A freezing-cold shooting night and a raucous Assembly Hall crowd proved the themes of the night Wednesday, as No. 10 Indiana sent No. 18 Carolina to its third consecutive loss with a 77-65 final. It’s the first three-game losing streak for the Tar Heels under second-year head coach Hubert Davis.
The Tar Heels shot just 20-59 from the floor (33.9 percent) and registered a mere four assists. The shooting struggles continued for guards Caleb Love and R.J. Davis, who combined to shoot 9-25 on the night. Junior forward Armando Bacot, who came into the game nursing a tender ankle, appeared to be battling a right shoulder injury throughout the evening but still registered a double-double, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Pete Nance was UNC’s best offensive player, but even he shot just 4-11 while scoring 15 points.
The Hoosiers, meanwhile, created constant havoc on defense and matched it with efficient offense: Indiana shot exactly 50 percent from the floor. All-America candidate Trayce Jackson-Davis was a force inside, scoring a game-high 21 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. He was part of a dominant effort in the paint by the Hoosiers, who outscored UNC 50-24 in that area. Guard Xavier Johnson, a transfer from Pittsburgh with experience playing the Tar Heels, poured in 20 points of his own.
Carolina’s only leads came by a single point in the first half, and the Tar Heels never scored more than five consecutive points. The Hoosiers led by as many as 15 points early in the second half, and though UNC stayed within striking distance for the remainder of the game, Indiana’s lead was never truly threatened. Whenever the Tar Heels appeared in position to make a run, the swarming Indiana defense created a turnover: the Hoosiers got 10 of them on the night and turned them into 17 points. Carolina forced eight turnovers of its own, but only managed four points off them.
The three-game losing streak is UNC’s longest since the 2019-20 season. Wednesday’s loss also drops UNC’s record against the Hoosiers to 6-10 since the 1949-50 season, its worst against any one opponent with a minimum of 15 meetings in that time span. Carolina has also lost its last three trips to Bloomington, and likely won’t be mourning the last year of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, which was recently announced to be ending this season.
Now 5-3 on the young season, the Tar Heels will limp into ACC play with another stern test: a trip to Blacksburg to face Virginia Tech on Sunday at 3 p.m. The defending ACC Tournament champions dominated UNC on their way to the title last March, though Carolina did earn a win at Cassell Coliseum that same season.
Featured image via Indiana Basketball on Twitter
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