The No. 2 UNC men’s basketball team has earned a reputation for having great depth and the ability to win ugly games.
On Monday night, though, the Tar Heels may have played with fire for a little too long—shooting a season-low 34 percent in a 71-65 road loss to the No. 19 Louisville Cardinals, snapping a 12-game win streak.
As shot after shot clanged off the rim against the Cardinals’ high-pressure defense, UNC head coach Roy Williams could only watch as the clock hit triple zeroes and Louisville’s players dabbed in celebration after handing the ACC’s only unbeaten team its first conference loss after an 8-0 start.
Brice Johnson scored 15 points, but was held to just six attempts by the Louisville defense. (AP Photo/ Timothy D. Easley)
Williams’ squad might be 19-3 overall, with all three losses coming on the road, but it’s shot under 40 percent in four of its last five games—forcing him to point out the obvious, and then explain what happened.
“We didn’t put the ball in the basket,” he said, after the game. “But their zone made it difficult for us to get it inside to our big guys.”
Senior forward Brice Johnson put together another double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds, but was limited to just six shots against the Cardinals—who improve to 18-4 this season with a 7-2 mark in the ACC.
His partner-in-crime, Kennedy Meeks, only scored four points on four shots while held to just 18 minutes as he struggled with foul trouble.
Yet the Tar Heels still had a shot to win the game at the end—a testament to how well they find new ways to get the job done.
Down two points with just 35 seconds left, UNC grabbed three offensive rebounds during that final span—but couldn’t make the clutch plays this time.
All five Tar Heel shots after that point, including three at the rim, couldn’t find their way home– failing to produce any late-game magic.
“On the last play of the game—and I’ve never loved a player more than I have Marcus [Paige]—but we tipped it out and he goes after the ball with one hand,” Williams said. “Their guy comes in with two and gets the rebound.
“Kennedy [Meeks] goes up to get a rebound, and Trey Lewis—one of their guards—goes up to get a rebound and he came over [Meeks’] back and got the ball, knocked it out,” he continued. “I thought it was our ball, should have been a foul.
“But the referee saw it differently.”
One thing that wasn’t hard to see on Monday was that Paige, the senior guard, is still the poster boy for his team’s recent shooting slump. He made just three of his 13 attempts against Louisville, but continued to play strong in other areas–and his coach made sure to let everyone know.
“He hasn’t shot it worth a frankety-frank for the last four or five games,” Williams said of Paige. “Am I supposed to put him out and send him to Siberia?
“He’s one of the greatest kids I’ve ever coached,” he added. “I’m gonna stick with him, I’m gonna coach him, and he’s gonna try to take shots.
Damion Lee, who had 24 points for Louisville, dunks over Joel Berry. (AP Photo/ Timothy D. Easley)
“But I don’t have any potion I can rub on people.”
The biggest shock to Tar Heel fans was that the poor-shooting bug found sophomore point guard Joel Berry, who’s become the team’s most consistent backcourt player this season.
“Joel Berry’s been shooting it pretty doggone well,” Williams said. “And he’s 1-for-10 tonight, 1-for-5 from three. We need a little bit better than that.”
With a lid seemingly stuck on the basket for everyone not named Damion Lee—the Louisville forward who scored a game-high 24 points–it made beating a ranked team on the road that much tougher.
UNC played strong down the stretch, but ultimately ran out of gas in front of the raucous crowd, which stayed extremely loud throughout the game in support of their Cardinals.
“I felt like we had a sense of urgency,” Williams said of UNC’s performance. “But their sense of urgency was a little better than ours.”
Up Next:
Two more road games await the Tar Heels following this one on their challenging February schedule, including this Saturday against Notre Dame.
At some point the shots will have to start falling. If they don’t UNC could find itself in a little bit of troube.
Monday proved that elite competition doesn’t leave anywhere near as much room for error.
Game Notes:
- UNC is now 2-3 this season in games where Berry doesn’t score in double figures. When he does, the Tar Heels are 17-0.
- For the game, UNC shot 3-of-17 (17.6 percent) from three-point range.
- The Tar Heels also committed a season-high 16 turnovers.
- Louisville center Chinanu Onuaku shot his eight free throws underhanded.
