UNC Basketball Moments After – UNC vs. Miami 80-72 Loss
UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Goes Through a Shooting Drought and Falls to the Hurricanes
by Derrick Clyburn
The North Carolina basketball team had a quick turnaround game against Miami playing the Saturday-Monday ACC schedule. The Tar Heels play a solid first half against the talented experienced Hurricanes. Both teams hit tough shots and it was back and forth. Miami would go into the half with a 1-point lead. Caleb Love was the bright spot with 14 first-half points.
In the second half, Miami would go on a 12-0 run to go up by 13 points on the Heels. North Carolina would go cold from the perimeter and shoot 5-31 from three-point range. The Hurricanes would hold off UNC who made a late run to cut the lead to 5 points with 36 seconds remaining. They would get no closer as Miami converted their free throws to seal the game.
UNC Game Stats
| 1 | 2 | T | |
| 15 Miami (Fla.) 21-5 | 35 | 45 | 80 |
| North Carolina 16-10 | 34 | 38 | 72 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| R. Davis | 23 | 5 | 2 | 9/18 | 2/7 | 3/3 | 4 | 36 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| C. Love | 20 | 3 | 1 | 7/19 | 2/12 | 4/6 | 3 | 37 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| L. Black | 13 | 9 | 2 | 6/9 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 4 | 38 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| A. Bacot | 12 | 4 | 0 | 5/6 | 0/1 | 2/6 | 5 | 33 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| P. Nance | 2 | 6 | 1 | 1/5 | 0/3 | 0/0 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| P. Johnson | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1/6 | 0/4 | 0/0 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Dunn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| S. Trimble | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| T. Nickel | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Washington | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 72 | 30 | 6 | 29/66 | 5/31 | 9/15 | 21 | – | 7 | 5 | 9 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| J. Miller | 24 | 11 | 2 | 9/14 | 1/2 | 5/6 | 0 | 39 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| N. Pack | 23 | 2 | 1 | 7/11 | 4/6 | 5/6 | 1 | 33 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| I. Wong | 10 | 6 | 4 | 3/8 | 0/1 | 4/4 | 0 | 35 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| W. Poplar | 9 | 4 | 0 | 3/7 | 0/1 | 3/3 | 4 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| N. Omier | 5 | 7 | 0 | 1/7 | 0/1 | 3/4 | 4 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| A. Walker | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2/4 | 0/0 | 0/1 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| B. Joseph | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1/3 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 2 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| H. Beverly | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 2/2 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| A. Casey | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 80 | 35 | 9 | 26/56 | 6/13 | 22/26 | 15 | – | 5 | 0 | 13 |
UNC Bright Spots
R.J. Davis had 23 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists.
Caleb Love had 20 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 assist.
Leaky Black had 13 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 assists.
Armando Bacot had 12 points and 4 rebounds.
Needs Work
The Tar Heels need to attack the basket more often when their shots are not falling. They shot 16.1% from the 3-point line which is unacceptable.
They 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 need to trap and press more to help generate offense when their shots aren’t falling.
Final Observations
The Tar Heels are now 16-10 on the season and 8-7 in ACC play. Shooting 16.1% from three was the difference in the game. They missed too many perimeter shots which kept them in the hole. Hubert has to use their trap and press defense when they start going through offensive droughts.
North Carolina is within striking distance in these games. They just have to get more consistent bench production to help with a scoring punch. The Tar Heels bench only produced 2 points. That is not a recipe for victory against most opponents. Next up is NC State on Sunday at 1 pm in Raleigh.