The ironies were unmistakable.
UNC men’s basketball coach Hubert Davis said before the game that rebounding would be a key to victory, and while Kentucky’s size and athleticism were superior to Carolina’s, a botched rebound by two colliding Tar Heels (Cormac Ryan and Jae’Lyn Withers) cost them a key possession with 1:08 left in the eventual 87-83 loss at the CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta, their first back-to-back defeats of the season.
Also on the wrong side of second-chance points, they allowed the now 8-2 Wildcats to grab 18 offensive rebounds that were converted into 15 points compared to Carolina’s 6 points off 6. In all, Kentucky won the rebounding battle by a plus-10 (42-32) that Davis said was the margin his team needed on the backboards to keep from getting 15 fewer shots and stop the repeated runs that proved fatal Saturday.
Hubert also said they had to avoid turnovers that led to opposing points. Carolina committed a season-high 17, which the ‘Cats turned into 19 points. Freshman Elliot Cadeau, who sat out much of the second half with four fouls and match-up problems against Kentucky’s bigger guards, hit Ryan in the back with an errant pass that sealed the Heels’ third defeat of the young season against seven wins.
The Tar Heels shot better from the floor (54 percent in the second half) and foul line and had 15 fast break points to Kentucky’s 10 despite their bench being outscored 36-14. Davis played 10 men, although Zayden High and Paxson Wojcik logged only two minutes each while Kentucky played nine guys at least 10 minutes.
Experience wasn’t a factor in the tense tournament-like second half, as the Wildcats played four freshmen who held off Carolina’s gallant comeback. The better-balanced victors had four guys in double figures and others with 7, 8 and 9 points. Kentucky will surely get better as its roster matures; the Tar Heels still need to figure out how to beat ranked opponents with two 6-foot guards.
R.J. Davis distinguished himself to the national network audience with 27 points, giving him his sixth straight game of at least 20. He also led the team in rebounds (7) and assists (4) but did miss his first free throw after making eight in a row to tie the school record (set in 1989 by assistant coach Jeff Lebo) of 41 consecutive this season. Davis has scored 160 points in the past six games, which is the most by a Tar Heel in a six-game stretch since Tyler Hansbrough had a total of 171 in February 2008.
“If R.J. isn’t one of the best players in the country, I don’t know who is,” Coach Davis said afterward. “When he leads your team in rebounding, that’s good. And then that’s not good at all. And so we just got to get better in that area.”
North Carolina guard RJ Davis (4) celebrates after his team scored during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Kentucky in the CBS Sports Classic, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, in Atlanta, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Ryan came into the game shooting 12 for 41 on 3-pointers and canned 4 of 7 of his 20 points (both season highs) in a return to his well-documented shooting form. Harrison Ingram missed all three of his long balls but battled an array of physical Wildcats for 34 minutes, finishing with 10 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. He is the only Tar Heel who has scored in double figures for all 10 games.
Armando Bacot had another tough game against bigger and more athletic centers in his foul-plagued 31 minutes, missing a double-double with 9 points and 6 rebounds. His two free throws gave UNC its only short-lived lead of the game with five minutes remaining. Withers played 19 minutes and was plus-13 with 4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks in adding size and strength to the front line.
The 6-foot-3 Seth Trimble saw 16 minutes in trying to match up better with the Kentucky backcourt, hitting a big 3 ball in Carolina’s late run that cut an 11-point deficit to 40-38 at halftime. He was a plus-10 and with Withers were the only regulars with positive team numbers while on the court.
“We did compete and that’s never been a question mark for this group,” Davis said. “We’re a really good basketball team that has a lot more growth, but we always compete. At the beginning of the game, I told them in order to win any game, but specifically this game, you have to win the battle in the trenches. And the battle in the trenches is rebounding and winning your one-on-one matchup. It’s loose balls, it’s boxing out, it’s finishing when you go to the basket, it is talking on defense. Those little discipline and detailed things allow you to become successful. And they out-rebounded us by 10, they had 18 offensive rebounds. So when we lose that by 10, I said I wanted to be plus-10 for us. And then we only lose by four. It’s the story right there. It’s in the trenches.
“We just got to get better in that area,” the head coach continued. “I guess it’s easy for me to ask and harder to answer. What can turn that around on the glass and the rebounding side of things? Well, to me rebounding really has nothing to do with technique. It’s a will of a want to, it’s an attitude, it’s a toughness. And that’s what has to change. And that’s why I talked to the team before the game about doing the things you have to do to put yourselves in position. It was a two-point game. We missed two rebounds and didn’t get another rebound. And you have to credit Kentucky, they made a few more plays than us and that’s why they were able to win.”
Davis called what happened at the end a miscommunication.
“Just a mistake,” he said. “I always tell the players I’m not a perfect person and so I don’t require them to be perfect as well. And mistakes happen and it’s unfortunate we made a turnover at that time, but if we rebound better, we wouldn’t be in that position. And so that’s the thing I focus on.”
The Heels fell to 25-18 overall against Kentucky, 1-4 in the CBS Sports Classic, but are 13-8 versus the Wildcats on neutral courts.
Carolina ends its penultimate game in their rugged non-conference stretch against 11th-ranked Oklahoma at the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte Wednesday night in the quest to take a 9-3 record into ACC play that resumes in January with three straight road games. The close call with Kentucky won’t affect their ranking much — but beating the Sooners is now an NCAA resume-builder they have to have.
Featured photo via AP Photo/Brynn Anderson.
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