In perhaps the most heartbreaking of fashions, North Carolina fell for the third time to the Duke Blue Devils 74-71 last night. In a game that was not a game for much of the second half, Carolina had a chance to take the lead late, but mistakes lose ballgames, and the Heels made two crucial ones in the final 30 seconds.
Carolina started the game playing like we expected them to, although shots were not falling. They were getting stops, preventing Duke from pulling away, and at the 9:12 point in the first half, a Seth Trimble layup cut what was a slim Duke lead to 4. From there though Duke would outscore Carolina 26-9 and take a 45-24 lead into the half. It was an ugly first half for the Heels, perhaps the ugliest since the first Duke game, as the Tar Heels shot just 35.7 percent from the floor, including 1-10 from the three point line. They trailed by nine in the rebounding margin and they were allowing Duke to shoot 50 percent from the field.
The second half started off with much of the same. Carolina was scoring, but they had little to no defensive resistance. Enter Seth Trimble. His energy guarding the ball and huge and-1s helped Carolina slowly chip away at the lead. Elliot Cadeau made 2 threes, which was 6 of his 11 second half points, as Carolina cut the lead to single digits at the 4:50 mark in the second half. Ven Allen-Lubin played perhaps his best offensive game of the season, yet had 4 major defensive lapses when he failed to stop the roll man on the pick-and-roll. Despite this, Duke could not stop him nor Trimble and Cadeau on the other end and Carolina cut the lead to one with under 30 seconds. It appeared Carolina would take the lead on the final possession when Ven Allen-Lubin missed a hook shot only for RJ Davis to tip it in. However, Lubin was fouled before the shot, and since UNC was in the double-bonus, he would be shooting two free-throws.
Here is where things took a turn for Carolina. Lubin missed the front end, and Jay’len Withers was subbed in to go for the offensive rebound. Withers, however, committed an egregious lane violation when Lubin was shooting, handing Duke the ball and effectively, the ballgame. Two Kon Knueppel free throws and a Lubin heave on a botched inbounds play later, Duke was celebrating and Withers had his head in hands wondering what went wrong.
This was a game that really showed the theme of the season for the Tar Heels, and if they fail to make the NCAA tournament, this game will be another example of a missed opportunity. A solid start, followed by a terrible middle part of the game, followed by a furious rally coming up just short. A season written in a game. Nevertheless, the fight Carolina showed was admirable down the stretch, and validated this team as a tournament team, as they showed they don’t have to be making it rain from the 3 point line to compete. Here are some of the main takeaways from this game.
RJ Davis: Perhaps the difference in the game was the absence of RJ Davis as a scorer in what will in all likelihood be his last Duke game. 8 points on 4-10 shooting is simply not good enough in a game that he needed to show up in. Now, some credit must be given to Duke for how well they guarded him, but RJ had some good looks, and he just could not cash in. Should Carolina continue playing this season, they will need RJ to have a better game than what he had last night.
Perimeter Defense: We said a key to the game would be how well the Heels guarded Kon Knueppel and Tyrese Proctor. Knueppel had 17, Proctor had 11, and the majority of those came in the first half for both. Carolina’s perimeter defense went from subpar/bad in the first half to stellar in the second. That’s the type of defense that, should the Heels make the tournament, we will have to see from them.
Jay’len Withers: The elephant in the room is that this guy simply was missing in action last night, and credit to Hubert Davis for realizing that and pulling him for much of the game. In 20 minutes Withers was 1-5 with just 2 points. He was 0-3 from the 3 point line and did not play well defensively, getting beat multiple times on the perimeter with just 3 rebounds. On top of that he committed the lane violation at the end that, simply put, a 5th year senior should not commit. While it was understandable why Hubert Davis put him into the game in that situation, Withers has proven he struggles in the clutch, and I would have much rather seen Jalen Washington in there if we were going for the offensive rebound.
Elliot Cadeau: One guy who did show up was Cadeau, as he had perhaps his best game since the beginning of the season. 15 points in 27 minutes, 4-8 from the field, including 3-3 from the 3 point line. Cadeau also had 5 assists and 2 steals, showing how he impacts a game without scoring. Cadeau may not have been the best player on the floor, but he was certainly one of the key reasons Carolina fought back into the game late and had a chance to win in the first place.
Up Next: Carolina now awaits the committee's decision on whether they will go to the NCAA tournament or not. That will be decided on Sunday when the field of 68 is set.
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