It was a Black Friday to forget for UNC fans, to put it lightly.
Mere minutes after the Carolina football team lost in double-overtime against NC State, the No. 1 men’s basketball team saw a late lead go up in smoke against Iowa State in the semifinals of the Phil Knight Invitational. The Tar Heels led by eight points with 5:43 remaining, but the Cyclones closed the evening on a 21-8 run to clinch the upset win, 70-65.
Carolina went without a field goal from the 3:55 mark in the second half to a buzzer-beating layup from Puff Johnson. It had little effect on the game, merely cutting a seven-point Cyclone lead to five at the horn. Iowa State senior guard Caleb Grill was as hot as his namesake all night, pouring in 31 points on 11-15 shooting (7-11 on threes) to fuel the Iowa State comeback. Grill’s final three tied the game at 61 and a two-point jumper on the next possession gave the Cyclones a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. A pair of Grill free throws were Iowa State’s final points of the night.
On the Carolina side, Armando Bacot, R.J. Davis and Caleb Love all finished in double figures, though Davis and Love combined to shoot just 9-28 from the floor. Bacot scored his 13 points on an efficient 5-6 shooting, but did commit a team-high five turnovers. The most critical one came with 1:22 on the second-half clock and UNC trailing 63-61. Iowa State stole the ball from the All-American big man and took a four-point lead on a pair of free throws.
The loss drops Carolina to 5-1 on the season after its first game against a Power 5 opponent. It also means UNC will go 0-for-2 in its first two forays into the Phil Knight Tournament, which to this point has been played every five years. The Tar Heels lost to Michigan State in the tournament championship during the 2017-18 season.
Next, they will play in the tournament’s third-place game on Sunday. That will come against either No. 20 Connecticut or No. 18 Alabama at 3:30 p.m. EDT.
Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Maggie Hobson
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