North Carolina’s Comeback Falls Short Against Florida
The North Carolina Men’s Basketball team lost to Florida 90-84 on Tuesday night. This was the Heels' second loss to a top-ranked SEC team after losing to Alabama in the SEC/ACC Challenge. North Carolina, 6-4, struggled in the first half by getting out-rebounded, turning the ball over, and shooting the ball at an abysmal level. In the second half, they minimized their turnovers and shot the ball better, but could not fully take the lead away from Florida. The overall problems are clear for the Heels and those are issues that will need to be fixed for this team to compete in the ACC this season.
RJ Davis led the Tar Heels in scoring with 29 points. By doing so he passed Phil Ford for third place on the school’s all-time scoring list. The fifth-year player had been in a shooting slump to start the season. Other scorers for the Heels were Ian Jackson and Seth Trimble with 11 points each. North Carolina fell early due to shooting 29 percent in the first half and the Gators' ability to make shots and rebound consistently. Florida led by as many as 17 in the first half led by Walter Clayton Jr and Will Richard. The Gators were able to take advantage of the smaller Tar Heels by outrebounding them 43-30 to gain a 46-34 lead at halftime.
At the start of the second half, the Tar Heels opened up on a 9-0 run sparked by steals by Davis and Trimble. However, the Gators never relented and imposed their will on the glass and were able to handle Carolina’s press defense. Carolina to their credit outscored the Gators 50-44 in the last 20 minutes. However, that has been the story of the Tar Heels so far this season, they get down big early and they are unable to overcome the lead in the second half. This is the biggest issue for the Heels because they are a small team and when they are not scoring on the offensive end consistently they fall into big deficits due to their lackluster defense.
North Carolina basketball historically has been known for having dominant players inside the paint to crash the boards and get extra possessions and to be an offensive scorer. However, they do not have this this season and it shows when they are going against other teams with size and length. UNC will have one more opportunity to get a top win against a Power Four non-conference opponent in UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic. The Heels desperately need a win over the Bruins before they start conference play in January in order to turn their season around.
