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University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Maggie Hobson
Lucas: Texas Rapid Reactions
December 2, 2020 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Quick takeaways from the Maui Invitational championship game.
By Adam Lucas
1. What can you say? It's Carolina-Texas. Seven of the last nine Carolina losses to Texas have been by three points or fewer.
2. The final play was all Matt Coleman. Matched up on the smaller RJ Davis, Coleman dribbled away the final 25 seconds before rolling in the game-winner. The Texas guards had been the entire offense during the second half, and with Leaky Black on Courtney Ramey, Texas went with Coleman.
3. The end of the game will get all the attention. But the decisive stretch came near the end of the first half. Carolina really missed the veteran presence of Garrison Brooks in that span, when he turned his ankle and had to go to the locker room. That left the Tar Heels with four freshmen on the court as they tried to cut into a double-digit deficit. That was a situation in which Carolina didn't have to catch up; they just needed to make a little progress and perhaps get the deficit to single digits at the break. Instead, they tried to do too much too quickly, and trailed at halftime, 40-28.
4. Not much mystery to the abysmal first half, as Carolina trailed 40-28 after struggling in almost every aspect of the game, including free throws (5-for-13, including two missed front ends of one-and-one opportunities), turnovers (ten) and a major struggle generating any consistent offense. The Tar Heels managed just one assist to go with their ten turnovers. That led to an extended halftime trip to the locker room in which the Tar Heels didn't emerge from the locker room until two minutes were left in the break, with Texas having already completed warmups and the officials on the floor.
5. Sometimes freshmen just look like freshmen. That was the case in the first half, as Carolina's rookie backcourt of Caleb Love and RJ Davis was taught a lesson by the veteran Texas backcourt of Matt Coleman and Courtney Ramey. Davis and Love combined to shoot 2-for-12 with four turnovers and one assist while Coleman and Ramey went for 14 points and four assists. Those days happen. You want them to happen in December instead of March. In the game, Ramey and Coleman combined to go 14-for-33 for 35 points, while Love and Davis went 5-for-24 for 16 points, with three assists and seven turnovers. That's what happens when you have freshmen, folks. They have games like this in December.
6. The frustration from Love and Davis eventually led to rare first half minutes from K.J. Smith, who provided a brief break when the freshmen were getting a lecture on the bench.
7. The rotation is still a work in progress. Roy Williams brought his two freshman big men, Walker Kessler and Day'Ron Sharpe, in together at the first media timeout.
8. There will undoubtedly be some talk about free throws. Not only did Carolina go 18-for-32 from the line (56.3 percent), they missed four front ends of one-and-one chances.
9. Leaky Black took a step forward in Asheville. He had ten rebounds against Texas and made a pair of clutch free throws with 25.6 seconds on the clock to tie the game. Black's defense was terrific all week here. Overall, Carolina's veterans were largely consistent against the Horns. Armando Bacot had a double-double, and Garrison Brooks had 18 points and seven rebounds and made multiple difficult shots in the second half.
10. While the defense was largely a positive here in Asheville, the offense needs some work (as you would expect at this stage of the season). Carolina shot just 1-for-9 from the three-point line against Texas and made just one of the final seven field goal attempts. The Tar Heels dominated on the glass (50-32 overall and 20 offensive rebounds that led to 25 second chance points), so the 41.4 percent field goal shooting wasn't devastating, but some of those looks will be better--and have better results--in the next month or two.
11. Great experience for Carolina's young team in the Maui Invitational. That includes a stretch in the second half when the Tar Heels had five freshmen on the court in a six-point game. You'll hear this game referenced later in the season as a learning experience.
12. Roy Williams' results against Texas remain one of the biggest outliers of his tenure at Carolina. It's not just simply burnt orange; Williams was 6-1 against the Longhorns at Kansas. In three of the meetings since he came to Chapel Hill, Texas has been the higher-ranked team. Two of the other meetings were at the Erwin Center in Austin. And the last eight meetings have been in either November or December, and as we know, if you're going to get a Williams-coached team, that's the time.
13. Good to see Anthony Harris remaining involved even while he's out with an injury. The sophomore guard spent some time with RJ Davis just before the second half started, going through a couple of instructions for the freshman.
