So much for positive momentum.
After two home games in which UNC flexed its muscles over inferior opponents, the Tar Heels looked to be on the opposite side of that equation Tuesday night. The ACC-leading Miami Hurricanes completely took apart Carolina in every facet of the game, running away with an 85-57 victory which wasn’t even that close.
Final.#CarolinaFamily | @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/dOIqAmu63l
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) January 19, 2022
Carolina trailed by 27 points at halftime, their largest deficit after one half in 25 years. The 28-point final is UNC’s largest margin of defeat in an ACC regular season game since a 90-57 loss to Florida State in 2012, and Miami’s largest ever win over the Tar Heels.
The Hurricanes are now 6-1 in conference play, with wins over Duke and Carolina under their belt. The Tar Heels, meanwhile, fall to 12-5 overall and 4-2 in ACC play.
“At times throughout the year, I feel like there has been a change in mentality, and in effort, and in toughness,” head coach Hubert Davis said after the game. “And then we have a game like this. Just very disappointed.”
It may be hard to believe, but UNC held an early lead at 5-2 in the opening minutes. But from then on, it was all Hurricanes. Miami immediately ripped off a 14-0 run, powered by the outside shooting of veteran forward Sam Waardenburg. The sixth-year senior from New Zealand schooled any defender who stepped in front of him, going without a miss in the first half and finishing with a career-high 21 points. He came into the game averaging fewer than eight points per game this season.
Offensively, Carolina turned the ball over 14 times, which led to 30 Miami points, the most UNC has allowed off turnovers since the 2018-19 season. The Tar Heels couldn’t get any such easy opportunities of their own, shooting just 34 percent from the field and missing 24 three-point attempts.
“We didn’t bring our energy,” said sophomore guard R.J. Davis, who finished with nine points. “We didn’t play Carolina basketball tonight, plain and simple.”
The Hurricanes also contained junior forward Armando Bacot, limiting the two-time defending ACC Player of the Week’s chances and keeping him from the dominant performances he showcased against Virginia and Georgia Tech. Still, Bacot notched his eighth straight double-double, with 15 points and 12 rebounds. The game ended with concern for Bacot’s health, though, as the big man took a hard fall after contesting a shot late in the second half. Bacot writhed in pain on the floor for a few moments before gingerly walking off under his own power, but Hubert Davis seemed optimistic about Bacot’s chances of playing in Carolina’s next game.
“As far as I know now, he’ll be sore tomorrow,” Davis said. “But it’s nothing like an injury.”
Carolina played its second consecutive game without the services of redshirt sophomore guard Anthony Harris or assistant coach Sean May, who were unavailable due to undisclosed reasons. With Harris, one of Carolina’s better defenders, not on the floor, the Hurricanes’ standout guard Isaiah Wong had his way all night long. Wong finished with a season-high 25 points and five three-pointers. He scored just eight points in last year’s meeting between the two teams. But his scoring explosion didn’t catch the opposing head coach off-guard.
“Everything Miami did tonight, it was practiced. It was drilled. It was talked about. It was scouted,” said Davis. “We even talked about being in this position to take over first place in the ACC… we were prepared. We just didn’t play.”
After winning its first three road games of the season, Carolina has now dropped two straight as the visiting team. The Tar Heels will have a chance to snap that skid Saturday, when UNC visits Wake Forest in Winston-Salem. Carolina certainly hopes this trip will go better than its last visit, a 74-57 thrashing at the hands of the Demon Deacons in 2020. The Tar Heels will likely be more locked in than they were against the Hurricanes, though that isn’t saying much.
“We just have to change our whole mindset,” said R.J. Davis. “There’s no walk-in-the-park-type games, there’s no easy game for us. That’s our main thing. Moving forward, something’s gotta change.”
Featured image via USA Today Sports/Jasen Vinlove
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