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How can you lose a game of bully ball to a team that makes 16 more free throws?
The Tar Heels’ 83-81 defeat to Villanova, their first of the season, had self-inflicted mistakes, including an opponent that fouled out three of their regulars. They wound up playing overtime without leading scorer Harrison Ingram (20 points) and first-time starter Jae’Lyn Withers (7 rebounds), plus the last four minutes without assist man Elliot Cadeau (5).
It was Armando Bacot’s screen and Cadeau’s slick assist on the baseline that found Cormac Ryan in the left corner ready to launch a tying 3-pointer at the end of regulation. Hubert Davis drew up the perfectly executed play in a timeout. There were 23 lead changes, and each team had double digit runs in the game.
The Heels played their most aggressive defense in four games but never found an answer for ‘Nova’s Eric Dixon, a 6-foot-8 senior brute who had 34 points along with three 3-pointers, 9 free throws and 10 rebounds. They either did not double-team Dixon or started after he had a head of steam to the hoop.
A trend is following the sport played by bigger, stronger, faster men-children, as the whistles are inconsistent in the amount of contact allowed. Villanova got the best of it and shot 36 free throws and a better percentage than UNC, which had 23 attempts and yielded minus-13 points from the line.
Ryan’s driving layup was the first basket of overtime, and Seth Trimble and Paxson Wojcik gave the Tar Heels their last leads before Villanova sealed it with more free throws. The Wildcats’ 5 assists on 23 made baskets (compared to UNC’s 13 on 28) indicates how much one-on-one bully ball Nova played.
Carolina helped that by not pressuring the ball more on the perimeter and allowing too many straight-line drives or back down opportunities in the paint. Nova only shot 38 percent from the floor and 23 percent from downtown, proving the importance of those takes and makes from the line.
The Wildcats, 5-1, have now won three straight rock fights against Maryland of the Big Ten, Texas Tech of the Big 12 and UNC of the ACC after losing to Penn of the Ivy League, which played a zone for most of the game.
Thanks to a career-tying high of 30 points by RJ Davis, a second straight double-double by Ingram and equally gutty efforts by Trimble and Cadeau, Carolina ran away from No. 20 Arkansas for third place at the Battle 4 Atlantis playing without the injured Ryan and falling into foul trouble early. UNC returns home with a 5-1 record and plays 7th-ranked Tennessee Wednesday in the first-ever ACC-SEC Challenge at 7:15 in the Smith Center.
Featured image via Associated Press/Tim Aylen
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