UNC basketball suffers another ACC road loss, falls 77-69 to rival NC State in Raleigh
If North Carolina ends up missing the NCAA Tournament, Sunday’s 77-69 loss at No. 23 N.C. State might be viewed as the game that finally broke their collective optimism that the season could be salvaged.
The Tar Heels (16-11, 8-8 ACC) left PNC Arena still without a Quad 1 win in the NCAA’s NET rankings. At this point in the season, even if they secure one against Virginia on Saturday, or another against Duke in the regular season finale, it still might not be enough when stacked up to the 10 losses they have in the category.
“It’s definitely a disappointing, frustrating time,” said UNC guard R.J. Davis, who scored seven points but struggled to 2-for-13 shooting. “But I feel like if you pile that on you and just continue to beat yourself up, nothing’s going to change.”
Carolina got just four games to change course from a dubious journey that would make it the first Associated Press’ preseason No. 1 ranked team to not make the NCAA tournament since it expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
The Heels are not conceding despite their fifth loss in their past six games.
“None of us are built like that, our coaches ain’t built like that,” UNC guard said Caleb Love, who scored a team-high 23 points. “We just got to block out everything else. We still got a chance. I believe that, coach believes that, I think my teammates believe that so we’re going to keep showing up trying to get wins.”
Carolina had just seven turnovers in its 80-69 win when the teams played in Chapel Hill on Jan. 21. The Heels had eight in the first half, which turned into 12 points for the Pack. It wasn’t that State catching them in traps or pressure, several times it was just a matter of the Heels trying to force action in lane traffic.
UNC took better care of the ball — the Pack only scored two points off four turnovers through the first 15 minutes of the second half. And it allowed the Heels to take their biggest lead 54-48 thanks to an 11-4 spurt with 10:23 remaining.
“We had three straight possessions where we could have extended that lead,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “We missed a layup had two turnovers that allowed them to catch up and tie the game or take a one point game and we just didn’t play well down the stretch.”
Carolina again found itself unable to produce offensively in the decisive stretch of the game.
With the scored tied at 60, the Heels went scoreless over three minutes as the Wolfpack reeled off a 9-0 run They had never trailed by more than three points through the first 15 minutes of the second half, but found themselves ambushed by a combination of bad shots and giving up seemingly easy scores.
“They got in transition, really pushed the ball, and was able to get some buckets in the half court set as well as out in the fast break,” R.J. Davis said. “I think ours (shots) were like contested all the time.”
There was contact between Bacot and N.C. State center D.J. Burns that caused Bacot to fall down. The officials let it play on and Burns officially started the Pack’s scoring flurry in what ultimately put them ahead for good at 62-60.
Bacot had a chance to curtail the avalanche of points, but missed two free throws. When Joiner followed with a jumper, even though 3:56 remained, the game was all but over.
Joiner finished with a game-high 29 points to lead four State players in double figures scoring.
“At the end of the day, your big time players have to step up,” Hubert Davis said. “I think the shots that he took and the shots that he made in the second half, I feel like we had the same, if not better shots, and ours didn’t go in.”
It’s been a recurring problem for the Heels in their recent losses and there doesn’t seem to be any solutions for it.
Davis mentioned after Monday’s loss to Miami that he’d look at adjustments to personnel. It effectively resulted in a tighter bench.
Junior forward Puff Johnson, who had seven points and seven rebounds, was the only reserve to get extended time, playing 22 minutes.
Freshman forward Jalen Washington did not play. Sophomore guard D’Marco Dunn only played the last 18 seconds of the first half. Freshman forward Tyler Nickel got in for five minutes and guard Seth Trimble played six.
The rotation had them in a position to win until things fell apart in the final six minutes. It left the Heels trying to pick themselves up emotionally one more time.
“Right now it’s just remaining positive, keeping our spirits up, having each other’s backs and supporting one another,” R.J. Davis said. “That’s our mindset right now going into each game and continue to play hard. I felt like the effort was there today, the enthusiasm, the energy. It’s just a little execution here and there.”
This story was originally published February 19, 2023 at 3:14 PM with the headline "UNC basketball suffers another ACC road loss, falls 77-69 to rival NC State in Raleigh."