University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Rapid Reactions
April 5, 2016 | Men's Basketball
By Adam Lucas
1. Just a terrible, terrible time to go cold from the field for the Tar Heels, especially when combined with some hot shooting from a Villanova team that has been doing it throughout the tournament. The Wildcats consistently got good looks during an important stretch midway through the second half, then contested every pass and forced the Tar Heels to take tough shots with a hand in their face. That allowed Villanova to build a ten-point lead with 5:29 left and then hold on for the heart-breaking win.
2. Carolina was too infrequently able to take advantage of apparent mismatches in the paint. On numerous occasions, Villanova ended up with a guard on one of Carolina's post men, but because of the overplaying, tenacious defense from the other Wildcats, UNC was rarely able to find a good angle for an entry pass. Likewise, they also never took advantage of those overplays for backdoor passes, which seemed like they might have been available. There would've been no way to predict this stat before the game: even with almost never using a traditional post-up, Villanova won the points in the paint stat 32-26.
3. Carolina's depth was supposed to be one of the key advantages in this game. But largely due to the efforts of Phil Booth, who finished with 20 points in a reserve role, the Wildcats held a 22-6 edge in bench points.
4. Credit the Villanova defense for almost completely eliminating Carolina's transition game. The Tar Heels finished with an unthinkable zero fast break points and had to essentially play the entire game in the halfcourt. What few transition chances they did get weren't converted, as the Wildcats were completely committed to getting back and preventing easy run-outs.
5. In what was an unusually officiated game, the Tar Heels--including Brice Johnson--appeared to let their emotions get the better of them during some important minutes. It's been rare for a senior-dominated team to lose their poise during this postseason run, but that did happen during some unfortunate stretches. Johnson finished with an uncharacteristic 14 points and eight rebounds on 6-for-10 shooting from the field.
6. Villanova made some important free throws down the stretch, and Carolina wasn't able to answer. The most critical was a 0-for-2 trip to the charity stripe from Justin Jackson with 2:44 left.
7. Not really sure what else Carolina could've done differently on the game's final possession, after Marcus Paige made an incredibly clutch game-tying three-pointer. 4.7 seconds was just far too much time for a talented offensive team, and when the Tar Heels overcommitted to Ryan Arcidiacono's dribble and Isaiah Hicks became entangled with Joel Berry, it left Kris Jenkins with a very good look at a championship-winning three-pointer that will be replayed for approximately forever and never get easier to watch.
8. That was a huge swing at the end of the first half. Carolina played it perfectly inbounding the ball with 42.8 seconds left, catching Villanova unaware and scoring quickly to get a seven-point edge and also create a two-for-one situation with UNC due to get the ball first in the second half. Then things got better with a Wildcat turnover...but Justin Jackson couldn't convert in transition, and Phil Booth scored at the buzzer to cut the Tar Heel halftime lead to 39-34. Carolina had played well in the first half but went into the locker room feeling like Villanova had the momentum.
