Three takeaways from No. 9 North Carolina basketball’s loss to No. 14 Kentucky
No. 9 North Carolina lost its second straight top 25 matchup on Saturday, falling to No. 14 Kentucky, 87-83, in the CBS Sports Classic on Saturday night.
The Wildcats (8-2) in led for the majority of the game, though the Tar Heels (7-3) made a late comeback. UNC trailed by as many as 12 points and took a one-point lead with 5:15 in the game and had the game within two possessions multiple times. Kentucky kept responding, though, staving off the Heels.
It wasn’t a pretty game for either team. They combined for 31 turnovers, a season-high 17 for the Heels. Plus, they combined for 42 fouls, including a Flagrant 1 on Paxson Wojcik and technical on Kentucky head coach John Calipari.
Senior RJ Davis led UNC with 27 points, scoring 18 in the second half. It was the second game where the guard contributed double figures after the break. Davis was accompanied at the 20-point mark by graduate transfer Cormac Ryan, who scored a new season high with his 20 points.
Here are three takeaways from UNC’s second straight loss.
Heels sluggish and unfocused to start
The Tar Heels, who want an up-tempo game, looked like a team that hadn’t played in 10 days since losing, 87-76, to No. 5 UConn in New York. They looked slow in the first 11 minutes of action, unable to get the ball going early, committing plenty of sloppy turnovers and sending the Wildcats to the line.
Within the first four minutes, the Tar Heels scored just two field goals. In the first eight, they made three baskets and turned the ball over five times.
UNC committed 11 turnovers by halftime, as well, with Armando Bacot recording four and adding two personal fouls. The forward finished with nine points, six rebounds, three fouls and six turnovers.
Even on possessions that didn’t officially end in a turnover, the lack of ball handling precision showed up.
UNC finally got settled about midway through, making five straight baskets and ending the period on an 8-0 run. Still, the first half could best be described as lackluster considering the Heels have proven themselves better than 38 points, 11 fouls and 11 turnovers.
Rebounding remains a weakness
Rebounds were the No. 1 priority coming out of UNC’s loss to UConn last week. Tar Heels coach Hubert Davis made that exceptionally clear this week.
If players didn’t rebound during practice, they ran. If those issues continued, playing time gets reduced. Davis wants the team to limit opponents to one shot per possession on defense and consistently get to the glass on the offense.
UNC struggled with that again. The team had been within striking distance, but the Wildcats ratcheted up the effort down the stretch. Carolina finished at a 42-32 rebounding disadvantage overall and was out-rebounded 18-6 on the offensive end. Those free possessions allowed Kentucky to take 15 more shots.
Tar Heels need consistent rim protection
UNC’s roster features a lot of talent, but it’s struggled to regularly protect the bucket. That was on display against the Wildcats. The Heels blocked a handful of shots – five to be exact – but it didn’t have the same inside presence as Kentucky.
Graduate transfer Jae’Lyn Withers and junior Harrison Ingram each contributed two blocks. It’s better than recent performances, but that likely won’t be enough if UNC wants to make a run in March.
Coming into the game, the Heels ranked No. 106 nationally in blocked shot percentage, blocking 11% of their opponents’ shots, according to KenPom.com. That is better than the national average of 9.4, but it puts Carolina in the 71st percentile.
The Heels’ best game around the bucket came against Florida State, when it blocked eight shots, but it hadn’t picked up more than four against any other major opponent.
Kentucky, however, entered the game blocking 13.8% of its opponents’ shots. That ranked No. 33 in the nation, and the team averaged 4.8 blocks per game. Those numbers will increase after the Wildcats blocked nine Tar Heel shots.
