University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Rapid Reactions
December 4, 2014 | Men's Basketball
By Adam Lucas
1. Offensive rebounding. Offensive rebounding. Offensive rebounding.
2. That was the storyline against Butler, and that was the storyline again on Wednesday against Iowa. The Hawkeyes got just one offensive board in the first half, but then piled up 16--that's right, sixteen--in the second half, including on some of the most crucial possessions of the game. Roy Williams tried almost everything, cycling through all of Carolina's post options, but it seemed no one could keep Iowa off the glass.
3. Even all those offensive rebounds, though, might not have mattered if Carolina could have converted even a handful of their scoring opportunities near the basket. Far too often it looked like the Tar Heels had a clear look at the rim, only to leave it short or watch it roll off the side.
Even a halftime tie swap from Roy Williams--he switched his green one for blue--couldn't save the Tar Heels. For the game, UNC shot an abysmal 27.9 percent (19-for-68) and 17.4 percent (4-for-23) from the three-point line.
4. J.P. Tokoto almost singlehandedly saved the Tar Heels during an otherwise listless stretch in the first half. During a half when Carolina shot just 26.8 percent from the field, Tokoto either scored or assisted on baskets on four straight possessions. His touch pass to Marcus Paige for a hoop might have been the Tar Heel highlight of the game.
5. It feels like Justin Jackson is doing everything right...except put the ball in the basket. Jackson is playing aggressively and getting good looks, but they just didn't fall very often on Wednesday night. The freshman finished just 3-of-9 from the field.
6. Rough night for Brice Johnson, who quickly picked up three fouls in four minutes of first half action and finished 1-for-7 from the field.
7. A larger than you might have expected crowd of Iowa fans made the trip to Chapel Hill and stayed long after the final buzzer to cheer Fran McCaffrey when he left the floor for the final time. That was a signature win for the Iowa program.
8. Figure this one out: Iowa shot 24.2 percent from the field in the second half, including a miserable 0-for-12 from the three-point line...and won the game.
9. Paige was un-Paigelike again, hitting just 4-of-16 from the field and 3-for-12 from the three-point line. He also committed three turnovers and had a very uncharacteristic zero assists. That was part of a disturbing trend overall, as Carolina had just eight assists as a team on 19 field goals--this from a club that was assisting on over 60 percent of its field goals coming into Wednesday night.
