Additional reporting by Avery Trendel

The No. 6 North Carolina men’s basketball team dropped a tough 60-55 decision in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge , losing to the feisty Iowa Hawkeyes Wednesday evening inside the Dean Smith Center to fall to 5-2 on the season.

With the win, the Hawkeyes improved to 6-2 overall and 3-1 all-time against the Tar Heels.

Kennedy Meeks led the scoring charge for the Tar Heels with 15 points and 12 rebounds, while Mike Gesell led the way for the Hawkeyes with 15 points.

Poor shooting, at a 28-percent clip, and an inability to finish around the rim, doomed the Tar Heels. The 55 point total was the lowest by UNC this season and the lowest since a 57-45 loss at Syracuse on Jan. 11, 2014.

“Yeah. They [Iowa] wanted it more than we did and that’s a sorry thing to say. It’s a sad thing to say. We gave up 12 points on offensive rebounds…[Iowa had] 16 offensive rebounds in the second half. And, again, we still had opportunities, and we missed some opportunities. Even at the end, we were trying to get two guys to go screen for Marcus, and both of them start and stop, start and stop. It was almost comedic, but it wasn’t funny to me,” UNC head coach Roy Williams says.

Coach Williams led the Tar Heels with a heavy heart Wednesday night. His good friend and Chapel Hill icon Ted Seagroves passed away Tuesday, but Coach Williams says he needs “to do a better job coaching [his] team.”

Paige shoots a jumper (Todd Melet)

Paige shoots a jumper (Todd Melet)

Carolina’s abysmal field goal percentage was the lowest since a 27.6 percent night against Georgia Tech on Jan. 6, 2011. Iowa, meanwhile, finished with a flourish, scoring the final 10 second-chance points in the game to close out the Tar Heels.

“I think every team needs to be able to go on the road and beat somebody of this caliber. I came into the season feeling like we have a good team. I think we have played well. We haven’t shot the ball well but I’m really proud of how we have defended, particularly today on the glass in the second half,” Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery says.

Despite shooting a mere 27 percent from the floor in the first half, the Tar Heels trailed  by only two points thanks to their domination on the boards.  UNC led in overall rebounding 26-15, but held a commanding 15-1 advantage in offensive rebounds in the first 20 minutes of action.

Marcus Paige got involved in the offense early and opened the scoring proceedings for the Tar Heels with a drained three-pointer, but it was Iowa that jumped out to a 7-3 lead just over two minutes into the contest.

At the 15:58 mark, the Hawkeyes held a 9-7 advantage thanks to some hot shooting north of the 50 percent clip. From there, the two squads traded blows on both sides of the floor.

At the under-12 timeout, UNC trailed Iowa 18-14. The visitors were shooting 67 percent from the floor to outpace the Tar Heels, who were making a meager 33 percent of their attempts.

It was a 'green out' inside the Smith Center (Todd Melet)

It was a ‘green out’ inside the Smith Center (Todd Melet)

Brice Johnson picked up his third foul barely ten minutes into the game and promptly took a seat on the bench. Meanwhile, the Hawkeyes continued to shoot the lights out of the ball with junior guard Mike Gesell with the hottest hand at 9 points.

But it was J.P. Tokoto’s athleticism that provided the spark to a Carolina rally down 27-19. The Tar Heels and the Smith Center crowd lit up as the home team pulled within two at 27-25 with just over five minutes to play in the first half.

At intermission, the Tar Heels trailed only by a pair of points despite miserable shooting. It was their dominance in the rebounding department that kept them close with the Hawkeyes.

UNC came out of the locker room on a 5-0 run to take a 34-31 lead briefly before Iowa junior guard Anthony Clemmons snared a three-point play after a Meeks foul.

But three Tar Heel turnovers handed back the momentum to the Hawkeyes and with it, a 36-34 edge with 15:48 to go.

Roy Williams argues with an official (Todd Melet)

Roy Williams argues with an official (Todd Melet)

Nate Britt knocked down a big three-pointer to ignite the Dean Dome crowd and close the deficit down to a single point. Johnson followed suit with a score, and when Meeks slammed one down with 12 minutes to play, the Tar Heels grabbed a 43-40 lead with the UNC faithful on their feet.

At the 7:09 mark, UNC maintained a 47-45 lead. Paige drained a clutch three shortly after to keep the offense clicking for Carolina, but the Hawkeyes were finding their way to the basket on the the other end and keeping up with the UNC attack.

With 3:54 to play, UNC was all locked up at 51-51 with Iowa. Two made free throws from Paige from there pushed UNC ahead 55-54, but Meeks fouled out on the ensuing possession to the boos of the crowd.

Gesell’s scoring drive inside drew a foul and pushed the Hawkeyes ahead by three with just over a minute remaining, and the Hawkeyes held on when a last-second Paige three ball rimmed out.

 

Next up for the reeling Tar Heels is a home meeting with the ECU Pirates this Sunday at 3 p.m.

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