UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Come Out Flat and Uninspired Against the Hokies

by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn

The North Carolina basketball team played in the semifinals of the ACC tournament against Virginia Tech on Friday night. As expected, Virginia Tech came out ready to play with their NCAA tournament spot on the line. Early on, it was a back-and-forth game with 7 lead changes. Both teams struggled offensively for most of the first half and missed shots they would normally make.

They were even stretches of the first half where neither team could buy a basket. Virginia Tech went scoreless for over 7 minutes, while North Carolina went scoreless for over 4 minutes at one point in the first half. It was a very sloppy first half for the Heels.

Carolina shot 37% from the field and had 6 turnovers in the first half alone. Although the Hokies struggled to make shots early on, they would go on a late run before the first half ended and had a six-point lead over the Tar Heels at halftime.

In the second half, the Hokies came out with much more urgency than the Tar Heels. Virginia Tech went on a 12-0 run and opened the game wide open. After this run, the whole momentum shifted and North Carolina could never really get going offensively or stop the Hokies at this point in the game. The Tar Heels trailed by as much as 20 and look gassed in the remaining minutes of the second half.

UNC did fight to get the game back within 11 points but did not have enough energy to cut into more of the Hokies’ lead. The Heels shot 37% from the field in this game and just didn’t match the intensity that Virginia Tech brought to the second half of this game. North Carolina struggled all game offensively and just was not connected enough on the defensive end of the floor to stop Virginia Tech, which led to their 72-59 loss.

UNC Game Stats

1st     2nd     TOT

#25 North Carolina     26      33      59

Virginia Tech          32      40      72

North Carolina

STARTERS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
A. Bacot F	36	9-10	0-0	1-2	5	9	14	2	0	0	3	5	19
B. Manek F	29	4-10	0-5	2-2	0	1	1	1	0	0	3	3	10
R.J. Davis G	36	2-10	1-6	5-6	1	4	5	1	1	0	3	2	10
C. Love G	38	3-17	2-10	2-2	0	5	5	4	0	0	0	1	10
L. Black G	25	2-5	0-2	0-0	2	2	4	4	3	1	2	4	4
BENCH	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
J. McKoy F	7	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
P. Johnson G	18	1-4	0-2	1-1	2	2	4	1	0	1	0	0	3
D. Dunn G	2	0-2	0-1	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
D. Styles G	2	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
K. Walton G	7	1-1	0-0	1-1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
TEAM		22-60	3-26	12-14	13	25	38	14	4	2	11	15	59
		36.7%	11.5%	85.7%

Va. Tech

STARTERS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
K. Aluma F	30	6-14	1-4	5-5	1	3	4	3	0	1	0	0	18
J. Mutts F	19	4-7	1-1	0-0	2	2	4	2	2	2	2	4	9
H. Cattoor G	37	1-5	1-3	0-0	0	4	4	0	0	0	0	3	3
N. Alleyne G	30	1-3	1-2	2-2	0	5	5	1	1	0	1	1	5
S. Murphy G	23	3-8	1-4	0-0	0	2	2	7	1	0	1	1	7
BENCH	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
D. N’Guessan F	8	1-2	0-0	0-0	1	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	2
L. Kidd C	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
J. Ojiako C	3	0-1	0-0	0-0	1	1	2	0	0	0	0	1	0
B. Varga G	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
C. Johnson G	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
S. Pedulla G	18	2-5	0-1	4-4	0	3	3	1	1	0	0	2	8
D. Maddox G	29	7-12	4-5	2-3	0	6	6	0	0	0	2	3	20
TEAM		25-57	9-20	13-14	7	27	34	14	5	3	7	15	72
		43.9%	45.0%	92.9%

UNC Bright Spots

Armando Bacot had 19 points, 14 rebounds, and 2 assists.

Brady Manek had 10 points, 1 rebound, and 1 assist.

RJ Davis had 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 assist.

Caleb Love had 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists.

Needs Work

The Tar Heels’ communication on defense has to be much better. There were too many lapses on defense.

The Tar Heels also need to work on getting better shots on offense. When their shots are not falling from the perimeter, they need to learn to drive more aggressively to the basket and get into the lane to get better shots. Armando Bacot is the best player on the team, so the priority on offense should be to get the ball inside to him first, and then it will create offense for everyone else.

The Coaching staff has to do a better job of making in-game adjustments to stop the other team’s momentum. The UNC guards have to understand when their shots are not falling how to impact the game in other ways to help the team win. It seems as if when they are not scoring their effort in any other facet of the game drops dramatically, which is totally unacceptable and detrimental to the team.

Final Observations

The Tar Heels move to 24-9 on the season. This was not the result the Tar Heels expected coming into the ACC tournament, especially with the way they lost the game. UNC needs to realize at this point of this season that they have to bring it every night or they will go home. Every team wants to advance to the next round so they must bring their A-game going forward if they want to have any type of success in the NCAA tournament.

They must come out with urgency each game and match the intensity of the other team. When the Heels get down in a game, the coaching staff must be quicker with their in-game adjustments so the game does not get out of reach. If the Tar Heels play to their strengths, they can make some noise in the tournament. This game should be a wake-up call for them that every team is hungry and ready to go each game. All the Tar Heels can do now is just wipe this game out of their memory and get ready and prepared for the NCAA tournament. The NCAA tournament seedings will be revealed this Sunday, March 13 at 5:00 P.M.