After falling to Auburn in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational on Tuesday night, the Tar Heels looked to bounce back against Michigan State, in the third place game, but instead lost an overtime classic, 94-91, to not only lose back to back games, but fall to 4-3 on the season, after starting the year as a preseason top-10 team. For the third straight game, Carolina found themselves down double-digits, as Michigan State was able to get off to a hot start, including equaling their average of made threes in a game, in the first half. If it wasn’t for a shot before the half being overturned because of a shot clock violation, Carolina would’ve found itself down double-digits at the half, but instead only trailed by 9, at 43-34. As they have in virtually every game so far this season, they started the second half with their hair on fire and eventually took at 58-57. On the ensuing Michigan State possession, as the Spartans were trying to call a timeout, Elliot Cadeau was called four a foul, after not creating the contact, and it was obvious they were motioning to the sideline to ask for time. That set Hubuert Davis off, who earned his first technical foul as Carolina’s head coach, but gave the lead right back to Michigan State. In the game’s closing minute, down 80-79, Elliot Cadeau missed a wide-open layup, that would’ve given Carolina the less with less than 30 seconds left to play. After fouling, down 82-79, Seth Trimble hit a game-tying three, with less than 5 seconds left, that forced overtime. In overtime, Carolina would take a brief 87-86 lead but would lose it on the following possession on a dunk, and from there, they would never recover.
You agree to play in events like the Maui Invitational, because they help you learn a lot about your time, hopefully in a good way. For Carolina, outside of the emergence of Drake Powell, there’s not a lot of positives to take away from their 1-2 showing in the event. Carolina’s defense, and lack of size, were just some of the things that got exposed this week, and it doesn’t get any easier for them once they return home, when they’ll face another quality opponent in Alabama in the ACC/SEC Challenge. The week off will give the staff the ability to reevaluate everything, which is necessary with where this team is currently.
This isn’t what RJ Davis envisioned when he announced he was coming back for his super-senior season, both for the team and for him individually. And as the leader of this team, it’s on him to turn this thing around, so his final college basketball season doesn’t go to waste. Here’s what to take away from last night’s loss to Michigan State:
All Around Bad Defense: Carolina allowed Michigan State to shoot 54% from the field and score 50 points in the paint. It was the second game this season they’ve allowed 50 points in the paint. For comparison, they have only had two such games over the last two seasons. The 94 points allowed marks the third time this season, they’ve allowed 90 points or more. For further context, they allowed 82 in regulation, to a team that was ranked 84th in offense according to KenPom. Until things change on the end of the floor, the results won’t change on the scoreboard.
Trimble & Davis Struggle: Seth Trimble may have hit the game-tying shot to force overtime, but it didn’t help overcome his worst game of the season, Trimble scored just 9 points, on 3-9 shooting, failing to convert at the rim. Davis meanwhile, scored 18 points, but was 6-18 from the field, and just 2-6 from three, and also missed a critical free throw in overtime. With the way that Elliot Cadeau played the entire time in Maui, they needed more from Trimble and Davis combined, and they only got that in the Dayton game.
Freshmen Are Ready: Ian Jackson and Drake Powell might be the two most talented players on the roster, and they are growing up in front of our eyes. Powell very mell have earned a starting role after his Maui performance, and last night he scored 18 points, in 33 minutes, going 4-6 from behind the arc. Once again, with the game in the balance in the closing minutes, Powell was on the floor. Jackson meanwhile, had his best game as a Tar Heel, scoring 14 points, and making multiple perimeter shots. Hubert Davis deployed a four-guard lineup last night, that we might see moving forward, as they look to speed the game up even more.
Lack of Free Throws: Carolina had been getting to the foul line at will before the Maui Invitational, but that went away after the Dayton game. Michigan State was plus-8 from the foul line night and took 10 more free throws than Carolina did.
Up Next: Carolina returns home to host top-10 Alabam next Wednesday in the ACC/SEC Challenge.
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