Carolina took a giant step backward in the stinker at Clemson.
The Tar Heels combined their worst first half of the season with a horrendous 10 minutes in the second half and wound up with a sixth loss (11-6) and lowest point total in four years.
In his 300th ACC game, Roy Williams seemed powerless to find any scoring from the half-court offense exacerbated by missing nine free throws before making 5 of 6 after the outcome was decided.
UNC scored the fewest points in a half this season, falling behind 33-21 after committing 10 turnovers against 4 assists. The vaunted inside game produced 10 points but only 2 from offensive rebounds.
It looked like the Tar Heels got hit in the mouth and refused to punch back until the second half, when they rallied to cut the Tigers’ lead to four points, 42-38. And that’s where Carolina went scoreless for almost five minutes with seven empty possessions, including one with three attempts right at the rim. Let’s count them.
A steal by RJ Davis turned into a turnover by Andrew Playtek. A missed layup by Davis was rebounded and missed by Day-Ron Sharpe, then rebounded and missed by Garrison Brooks. Sharpe bricked two foul shots. Davis missed a 3-pointer. A turnover by Bacot followed by his fourth foul in his worst game of the season (1 point, 3 rebounds) by far. A turnover by Caleb Love and a Brooks miss. You knew that was the game, when the Heels seemingly had their hosts on the ropes.
Clemson was just as bad during that stretch, but snapped out of it to widen its lead and run the clock out to win its second game in the last six and snap UNC’s winning streak at three, just when it looked like the Tar Heels were surging into Saturday night’s game at Duke.
The tough Tigers defense nearly nullified Carolina’s big three. A lack of movement and 17 mostly unforced turnovers dug the hole and the Heels unreliable outside game couldn’t bail them out.
They limp into Cameron, where both teams are unranked for the first time in 60 years. UNC and Duke (7-6) are also in jeopardy of both missing the NCAA tournament. That hasn’t happened since 1974.
Featured image via ACC Media
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