.png&width=36&height=36&type=webp)
University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Maggie Hobson
Lucas: March
December 2, 2020 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Wednesday's loss was a reminder of the road still ahead.
By Adam Lucas
ASHEVILLE—Matt Coleman was deservedly pleased after his 5-for-12 shooting performance helped Texas to a one-possession victory over North Carolina in the pre-conference portion of the season. Coleman started and played 32 of 40 minutes, handed out five assists and scored two key points in the final three minutes.
Here's the catch: that isn't Coleman's line from the 2020 Maui Invitational championship game, when he scored 22 points in 37 minutes, including the game-winner with 0.1 seconds on the clock. That's his tally from two years ago in Las Vegas.
That's the kind of experience the Tar Heels were facing on Wednesday. While Carolina's freshman backcourt of Caleb Love and RJ Davis were, well, occasionally looking like a freshman backcourt in their fourth college game ever, Coleman was looking very much like a senior guard who started 101 of a possible 102 games in his first three seasons in Austin.
The Texas gameplan down the stretch was simple: give it to either Coleman or junior guard Courtney Ramey (who played 12 minutes and had two assists in the 2018 meeting in Las Vegas), let them operate, and get back on defense. That duo scored 19 of the final 23 Texas points over the game's final 14:10.
Here on December 2, Carolina isn't quite as defined. The Tar Heel post players were mostly very successful, with Armando Bacot notching a double-double, Garrison Brooks scoring a team-high 18 points and Walker Kessler and Day'Ron Sharpe combining for 12 points and seven rebounds (Sharpe had four offensive) off the bench.
In fact, those big men often provided the best offense by rebounding errant initial shots, as happened with under a minute to play when Leaky Black missed a jumper in a tie game, but Carolina kept it alive long enough to send Black to the line to nail two free throws. "Toss it up and go get it off the rim" isn't necessarily a foolproof option, but while Love and Davis are learning the Tar Heel offense, it's a strategy that got Carolina within two points of a veteran squad that returned 100 percent of its scoring from last season.
And they will learn. Go ahead and prepare yourself—there may be even rougher games ahead, because Carolina has to go to Iowa next week, and then face Ohio State in Cleveland, and then play an ACC schedule. There are going to be hiccups. The only freshman in the Roy Williams era who has looked completely immune from ever looking like a freshman was Tyler Hansbrough, who was not just a unique player, he was a unique human being.
Everyone else has had to learn.
It's frustrating while it's happening, especially when the opponent is Texas, a team that has an inexplicable hold over the Tar Heels. Seven of the last nine losses to the Longhorns are now by three points or fewer, and Williams is now 1-8 against Texas as Carolina's head coach. What's the problem? For one thing, take a look at when the games are played. Eight of those nine contests are in November or December.
It's not that Carolina is too busy making a shopping list. It's that November and December are the times Williams is traditionally tinkering with his team. On Wednesday, in a six-point game in the second half, the Tar Heels went with five freshmen on the court. Maybe that's not the lineup they'll be using further down the road. Or maybe it will be. The point is, