This is always the hardest article to write every year, and yes it’s harder to write about this loss, as compared to the Duke losses. Yesterday afternoon, the Tar Heels season came to an end, with a 71-64 loss to Ole Miss in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament, ending the legendary career of RJ Davis, who will leave UNC, as the program’s second-leading scorer. Carolina never led in the game, trailing by as many as 22, before a ferocious comeback, which cut the deficit down to two, fell just short. Before Carolina could even settle into the game, they were down 11-2, forcing an early timeout from Hubert Davis, as Ole Miss opened the game hot from deep, where they started 6-7, on their way to an 8-20 performance from the outside. Carolina would respond and make it 14-10, but that’s as close as they’d get the rest of the half, before trailing 44-26 going into the locker room.
Just like against Duke in the ACC Tournament, Carolina mounted a big comeback that didn’t start until late in the second half. It wasn’t until the under-12 timeout before UNC began to work itself back into the game, behind the effort of Seth Trimble, who became a dominant force on both ends, to go along with timely shot-making from RJ Davis and Elliot Cadeau. Down 66-61, Davis converted a three-point play, to bring Carolina within 2, with just over a minute left to play. On the following Ole Miss possession, veteran guard, Sean Pedulla would make a three, that effectively ended the game, as Ole Miss would go on to win 71-64.
A big reason Carolina lost the game, was the inability to get stops, but more importantly, rebound the basketball. The Rebels entered the game, ranking in the 300s in the nation in terms of rebounding the basketball, yet they won the battle of the boards, 40-34. A reason for that was Ven-Allen Lubin’s foul trouble, as he picked up two early first-half fouls, that caused him to miss an extended period of time. The same thing happened in the second half, which meant Jalon Washington had to play in his place, and he wasn’t tough enough to keep Carolina competitive defensively, despite leading the team in rebounding. The absence of Lubin took away Carolina’s leading rebounder, as well as its inside scoring presence, as he was 6-7 from the floor.
After the blowout win over San Diego State in the First Four, Carolina looked primed to go on a run and make it out of the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, but it wasn’t meant to be, as the season came to a close in the most fitting way possible, setting the stage for a pivotal off-season this spring in Chapel Hill.
Poor Perimeter Shooting: After making a program record for threes in a tournament game in the win on Tuesday, Carolina was just 5-24 from behind the arc yesterday, as RJ Davis struggled, going 1-8 from behind the arc.
Layups: Even with Lubin making plays at the rim, Carolina struggled overall to finish at the rim, going just 9-21 on layups. There was a stretch, when Carolina was down, that they missed two layups on the same possession, and had those gone down, maybe we’re talking about a different result here.
Free Throws: Not only did Carolina struggle to make shots at the rim, they struggled to make foul shots, leaving 5 points at the foul line. Even more troublesome, was when they game was still in doubt in the first half, UNC missed the front end of a one and one, twice, effectively serving as a turnover, hindering Carolina from making the game closer.
Thank You 4: The legendary career of RJ Davis came to a close yesterday, after playing 175 games at UNC, and finishing his career, as the third all-time scorer in ACC history, and the second all-time scorer at UNC. Davis serves as the last connection to the final team that Roy Williams coached, which means that a new era of Carolina Basketball will be upon starting next fall. As for Davis, he concludes his career, with a lot of great highs, mixed with the lowest of lows. Next up for Davis, is getting his jersey honored in the rafters at the Smith Center, as he’ll forever be enshrined into the doctrine of this program.
Up Next: With no games scheduled to be played, attention now turns to the off-season, and more specifically, the transfer portal, which opens on Monday, With GM Jim Tanner already on the job, expect Carolina to be active early and often, as they’ll look to reload the roster for 2025-26.
The Four Corners Podcast:
The Heel Tough Blog would like to thank you for all the support you’ve shown us during this season, and we encourage you to make us your home for the off-season.
Kommentare