T. Claude | 9 | 8 | 0 | 4/8 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 3 | 28 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| T. Gapare | 6 | 8 | 1 | 2/5 | 0/1 | 2/2 | 1 | 25 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| D. Coleman | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1/3 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| I. Sacko | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1/1 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| A. Abram | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| C. Murphy | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| E. Nichols | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| I. Souare | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| M. Miguel | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| L. Terry | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 74 | 38 | 10 | 25/61 | 9/20 | 15/17 | 17 | – | 4 | 8 | 14 |
UNC Bright Spots
RJ Davis had 24 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 steal.
Needs Work
The Tar Heels must find a way to get Armando Bacot back involved in the offense for the rest of the season, on a night when they struggle from the perimeter and the free-throw line they need confident interior scoring.
They also can’t depend on RJ Davis to bail them out of every game. They must get back to the inside-outside offensive scheme and get more contributions from the other starters. Cormac Ryan has to become more consistent from the 3-point line to keep the other teams playing more honestly on defense.
Final Observations
The Tar Heels are now 17-4 and 9-1 in the ACC. They have taken their first loss in ACC play. It will be interesting to see how they bounce back after such a horrible performance. RJ Davis was the only Tar Heel being productive throughout the game. Everyone else struggled to score and defend without fouling. It seemed like they were peeking ahead to the Duke game.
Hubert Davis has to get these guys refocused. Maybe this loss will wake them up and they can move forward playing with the intensity that they began at the start of the conference season. Armando Bacot needs to become more of a focal point and produce in the post to add to what RJ Davis has done all season. Cormac Ryan was brought in to hit perimeter shots and he has to be better at cashing in on those open shots.
The Tar Heels are still in first place by themselves with a 1 game lead over Duke. They must recalibrate their focus and take care of business against the Blue Devils on Saturday, Feb. 3rd at 6:30 pm on ESPN.