14. The Texas defense made the Carolina offense very dribble-dependent. Carolina had one assist in the first half and a meager six for the game.
1. What can you say? It's Carolina-Texas. Seven of the last nine Carolina losses to Texas have been by three points or fewer.
2. The final play was all Matt Coleman. Matched up on the smaller RJ Davis, Coleman dribbled away the final 25 seconds before rolling in the game-winner. The Texas guards had been the entire offense during the second half, and with Leaky Black on Courtney Ramey, Texas went with Coleman.
3. The end of the game will get all the attention. But the decisive stretch came near the end of the first half. Carolina really missed the veteran presence of Garrison Brooks in that span, when he turned his ankle and had to go to the locker room. That left the Tar Heels with four freshmen on the court as they tried to cut into a double-digit deficit. That was a situation in which Carolina didn't have to catch up; they just needed to make a little progress and perhaps get the deficit to single digits at the break. Instead, they tried to do too much too quickly, and trailed at halftime, 40-28.
4. Not much mystery to the abysmal first half, as Carolina trailed 40-28 after struggling in almost every aspect of the game, including free throws (5-for-13, including two missed front ends of one-and-one opportunities), turnovers (ten) and a major struggle generating any consistent offense. The Tar Heels managed just one assist to go with their ten turnovers. That led to an extended halftime trip to the locker room in which the Tar Heels didn't emerge from the locker room until two minutes were left in the break, with Texas having already completed warmups and the officials on the floor.
5. Sometimes freshmen just look like freshmen. That was the case in the first half, as Carolina's rookie backcourt of Caleb Love and RJ Davis was taught a lesson by the veteran Texas backcourt of Matt Coleman and Courtney Ramey. Davis and Love combined to shoot 2-for-12 with four turnovers and one assist while Coleman and Ramey went for 14 points and four assists. Those days happen. You want them to happen in December instead of March. In the game, Ramey and Coleman combined to go 14-for-33 for 35 points, while Love and Davis went 5-for-24 for 16 points, with three assists and seven turnovers. That's what happens when you have freshmen, folks. They have games like this in December.
6. The frustration from Love and Davis eventually led to rare first half minutes from K.J. Smith, who provided a brief break when the freshmen were getting a lecture on the bench.
7. The rotation is still a work in progress. Roy Williams brought his two freshman big men, Walker Kessler and Day'Ron Sharpe, in together at the first media timeout.
8. There will undoubtedly be some talk about free throws. Not only did Carolina go 18-for-32 from the line (56.3 percent), they missed four front ends of one-and-one chances.
9. Leaky Black took a step forward in Asheville. He had ten rebounds against Texas and made a pair of clutch free throws with 25.6 seconds on the clock to tie the game. Black's defense was terrific all week here. Overall, Carolina's veterans were largely consistent against the Horns. Armando Bacot had a double-double, and Garrison Brooks had 18 points and seven rebounds and made multiple difficult shots in the second half.
10. While the defense was largely a positive here in Asheville, the offense needs some work (as you would expect at this stage of the season). Carolina shot just 1-for-9 from the three-point line against Texas and made just one of the final seven field goal attempts. The Tar Heels dominated on the glass (50-32 overall and 20 offensive rebounds that led to 25 second chance points), so the 41.4 percent field goal shooting wasn't devastating, but some of those looks will be better--and have better results--in the next month or two.
11. Great experience for Carolina's young team in the Maui Invitational. That includes a stretch in the second half when the Tar Heels had five freshmen on the court in a six-point game. You'll hear this game referenced later in the season as a learning experience.
12. Roy Williams' results against Texas remain one of the biggest outliers of his tenure at Carolina. It's not just simply burnt orange; Williams was 6-1 against the Longhorns at Kansas. In three of the meetings since he came to Chapel Hill, Texas has been the higher-ranked team. Two of the other meetings were at the Erwin Center in Austin. And the last eight meetings have been in either November or December, and as we know, if you're going to get a Williams-coached team, that's the time.
13. Good to see Anthony Harris remaining involved even while he's out with an injury. The sophomore guard spent some time with RJ Davis just before the second half started, going through a couple of instructions for the freshman.
14. The Texas defense made the Carolina offense very dribble-dependent. Carolina had one assist in the first half and a meager six for the game.
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