North Carolina, going a week in between games due to COVID schedule changes, didn’t take the layoff well coming out sluggish, getting behind and never fully recovering in a 63-50 loss in Clemson. (2/2)
The Tar Heels cut a 16-point deficit to just four midway through the second half but failed to score on seven possessions over a five-minute period. Meanwhile, the Tigers’ Hunter Tyson got hot and scored all of his 16 points after the Heels cut it to four as Clemson won going away.
The previous low scoring output was 66 points this season for the Heels. “When you turn the ball over 17 times in a low possession game, there’s not going to be much scoring,” UNC coach Roy Williams said. “Our big guys were not as active as they needed to be.”
Several of Carolina’s turnovers came on trying to force the ball down to the big men down low – sometimes bad passes and sometimes lack of movement by the bigs.
Armando Bacot, who scored 21 points in the last outing at Pittsburgh a week ago, scored just one point and got 3 rebounds in just 19 minutes of play as he also was saddled with foul trouble.
Freshman big man Day’Ron Sharpe did managed to lead the Tar Heels in scoring with 16 points but he also missed six of 10 free throws and turned the ball over three times.
Carolina, which has had free throw woes, continued that problem hitting only 11 of 21 free throws.
The Tar Heels had been playing better, winning three in a row and six of their last seven games.
“We had two really good practices (coming into the game),” Coach Williams said. “I thought we’d play well. We had made good strides in practice.
“They hit us early but we were still ok,” he added.
He mentioned one sequence after the Heels had cut the Clemson lead to four where the Heels missed two free throws and a dunk on one possession.
Garrison Brooks, who scored eight, had hit a turnaround 10-foot jumper with 12:37 to play to make it 42-38 and the Heels had a chance to cut it to two when R.J. Davis missed a layup, Sharpe missed a layup and Brooks missed a dunk.
The next possession, after Clemson failed to score, Sharpe missed two free throws. Five possessions later UNC’s Leaky Black hit one of two free throws to end the drought but it only brought the Heels within five at 45-40. That’s as close as it got at Tyson took over and Carolina’s turnover, shooting and free throw problems continued.
Clemson improves to 11-5 overall and 5-5 in the ACC while Carolina falls to 11-6 and 6-4 in the conference. The Tar Heels travel to Duke Saturday evening.
For a box score and more on the game, please click here.