Carolina had every chance to win a thrilling game against No. 14 Kentucky at the CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta on Saturday, but several costly mistakes in the game’s final moments did away with those chances. The Wildcats made no such errors and won, 87-83.
R.J. Davis continued his red-hot scoring spree, pouring in 27 points and keeping the Tar Heels in the game throughout the second half. Davis has now scored at least 26 points in five consecutive games, and it was his long-distance shooting which paced Carolina down the stretch. Davis scored 18 points in the second half, and back-to-back threes got UNC to within 81-80 at the 1:57 mark. Carolina actually led briefly after trailing for almost the entire game, but Kentucky had answered with six straight points to build a 77-72 lead.
When Kentucky’s Rob Dillingham scored to push the lead to 83-80, Davis drew a foul and marched to the free throw line. But he split the pair, snapping a streak of 41 consecutive makes which stretched back several games.
The next Wildcat possession would prove to be consequential. Kentucky big man Aaron Bradshaw drew a foul and stepped to the line for a 1-and-1. He missed the first attempt, but Cormac Ryan and Jae’Lyn Withers knocked the rebound away from each other and into the hands of the Wildcats. After a Harrison Ingram block knocked the ball out of bounds with three seconds on the shot clock, Kentucky’s Tre Mitchell threw up a desperation three which missed everything. But Bradshaw found himself boxing out the much smaller Davis, and the seven-footer easily secured the rebound and drew a foul. This time, he made both free throws.
Even so, Carolina had a chance to tie late after Ingram made two free throws and Dillingham split a pair. Trailing 86-83, Elliot Cadeau brought the ball up the court and passed to Cormac Ryan. The only problem? Ryan wasn’t looking for the ball, and it glanced off his hip. Davis sprinted to recover it, but couldn’t keep himself from falling into the backcourt for a turnover. Bradshaw made one of his two free throws on the other end to salt the game away.
The error put a sour ending on what had been a quality outing for Ryan, who finished with 20 points and made four threes to snap out of a recent shooting slump. Ingram added 10, but Armando Bacot struggled to just nine points and six rebounds. It’s the third time in the last six games he’s failed to reach double figures. As a whole, Carolina decisively lost the rebounding battle to the bigger Wildcats, 42-32. Kentucky punished the Tar Heels with 15 second-chance points off a whopping 18 offensive rebounds.
The loss is UNC’s second straight on the season, and drops the Tar Heels to just 1-4 against Kentucky in the CBS Sports Classic. Carolina is unbeaten against UCLA and Ohio State in the competition.
UNC will be back in action on Wednesday in Charlotte, where the Tar Heels will face unbeaten and No. 11 Oklahoma as part of the Jumpman Invitational. The game is scheduled for 9 p.m.
Featured image via Associated Press/Brynn Anderson
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