It was a game only a mother could love.
The UNC basketball team snapped its brief two-game losing streak by defeating UNC-Asheville 72-53 in Chapel Hill Tuesday night, but the positives for head coach Hubert Davis just about end there.
After taking an early 35-15 lead over the Bulldogs, Carolina caught a case of the turnover bug, committing five in a span of 2:16 in the second half to let Asheville close to within eight points. The Bulldogs’ full-court press defense proved difficult to crack for the Tar Heels’ ball-handlers.
Many of the offense’s problems occurred with junior forward Armando Bacot on the bench. Bacot was UNC’s only consistent weapon all night, scoring 22 points on 8-14 shooting.
“I feel like when I catch [the ball] in the post, I can basically score on anybody,” Bacot said. “So, this whole game I just wanted to assert my dominance. I’ve been shooting a pretty good percentage, so I guess when I get the ball, good things happen.”
Were it not for poor Asheville shooting, perhaps Carolina would have found themselves sweating even more than they were. The Bulldogs shot just 18-68 (26.5 percent) from the floor, including making just seven of 37 three-point attempts. The 53 points allowed is by far a season-low for Carolina this season, but how much of that was due to the Tar Heels remains to be seen.
Offensively, Carolina finished the game with 18 turnovers and 15 assists, which marks the third consecutive game in which UNC has committed more turnovers than assists. Only two Carolina players finished without a turnover to their name: freshmen Dontrez Styles and D’Marco Dunn, who both played just 1:40 at the end of the second half. UNC also shot a pedestrian 12-22 on layup attempts.
“We’ve gotta get better, plain and simple,” said graduate transfer Brady Manek, who scored eight points. “I don’t know what it is, but we’ve gotta play better. I don’t know if it’s, we’ve gotta come together more, we’ve just gotta play basketball, I don’t know. Should’ve beat them by a lot more than we did.”
During the worst of Carolina’s turnover problems in the second half, it appeared the offense shifted to one play: throw the ball to Bacot. The junior had his way with the Bulldogs down low, and Tuesday marked the second time in five games he’s scored 20 points or more this season. He finished with only two 20-point games in the entire 2020-21 campaign.
Sophomore guard R.J. Davis finished second on the team with 12 points and two three-pointers, but no other Tar Heel scored in double digits. It’s the first time Carolina has had just two players finish with 10 or more points all season.
Due in large part to Asheville’s 50 missed shots, the Bulldogs actually finished with more offensive rebounds than UNC, by a 15-13 margin. In what could be a disturbing trend for UNC fans, the visitors committed only seven turnovers on the night. The highest number of turnovers forced in a game this year by the Tar Heels is 12. But Manek emphasized this wasn’t due to a lack of effort on Carolina’s part.
“Everybody’s gonna give up a play,” he said. “Everybody’s gonna miss a block out. I mean, it happens. It’s basketball. But we played our butts off on the defensive end. And now, our offense wasn’t moving. I mean, it’s just one thing after another. But we’ve gotta fix it. We’ve gotta play a whole 40 minutes.”
When informed of Manek’s fiery postgame interview, Hubert Davis said, “That puts a smile on my face.”
Added Davis, “I like his fire. I always say this to the guys: If you’re emotional, and you show emotions, that’s good. I’m 100 percent for that… That means you care.”
The rookie head coach will look to put smiles on more faces after the Thanksgiving holiday. Carolina will face its third ranked opponent in four games on Wednesday, December 1 when No. 20 Michigan visits the Smith Center. The Wolverines are coming off an Elite Eight appearance last season, and have taken the last two matchups with UNC. Despite Michigan’s ranking, and the fact they will likely be favored over Carolina, Manek still isn’t making any excuses for the Tar Heels.
“We’ve got four McDonald’s All-Americans,” he said. “Most I’ve ever had on a team is one. So, put four on a team, we should be really good. And we’re not showing it.”
Featured image via Todd Melet. For a photo gallery of the game, click here.
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