UNC Basketball Moments After – UNC vs. NC State 84-76 Loss
UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Lacks Effort and Urgency in Loss to NC State Wolfpack
by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn
The North Carolina basketball team made their 36th ACC tournament championship appearance against NC State on Saturday night. The Heels were looking to deliver their 19th tournament championship and NC State was looking to deliver their sixth along with the chance to solidify their bid in the NCAA tournament. NC State came out the gates fired up and ready to play early jumping out to a 14-4 lead over the Heels. The Wolfpack was the more aggressive desperate team on both ends of the floor to start the game and it was evident throughout the first half. NC State was clicking on all cylinders offensively shooting 59% from the field, and 57% from three.
The Tar Heels’ struggles on defense in the first half were uncharacteristic and it was due to a lack of defensive pressure, intensity, and focus. UNC had too many lapses on the defensive end of the floor, and it hurt them. About halfway through the first half, North Carolina finally started to get stops and RJ Davis started to get hot offensively to help the Heels get back in the game, leading the Heels in scoring with 13 at the half. NC State led literally the entire first half until the last second when UNC took the lead after a Cormac Ryan three to go up one going into halftime.
Early in the second half, it was a back-and-forth game with both teams trading baskets. However, NC State had a matchup all game long that UNC just couldn’t stop and that was DJ Burns in the post. It seemed like just about every time down the floor for a 6-8 minute stretch the Wolfpack gave the ball to DJ Burns and he either scored or assisted a basket. North Carolina had no answers for it and made no adjustments to stop the action either until it was pretty much too late. In addition to their defensive struggles, other than RJ Davis the other Tar Heels on the floor were almost non-existent offensively.
At one point in the second half, RJ Davis was outscoring his teammates 12 to 10. This made it very difficult for the Heels to have an efficient successful offense and with the success NC State was having offensively, the Wolfpack was able to keep a 5–9-point lead for the final stretch of the game. UNC had some opportunities late to cut more into the NC State lead once they finally started to get stops late, but just converted enough shots offensively to put themselves in a better position. NC State guard DJ Horne also got going late in the game and hit some timely shots to seal the game for the Wolfpack, finishing the game with 29 points to go along with DJ Burn’s 20 points. It just wasn’t North Carolina’s night and NC State outplayed them for most of the game leading to the Wolfpack 84-76 win over the Heels.
UNC Game Stats
| 1 | 2 | T | |
| 10 NC State 22-14 | 39 | 45 | 84 |
| 1 North Carolina 27-7 | 40 | 36 | 76 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| R. Davis | 30 | 6 | 5 | 10/26 | 4/13 | 6/8 | 3 | 37 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| A. Bacot | 18 | 12 | 0 | 6/10 | 0/0 | 6/8 | 4 | 33 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| H. Ingram | 10 | 3 | 1 | 3/11 | 3/9 | 1/2 | 2 | 33 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| C. Ryan | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2/7 | 1/5 | 3/3 | 3 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| E. Cadeau | 4 | 4 | 8 | 2/8 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 4 | 28 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| S. Trimble | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0/3 | 0/2 | 2/2 | 1 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| J. Washington | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| J. Withers | 2 | 6 | 0 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| D. Farris | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| J. Okonkwo | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| R. Landry | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Z. High | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| P. Wojcik | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| C. Lebo | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 76 | 33 | 17 | 25/67 | 8/30 | 18/23 | 19 | – | 6 | 2 | 8 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| D. Horne | 29 | 4 | 1 | 9/15 | 2/6 | 9/11 | 5 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Burns Jr. | 20 | 4 | 7 | 9/12 | 1/1 | 1/2 | 2 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| M. Diarra | 11 | 14 | 0 | 3/5 | 1/1 | 4/4 | 3 | 32 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| M. O’Connell | 10 | 4 | 2 | 2/7 | 1/3 | 5/6 | 1 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| C. Morsell | 8 | 3 | 1 | 3/8 | 1/3 | 1/2 | 2 | 34 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| J. Taylor | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 1/2 | 1 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| E. Ross | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| B. Middlebrooks | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 1/2 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| B. Pass | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| A. Nunnally | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Snell | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| K. Keatts | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| L. Thomas | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| M. Rice | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| D. Parker Jr. | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| K. Woods | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 84 | 31 | 13 | 28/51 | 6/14 | 22/29 | 18 | – | 6 | 4 | 10 |
UNC Bright Spots
RJ Davis had 30 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals.
Armando Bacot had 18 points, 12 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block.
Needs Work
The Tar Heels must be better with their perimeter defense and one-on-one post-defense. They did a poor job of defending the three-point line and allowed DJ Burns to go one-on-one the whole game in the post and score several baskets. That just shouldn’t happen, and the coaching staff must make the adjustments to help the players stop those actions.
Also, the Heels must be better with their shot selection and the lack of ball movement and player movement. They tend to struggle offensively when they the ball is not moving around to the open man, and they try to go one-on-one or settle for low-percentage shots.
Final Observations
North Carolina falls in the ACC Championship against NC State and still hasn’t won an ACC tournament championship since 2016. The Tar Heels picked the wrong night to have an off game and NC State took full advantage. It still seems UNC has done enough to earn a #1 seed in the upcoming NCAA tournament, but we will find out officially on Sunday, March 17. Going into the tournament, Carolina must address a few things to make sure they go on a deep run. First, they must start games better. Over the last couple of games, they’ve allowed teams to get out to early leads and had to make comebacks. The Heels must come out with more urgency, energy, and effort to set the tone for these games and gain some early momentum. It will put them in a better position to win.
Secondly, the Tar Heels must get consistent offensive production from Cormac Ryan, Harrison Ingram, and Elliott Cadeau in each game going forward. It will help the team a lot and take the pressure off RJ Davis and Armando Bacot offensively from doing too much. North Carolina is at their best when they have a balanced scoring attack and have shown they’re most dangerous when everyone is aggressive offensively.
Defensively, they must stay focused and connected and be the more aggressive, intense, physical team from game to game. Lastly, the coaching staff must be quick with their in-game adjustments. If they see their initial defensive game plan isn’t working, they must change it immediately. The same thing goes for the offense. North Carolina has everything they need to make a championship run in the NCAA tournament and will look to bring home their 8th national championship in the next few weeks. North Carolina’s first tournament game will be played either Thursday, March 21 or Friday, March so stay tuned for the time and opponent.