Cameron Johnson and Joel Berry did everything they could Tuesday night to help the 19th-ranked Tar Heels erase a 16-point halftime deficit, but it would not be enough to finish the job–as No. 20 Clemson held on for an 82-78 victory at Littlejohn Coliseum.
The Tigers (18-4, 7-3 ACC) hit 10 of their 15 three-pointers in the first half to help build the commanding lead, becoming the latest team to take advantage of UNC’s lackluster perimeter defense.
Although the Tar Heels (16-7, 5-5 ACC) struggled to get stops early on, Johnson and Berry provided hope in the second half that they might find a way to avoid their first three-game losing streak since January 2014.
Johnson tallied 20 of his career-high 32 points after halftime, while Berry chipped in 19 of his 25 over the same span—including a nifty shot in the lane that tied the game at 74 with just two minutes remaining.
Joel Berry scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half for UNC, but couldn’t quite help lift the Tar Heels past Clemson on Tuesday night. (AP Photo/Richard Shiro)
Clemson kept UNC from ever taking the lead back, however, when guard Marcquise Reed hit a wide open three-pointer from the left wing on the very next possession.
From there, the Tigers made all the plays they needed to make—getting crucial stops and timely offensive rebounds–in order to close out the win against head coach Roy Williams and company.
Faced with the fact that his team has allowed opponents to hit 15 threes in back-to-back games, Williams was at a loss for words in his postgame press conference.
“I’ve got no answers guys,” an exasperated Williams told reporters about his team’s defensive woes. “I’ve never emphasized something as much in my entire life.
“But you’ve got to congratulate them,” the coach added. “[Reed] stepped up and made it.”
Reed led the winning effort by finishing with 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists, while North Carolina native Gabe DeVoe added 17 points and five three-pointers against his home-state school.
In total, seven of the eight Clemson players who played in the game made at least one shot from beyond the arc.
UNC junior forward Luke Maye was limited to a season-low four points, and no other Tar Heel besides Johnson or Berry scored more than six.
With freshman guard Jalek Felton suspended by the university Tuesday morning and Theo Pinson suffering a shoulder injury early in the first half that kept him out the rest of the way, it wasn’t exactly a day to remember for fans in Chapel Hill.
Although the Tar Heels nearly completed the comeback against Clemson, the issues on defense and with the team’s depth present plenty of reasons for concern as the regular season approaches its final month.
“Joel [Berry] and Cam [Johnson] were our offense,” Williams said. “Because we weren’t getting much from anybody else. You don’t like it to be just two guys.
“Our best teams, it’s never been just two guys,” he continued. “Our best teams, it’s been four, five or six.”
Up Next:
The Tar Heels will return home to host Pittsburgh–the ACC’s last-place team–at the Smith Center on Saturday. That game is scheduled for an 8 p.m. start.
Game Notes:
- Theo Pinson left the game early in the first half when he had his legs pushed out from under him while going for a rebound–resulting in a hard fall where he landed directly on his shoulder.
- Clemson hit 10 three-pointers in the first half alone, making the Tigers the 16th team in 23 games to reach that mark against the Tar Heels this season.
- UNC had won 10 consecutive games against Clemson entering Tuesday’s matchup, a streak dating back to January 2010.
- Cameron Johnson’s previous career-high in scoring was 24 points, which came on Jan. 31, 2017 against UNC at the Dean Dome when he was playing for Pittsburgh.
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