UNC Basketball Moments After – UNC vs NC State 82-58 Loss

UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Falls Apart on the Road and Gets Blasted Against NC State

by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn

The North Carolina basketball team faced off against NC State on Tuesday night, but was once again without its two best players, Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar. The Tar Heels went up 6-4 early but struggled on both ends of the floor for the rest of the first half. NC State was the more aggressive, engaged, energized team and over the next few minutes outscored the Tar Heels 38-20. Carolina’s first-half offense was just too stagnant, and they settled for too many jump shots. There was not enough ball movement or dribble penetration from the Heels, which caused their offense to be easy to defend.

Meanwhile, the Wolfpack was attacking the basket with force, attacking mismatches, overpowering UNC’s smaller guards, and using penetration to generate open shots on the perimeter. North Carolina struggled to adjust to NC State’s physicality, and without Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesar, once the shots weren’t falling, couldn’t find anyone to go for an easy basket. The Heels shot a season low 25% from the field in the first half, including 1-16 from the three-point line. While NC State shot 53% from the field and knew exactly how they wanted to attack UNC’s defense every time down the floor. The Tar Heels found themselves down 16 and searching for answers going into halftime. 

In the second half, North Carolina just could never get it going offensively. The Heels continued to settle for jump shots instead of attacking the basket to generate shots at the rim or on the perimeter. UNC also failed to do anything that would help their half-court offense, such as pushing the pace, trapping, and pressing to see if they could generate turnovers to create easy baskets, or running effective plays in the half-court that created an advantage for them offensively to score. NC State established a rhythm offensively early in this game and never looked back. The Wolfpack got whatever shot they wanted, and their shot-making all over the floor just overwhelmed the Tar Heels.

UNC simply played its worst offensive game of the season and couldn’t stop NC State from doing anything offensively, which allowed NC State’s largest lead to get up to 24.  The Heels shot 32% from the floor, had more turnovers (12) than assists (9), and were outscored in the paint 40-28. Zayden High and Jarin Stevenson were the only players on the floor who played decently for the Tar Heels. Everyone else who stepped on the floor for the Tar Heels played poorly. North Carolina’s starting backcourt, including Seth  Trimble, Derek Dixon, and Luka Bogavac, combined to shoot 6-29 from the field, and the bench shot 5-18 from the floor. NC State led by double digits the whole second half, and the Heels would suffer their worst loss of the season, 82-58. 

UNC Stats

 

	1	2	T
16 North Carolina 20-6	26	32	58
NC State 19-8	42	40	82

North Carolina

Starters	PTS	REB	AST	FG	3PT	FT	PF	MIN	STL	BLK	TO
J. Stevenson	13	9	1	4/7	0/3	5/5	1	34	0	1	0
Z. High	13	10	1	4/6	0/1	5/8	5	30	0	2	4
L. Bogavac	9	3	0	3/8	2/5	1/2	1	27	0	0	3
D. Dixon	5	3	2	2/12	1/9	0/0	2	22	0	0	2
S. Trimble	4	3	1	1/9	0/3	2/4	3	27	0	0	1

Bench	PTS	REB	AST	FG	3PT	FT	PF	MIN	STL	BLK	TO
J. Powell	9	5	0	3/8	1/4	2/2	2	27	0	0	1
J. Young	5	2	1	2/6	1/5	0/0	2	16	0	0	0
K. Evans	0	1	3	0/2	0/2	0/0	0	15	0	0	1
I. Denis	0	1	0	0/2	0/1	0/0	0	2	0	0	0
E. Davis	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
J. Holbrook	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
E. Smith	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Total	58	37	9	19/60	5/33	15/21	16	–	0	3	12

NC State

Starters	PTS	REB	AST	FG	3PT	FT	PF	MIN	STL	BLK	TO
Q. Copeland	20	6	7	7/16	0/0	6/8	2	31	4	0	0
D. Williams	13	1	1	6/10	1/2	0/0	2	16	0	0	0
V. Lubin	12	6	2	5/6	0/0	2/4	2	28	1	0	1
P. McNeil Jr.	10	7	0	4/6	2/4	0/0	2	31	0	0	0
T. Holloman	2	2	2	1/5	0/2	0/0	2	17	0	0	0

Bench	PTS	REB	AST	FG	3PT	FT	PF	MIN	STL	BLK	TO
M. Able	19	6	0	6/10	5/7	2/2	1	32	1	0	1
T. Arceneaux	3	6	0	1/6	1/3	0/0	2	23	0	1	1
M. Sagnia	3	2	0	1/3	0/0	1/2	1	13	1	2	1
J. Snell	0	1	0	0/2	0/2	0/0	1	2	0	0	0
A. Breed	0	1	1	0/0	0/0	0/0	2	7	0	0	0
Z. Wilkins	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
J. Kontuniemi	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Total	82	38	13	31/64	9/20	11/16	17	–	7	3	4

UNC Bright Spots 

Zayden High had 13 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 1 assist. 

Jarin Stevenson had 13 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 block. 

Needs Work  

The Tar Heels need to make sure they are not allowing the defense to dictate what shots they take. The shot selection must be better. They must consistently play through the bigs and attack the basket aggressively to collapse the defense, which will generate better shots for them. 

The Tar Heels need to play hard for 40 minutes. They need to play with a sense of urgency to start games and not have stretches where they play lackadaisical basketball or just look uninterested out there on the floor.  

Coach Davis and his coaching staff must be better at making-in game adjustments. If you are shorthanded, you must take more timeouts to stop other teams’ runs and do everything you can to stop your opponents’ momentum. That includes trying new lineups, throwing different defenses at your opponent if they are dominating you offensively, and running different plays and trying a different approach to generate more points when the offense is struggling. 

Final Observations 

The Tar Heels fall to a 20-6 record and are now 3-6 on the road. The Heels are in a tough position right now without their two best players, Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar. The entire offense and defense revolve around them, so without them, they will need to play a different style of basketball. Coach Davis and his staff will need to emphasize them, increasing the pace at which they play, extending their ball pressure, aggressively attacking the basket, and playing in transition as much as possible. In the last game against Pittsburgh, it was a balanced scoring attack with multiple players in double figures, and everyone who touched the floor contributed in a positive way.

UNC will need more of that if Veesaar and Wilson continue to be out for an extended period. Most importantly, the guards Seth Trimble, Derek Dixon, and Luka Bogavac will need to be more aggressive offensively and set the tone offensively. It is their time to step up and take the reins of the offense because they are the only ones who can generate quality shots for themselves and their teammates. They need everyone to step up and play within themselves, but execute the game plan. Every opponent is different, but they must concentrate on exploiting their opponents’ weaknesses on both ends of the floor and being the tougher, more energized, urgent team on the floor. There shouldn’t be any game where we question this team’s effort without their two best players, because winning on the margins and outplaying their opponent in all the hustle stats and categories is what will help them win these games with a shorthanded team. As much as they need Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesar to unlock their full potential, Carolina needs to have the next man up mentality going forward until their back is fully healthy. Next up is Syracuse on Saturday, February 21, at 1:00 P.M. on ABC.