Sunday night’s PK80 Invitational Championship Game in Portland saw Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo pick up his first victory over Roy Williams in eight tries since Williams took over at UNC, as his Spartans put on a defensive clinic in a 63-45 blowout win over the Tar Heels.
Bothered all night long by Michigan State’s length and athleticism, UNC struggled to create open shots in one of the worst offensive performances it’s ever had.
The Tar Heels (5-1) shot 24.6 percent from the floor—the lowest percentage in program history–in their first loss of the year.
With its freshmen big men struggling under the bright lights, UNC was also outrebounded 52-36—a sure-fire recipe for disaster.
Michigan State forward Nick Ward, right, shoots over UNC forward Luke Maye. Ward helped the Spartans earn a 52-36 rebounding advantage in the win over the Tar Heels. (AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer)
It didn’t take long for things to get out of hand, either, as the Tar Heels missed 19 of their first 23 shots—most of which were heavily contested–while Michigan State (5-1) led by as many as 17 points before halftime.
Senior guard Theo Pinson scored 16 points and was the only UNC player to reach double figures.
That production was sorely needed, as Izzo’s Spartans limited UNC’s veteran trio of Joel Berry, Luke Maye and Kenny Williams to a combined 23 points on 30 shot attempts. Freshman guard Andrew Platek’s four points also represented the only scoring Roy Williams received from his bench.
“They were aggressive, but we didn’t move like we needed to move ourselves and the basketball,” Williams said. “I always think the smartest thing is to move intelligently without the basketball. We didn’t even move. Period. Whether it was intelligently or not.
“Their defense was a lot stronger than our offense, and their offense was a lot stronger than our defense too,” he added.
Despite forcing 24 turnovers and holding Michigan State without a made shot from the floor for a stretch spanning over eight minutes in the second half, the Tar Heels simply made too many mistakes against the aggressive Spartan defense to take advantage.
On the rare occasion UNC was able to find an open shot at the rim, it seemed surprised—missing a whopping 13 layups.
Add to that a 14-for-24 performance from the free throw line, and a 1-for-18 effort from three-point range and the Tar Heels obviously didn’t do much to help themselves out.
“I did as poor a job coaching, getting my team ready, for any game I’ve ever coached,” Williams told reporters afterwards. “[Michigan State was] physically, mentally, emotionally more into the game than my club was.”
After a quick pause, the frustrated coach added that his team, “Missed layups, missed free throws, didn’t get picked up [on defense], didn’t rebound the basketball.”
All night long, Michigan State used dribble penetration to create open looks against the UNC defense. (AP Photo/ Craig Mitchelldyer)
A career-high 23 points from guard Josh Langford led the Spartans, but Coach Izzo also got a big night from Langford’s backcourt-mate Cassius Winston—who consistently created good looks on his way to a team-high seven assists.
Michigan State represented by far the toughest test the Tar Heels have faced this season, and it was evident throughout much of the night, even though it struggled a bit at times.
UNC has performed well to this point in the year, but Sunday night proved there’s still a long way to go for this team to earn the status of a national title contender.
“Their coach is one of the greatest coaches in the game, and I don’t even know if he’d say his team played great,” Williams said. “But he got his club to play a lot better than I got my club to play tonight.
“So far this year, the freshmen haven’t necessarily played like freshmen,” he continued. “Today they played like freshmen. The sophomores, juniors and seniors played like freshmen. And the coach coached like he’d never seen the game of basketball before in his life.”
Up Next:
UNC returns home from its West Coast road trip this week to face Michigan at the Smith Center on Wednesday, Nov. 29. That game is part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, and is scheduled to tip-off at 7:30 p.m.
Game Notes:
- The Tar Heels trailed by as many as 21 points in the second half, and were close to matching the lowest point total of the Roy Williams era (43).
- It snapped what had been an 11-game win streak for UNC dating back to last season’s ACC Tournament loss against Duke.
- UNC also recorded just nine assists compared to 16 turnovers.
- Michigan State had just two players score in double figures, with Langford’s 23 going along with 11 points from star forward Miles Bridges.
Cover Photo via Craig Mitchelldyer (Associated Press)
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