CLEMSON, SC – North Carolina recovered from a 16-point handicap against Clemson on Tuesday, four points from 12:38 to play. Tar Heels then offensively destroyed himself, losing 13 of his last 15 field goal attempts and losing 63 to 50 at the Littlejohn Coliseum.
Tar Heels (11-6, 6-4 ACC), who have won six of their last seven games, emerged from a week-long break out of sync. Clemson, who had lost four of his last five games by an average of 24.5 points, took control with an 11-0 run in the first six minutes of the game and increased his margin to 32-16 at the end of the first half.
UNC was efficient in the interval, using an 8-0 shot to get back to just one digit. Garrison Brooks made a jump with 12:38 to reduce Tar Heels’ deficit to 42-38. From that point on it was all Clemson, as the home team made seven of the last 13 goal attempts.
UNC posted casualties of the season in points (50), points in the middle (21), field goals (17) and field goal attempts (44).
Day’Ron Sharpe (16 points out of 6 out of 8 shots) was the only double-digit Tar Heel. Caleb Love and Kerwin Walton scored nine points each, while Brooks added eight points and nine rebounds. Hunter Tyson led the Tigers with 16 points out of 5 out of 11 shots.
UNC overtook Clemson, 38-28, including a 7-4 lead on the offensive glass, but only managed a 6-5 lead on second chance points. Tar jumps were overcome in the painting, 26-18.
The Tigers forced 17 turns and scored 13 points with these mistakes. Clemson’s last five opponents averaged 18.6 points on 13 turnovers, but UNC was unable to continue this trend, scoring just six points on seven forced turnovers.
Update of the NCAA curriculum
With the recent fall of Pittsburgh – consecutive defeats to Wake Forest, UNC and Notre Dame – the Tar Heels were once again looking for a Q1 victory to boost their curriculum at the NCAA Tournament. Tuesday’s loss reduced Roy Williams’s squad to 0-5 against Q1 opponents this season, with four possible Q1 games remaining.
The lack of charity
UNC missed 10 of its 21 free-throw attempts in Tuesday’s defeat. Tar Heels is throwing 47.2 percent of the charity in the last three games (25 of 53).
Blocked Bacot
Armando Bacot was the best UNC player in the ACC game, averaging 13.4 points from 61.5 percent of shots. Clemson apparently placed the sophomore at the top of his scouting report, as he held him without a field goal attempt in the first half and blocked his only attempt after the break.
Bacot, who averaged 8.7 field goal attempts in the first nine games of the UNC ACC, ended with one point, three rebounds, two turns and four fouls in 19 minutes.
Stumbling start
Tar Heels has played many bad first halves this season, although Tuesday’s effort is certainly in contention for the worst performance. UNC lost 32-16 with 2:10 to play, despite shooting 46.2 percent. Ten twists and a lack of offensive rebounds to that point limited Tar Heels to points on 28 percent of his possessions, while Clemson was more efficient with 13 hits on 27 possessions.
The UNC’s 33-21 deficit tied its biggest deficit in the interval of the season (Texas, Iowa).
Note Tweet
Tonight marks the first time that UNC has not had a single double-digit starting score since the 78-55 victory over Rutgers on December 28, 2010 at Madison Square Garden.
– Pat James (@ patjames24) February 3, 2021
Next
Tar Heels heads to Cameron Indoor Stadium to face rival Duke on Saturday (6pm / ESPN). It will be the first match between the two programs as unqualified teams since February 27, 1960. The Blue Devils are 7-6 (5-4 ACC) after Monday’s 77-75 loss in Miami.