Before the Kansas game, Hubert Davis mentioned two statistics his Tar Heels had to improve on from their opening night win over Elon.
They had to crash the boards against the bigger Jayhawks and make more than the 13 free throws (13-16) than against the mid-major Phoenix.
Check, check. The eventual 92-89 defeat marked the second straight time the Tar Heels lost to Kansas by three points, dating back to the 72-69 final in the 2022 NCAA championship game, when UNC led by 15 at halftime. KU has now won five in a row and leads the series 7-6.
Carolina had 30 rebounds compared to KU’s 27 and off its 10 offensive boards scored 8 points, not enough to make Davis happy compared to the 14 second-chance points the Jayhawks converted. But his team tallied 17 off fast breaks compared to 13 for top-ranked Kansas at always-raucous Allen Field House.
The Tar Heels went to the foul line 31 times and made 28, a UNC road record of .903 and a 16-point advantage over the home team that made 12 of 17, as they chipped away at — ironically — another 15-point halftime margin, eventually took the lead, and nearly pulled off a stunning upset.
The mood appeared dismal in the first half, when foul trouble forced Davis to use two big men who hadn’t seen the court against Elon and were pretty much considered “practice players” who give regular “bigs” as much competition as possible between games. But Davis went with freshman 6-10 James Brown and undersized transfer forward Ty Claude to try to help the team reach halftime without getting fully blown out. Two first-years in Chapel Hill, mind you.
The coach didn’t particularly like what he saw from his regulars; his starting center and power forward had two fouls each and the rest of them couldn’t find the basket from short or long range. Claude saw four minutes and Brown just two with one field goal — both getting more time than 6-foot-8 Cade Tyson, who had started the two exhibition games and against Elon.
The bespectacled Brown reportedly contributed a fiery speech about the Tar Heels’ effort before Davis and his staff entered the locker room to really lower the boom on the team that was one half of the first college blockbuster of the season. A chance for affirmation of its top 10 rankings or an ACC also-ran.
Kansas shot almost 60% from the floor in the first half compared to Carolina’s 35.5%, which would have undone most visiting teams that win only 10 percent of the time at the iconic arena named for Hall of Fame coach Phog Allen (who, by the way, was Dean’s Smith first basketball mentor in the 1950s.)
“Kansas was getting everything they wanted,” Davis said. “They were running their offense like they were doing shoot-around, getting 3s, getting layups, getting dunks, getting to the free throw line. I didn’t feel any defensive pressure or physicality from us in the first half. I told the team at halftime that things can change quickly if our will and our want-to and our desire effort raises, and that’s what we did in the second half. And I was very proud of them how they got back into the game.”
The Jayhawks’ 53 first-half points were the most Carolina has given up since yielding 56 to Kentucky in the 2016 CBS Sports Classic loss to the Wildcats, who also held off a second half comeback to ultimately win.
Similarly, the biggest benefit for the underdogs was outshooting Kansas 50% to 39% in the second half, turning what appeared to be a blowout in the making into a taut, nationally-televised thriller that shouldn’t affect their No. 9 national ranking much and may heighten their sacred brand.
It could also do wonders for the confidence of several players that needed such a boost after being overhyped or inhibited by the surroundings that is only matched by Duke and other decades-old cramped basketball palaces.
The Tar Heel defense, inconsistent against Elon, was locked in after halftime on the ball if not forcing turnovers, finally getting the deficit under 10 points for good on a jumper by Ven-Allen Lubin at the halfway mark.
UNC forward Ven-Allen Lubin was perfect from the field during Friday’s game against Kansas. He was forced to sit out the final minutes of the game after picking up his fifth foul. (Photo via AP Photo/Charlie Riedel.)
Carolina kept Kansas without a field goal for almost two minutes, twice cutting the KU lead to one point on baskets by Jae’Lyn Withers and going ahead for the first time since early in the game on two free throws by Seth Trimble, who was on his way to a career-high of 19 points including 10-for-10 from free throws. (The 33 at Memphis doesn’t count because it was an exhibition game.) His 13 against Elon was a career high, and he is also the only player on the current team except for R.J. Davis to be the high game scorer.
Jalen Washington, who could build confidence from his physical play against KU’s 7-2 center Hunter Dickinson, gave Carolina its biggest lead, 87-83, in the second half by making the second of two free throws and its last lead on a layup with 2:03 to play. From there, the Heels missed their final three shots, all three-pointers, and the Jayhawks survived.
Imagine if Elliot Cadeau and R.J. Davis (who combined for 11 assists) had shot better than 6 of 26 from the floor and 1 of 10 from outside. On the flip side, imagine if Withers (4-6), Washington (3-5), Lubin (4-4) and freshman Ian Jackson (4-5) can continue shooting that way. Lubin and Jackson each had 10 points, their first double-figure games as Tar Heels.
Imagine if Withers can continue making a trio of three-pointers per game, as he has done in the last two — all in the second half against the Jayhawks.
Imagine the Tar Heels becoming a helluva team down the road.
“In the second half, our guys fought better and more competitively,” Davis said. Period.
Featured image via AP Photo/Charlie Riedel.
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
Pretty rare for me to be happy about a game when we don’t win, but I was happy with this one.
We showed how/why we should be a top 5 team this year.