UNC blew a early lead by committing a slew of turnovers and chased Texas the second half before falling 92-89 in the Las Vegas Invitational. (11/22)

North Carolina’s Coby White kept the Tar Heels in it with 33 points, the third highest total ever for a Carolina freshman. But when it came down to crunch time, with just over a minute to go and the Heels trailing 87-85, White badly missed a three-pointer that didn’t touch anything before going out of bounds.

It never got closer than two points again. Carolina had a slim chance to tie it with a second to go but the inbounds pass was deflected and time expired.

UNC coach Roy Williams said that the Longhorns were “much more aggressive” than the Tar Heels, particularly in the first half when the Heels committed 14 of their 17 turnovers. For the game, Texas scored 31 points after Carolina’s turnovers compared to 19 points that the Heels scored off Longhorn turnovers.

Uncharacteristically, Carolina managed just two points on fastbreak opportunities.

The Tar Heels went on an 11-0 run early in the game to go up 17-4 but the Longhorns, behind Kerwin Roach, caught up and took a 43-42 halftime lead.

Carolina never tied or took the lead as Texas led by as many as 11 points. White, who scored 20 in the first half and 13 in the second half, offensively “was our team tonight,” Coach Williams said.

While he said White was “fantastic,” Coach Williams also said he needs to improve defensively and that he shouldn’t have taken that wild three with a minute to go. “When you’re trying to come back, you’ve got to take more time to get a good shot,” he said.

White said after he took the shot, Coach Williams told him that the Heels could have gotten a better shot than that. He said he thinks Luke Maye was open when he took the ill-advised shot.

Maye didn’t have one of his best games offensively as he hit only five of 15 from the floor for his 11 points. He did have nine rebounds. Cam Johnson, who tallied 16, only hit one of six three-point attempts. Nassir Little, despite scoring in double figures with 11, also was cold from the floor, hitting only three of nine, including one of five from beyond the arc.

Roach led the Longhorns, now 5-0, with 32 points, a career high.

Carolina, 5-1, falls to the loser’s bracket and will have to play the loser of the UCLA-Michigan State powerhouse matchup Friday at 4 p.m.

For more analysis and a box score, please click here.