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University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Rapid Reactions
December 1, 2016 | Men's Basketball
By Adam Lucas
1. Obviously, Carolina wants to win every single game. But Wednesday night's 76-67 loss at Indiana was the type you are going to lose in the course of a college basketball season. The Hoosiers pulled out every intangible stop, had a full-throated sellout crowd behind them, got an uncharacteristically good perimeter shooting game, and needed every bit of it to hold off the visitors. That's in a game where Carolina got unusually average performances from Isaiah Hicks (only 2-of-4 from the field, just six points) and Joel Berry (3-of-12 shooting).
2. Indiana did the best job of any opponent this season of eliminating Carolina's transition game. The Tar Heels had zero fast break points in the first 35 minutes of the game, which contributed to the lack of any kind of offensive rhythm. Part of the problem with the transition offense was the Tar Heel defense failing to create any significant kind of turnover problems for the Hoosiers, a team that entered the game as one of the worst in the country in turnover percentage. Carolina showed a couple early possessions of double-teaming halfcourt pressure (Tom Crean said in his pregame interview on the THSN he expected to see a healthy dose of that defense), but otherwise played straight man-to-man. For the game, the Tar Heels mustered just two fast break points.
3. The Hoosiers also did the best job of any opponent this season of limiting Carolina's advantage on the backboards. Indiana was dominant early in the game on the glass, and eventually played to a 37-37 deadlock on the boards. Carolina got just eight second chance points.
4. The fact that Carolina shot free throws at an over 90 percent clip in the last two games wasn't often mentioned. But the fact that the Tar Heels struggled at the line on Wednesday, including missing six of their final seven free throws in the first half, will be mentioned quite a bit in the next few days. In addition, they missed the front end of three opportunities in the first half, meaning they left a total of nine points at the charity stripe in a first half that they trailed by 12. For the game, the Tar Heels hit just 13 of 22 attempts at the free throw line.
5. Foul trouble cost the Tar Heels a good chance to slice into the lead just before half. Joel Berry was out with two fouls, which meant he wasn't able to run the offense on a couple key possessions late in the period. Carolina had closed to 39-28 with 2:35 left in the half, and had two possessions with the opportunity to cut it to double figures. But they missed a couple three-pointers and had a turnover, and Indiana got a bucket to take a 12-point lead into the locker room.
6. Remember, it's a long season. Later in that year, when the Tar Heels go on the road in a key ACC game, Roy Williams is absolutely certain to mention to his team the first nine minutes of Wednesday's game. During that stretch, Carolina looked overwhelmed by the energy in the building, and eventually fell behind by 17 points in a game they lost by nine. In other words, the bad opening stretch of the game essentially decided the outcome. That's a lesson that will be brought up again.
7. Justin Jackson was the most consistent Tar Heel offensively. The junior scored in a variety of ways and finished seven of 13 from the floor for 21 points.
8. The box score won't show it, but Kenny Williams never looked out of place in a high-level game, was very good defensively, and still very much looks like a player who is on the verge of breaking out in his sophomore season. Williams played quality defense against Robert Johnson and James Blackmon and had a jumper rattle out on him in the final five minutes that would've cut the lead to three and changed the entire flow of the game.
9. Even though he didn't have a good offensive performance, Berry's defensive effort keyed a much more intense second half performance. From the very first Indiana possession, Berry forced the Indiana offense away from the rim.
10. It's not one he will want to remember, but Wednesday was Roy Williams' 1,000th game.
11. Interesting non-game note: Indiana put approximately $40 million into Assembly Hall during the offseason, dramatically renovating several areas of the venue, but especially the main entrance and a brand new center-hung scoreboard. Less than ten years ago, the university planned to build an entirely new building, but eventually decided a renovation was more feasible. That's a situation Carolina could find itself in over the next generation or so; athletic director Bubba Cunningham was on the trip with the Tar Heels and saw the renovations first-hand.
