UNC Basketball Moments After – UNC vs. NC State 77-69 Loss

UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Falters Down the Stretch and Lose on the Road to the Wolfpack 

Derrick Isaiah Clyburn

The North Carolina basketball team traveled to Raleigh to face off against NC State on Sunday afternoon. Early on, it was a close back-and-forth game between the Wolfpack and the Tar Heels. The Heels had success with their transition offense and NC State had success with their pick-and-roll offense. As the first half progressed, both teams picked up their intensity on defense and started to struggle to make shots.

UNC was very sloppy with the ball in the first half with 8 turnovers and struggled to make shots around the rim. This allowed NC State to hang around even though they shot 30% from the field. Most of the Wolfpack’s first-half points came from their early offense and off of fast break points. However, even with all the miscues, Carolina still found themselves down by only one going into halftime largely due to their defense.  

In the second half, The Tar Heels played with more pace offensively and were making NC State work more on defense. UNC moved the ball around to the open man and got the ball in the paint, which made the offense flow more smoothly. With just over 10 minutes left in the game, the Tar Heels were finally starting to get some type of rhythm offensively led by Caleb Love and Armando Bacot. They were playing better defensively as they led 54-48.

At this point in the game, Carolina had all the momentum and was looking to put NC State away. However, the Heels couldn’t pull away from the Wolfpack due to turnovers and bad shot selection. NC State would go on a run and outscore the Tar Heels 29-15 in the final stretch of the game. During the final 10 minutes of the game, NC State became the more aggressive and physical team.

Because of the physicality and increased pressure from NC State’s defense, UNC started to press offensively. The Heels started to rush their shots offensively and were trying to draw contact on every shot when they went to the basket instead of just focusing on making their shots. The Wolfpack would take full advantage as Jarkeil Joiner and DJ Burns hit shot after shot while the Tar Heels were completely falling apart on both ends of the floor. UNC lost total control down the stretch leading to their 77-69 loss to NC State.  

UNC Game Stats

	1	2	T
North Carolina 16-11	31	38	69
23 NC State 21-7	32	45	77

North Carolina

STARTERS	PTS	REB	AST	FG	3PT	FT	PF	MIN	STL	BLK	TO
C. Love	23	5	2	7/17	4/8	5/7	2	34	1	0	4
A. Bacot	16	14	1	6/14	0/1	4/7	3	34	0	1	2
L. Black	9	8	2	3/7	1/2	2/2	3	37	0	1	1
P. Nance	7	5	0	2/5	1/2	2/2	2	22	0	0	2
R. Davis	7	4	2	2/13	1/6	2/2	4	40	0	0	1
BENCH	PTS	REB	AST	FG	3PT	FT	PF	MIN	STL	BLK	TO
P. Johnson	7	7	0	2/5	0/2	3/4	2	22	0	0	2
S. Trimble	0	1	0	0/1	0/1	0/0	0	6	0	0	1
T. Nickel	0	1	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	5	0	0	0

NC State

STARTERS	PTS	REB	AST	FG	3PT	FT	PF	MIN	STL	BLK	TO
J. Joiner	29	1	1	11/21	1/4	6/6	3	39	0	0	0
D. Burns	18	3	1	9/15	0/0	0/0	4	25	1	1	0
T. Smith	12	4	3	5/16	0/4	2/2	1	37	2	0	2
C. Morsell	12	7	1	5/12	2/6	0/0	0	35	2	1	0
G. Gantt	0	2	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	8	0	0	0
BENCH	PTS	REB	AST	FG	3PT	FT	PF	MIN	STL	BLK	TO
J. Clark	6	8	2	2/6	2/4	0/0	3	25	0	0	0
E. Ross	0	3	1	0/1	0/0	0/2	3	10	1	2	1
L. Thomas	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	2	9	1	0	0
E. Dowuona	0	3	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	2	12	0	0	0

UNC Bright Spots 

Caleb Love had 23 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal. 

Armando Bacot had 16 points, 14 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 block 

Needs Work 

The Tar Heels need to play more under control offensively. They need to slow down and not rush their shots or get sloppy with their passes which lead to turnovers. They need to share the ball offensively and move the ball to the open man for the best shot. 

The Heels must also be better with their transition and perimeter defense, limiting their opponent’s three-point opportunities and ability to get fast break points. 

The Tar Heels must be better at closing games. This falls on the guards’ ability to get the team in and out of offensive sets down the stretch of games. The guards settle for bad shots or turn over the ball way too often, which allows teams to stick around and cost the team the win. 

Final Observations 

The Tar Heels fall to 16-11 on the season, 8-8 in ACC play. North Carolina right now is firmly on the bubble which means their chances of making the NCAA tournament is in jeopardy. With four games left in the regular season, the Heels need to find a way to finish the season strong. They have struggled to live up to expectations all season long. The coaching staff has not put this team in a position to win.

The Tar Heels have blown several games that they should’ve won. They struggle to close games out, which is very strange for a veteran team. The reason why they lose these games is that this team lacks a true point guard, and the current guards don’t know how to get the team quality shots every time down the court in crunch time. This season has been very disappointing.

The coaching staff has failed to get the most out of this team and has not developed the bench enough to help this team. Instead, Coach Davis reverts to last season’s strategy to play his starters close to 40 minutes which has not worked all season. This is not what most of the team returned for after their run in the NCAA tournament last season. Now for them to make the tournament, they will most likely have to win out and have a good showing in the ACC conference tournament.

First and foremost, The Tar Heels need to go back to playing unselfish Carolina basketball sharing the ball on offense and playing connected aggressive defense. The coaching staff will also need to find ways to utilize their bench better to optimize the players’ energy on the floor. Next up is Notre Dame on Wednesday, February 22 at 9:00 P.M.