Sometimes being North Carolina hurts more than it helps.
Sure, we’d all agree that most days are great days to be a Tar Heel. But sometimes, those baby blue uniforms and the legacy that stretches from Dean Smith to Roy Williams don’t help. It sure looked like Tuesday was one of those nights.
Third-ranked Iowa is good, damn good. And the Carolina freshmen still have to learn that the school they chose makes it almost certain that they are going to take an equal opponent’s best punch in the mouth to start the game. It happened again in Iowa City.
The Hawkeyes, with their All-American center being contained, broke out hot and sent the Tar Heels to another first-half, double-digit deficit. Carolina has the size to match up with the Hawkeyes’ version of Tyler Hansbrough, as Luka Garza was held to 2-for-8 from the floor and six points in the first 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, the Heels were playing their half-hearted defense and didn’t close out on Iowa’s 3-pointer shooters, who launched 22 in the first half and made half of them. UNC went 2-for-8, so that right there was a 27-point advantage for the home team in its empty arena.
Roy Williams claimed he didn’t “go whacko” at halftime, but his kids came out on fire and immediately cut Iowa’s 12-point lead to seven, and it was a ball game. The Heels were far more engaged on defense, challenging the 3-pointers and briefly taking the lead.
But Garza was doing his dirty work inside and eventually got Garrison Brooks, Armando Bacot and Day’Ron Sharpe into deep foul trouble, each saddled with four, as Garza wound up with 16 points and 14 rebounds. That was half of his nation-leading scoring average, but the Hawkeyes complemented him by draining 17 total treys, tied for the most ever allowed by a Roy Williams Carolina team.
There were bright signs for sure, more assists and more fight from the freshmen, but still 18 turnovers. “I’m not into moral victories,” Ol’ Roy said after the 93-80 loss, his team’s second straight. “We did some good things. But bottom line is they got the W and we took our rear ends home with another L.
“Some kids think they’re better than they are. Then they play against someone they’ve never heard of and he ends up kicking your butt,” Williams allowed.
A curse of being Carolina.
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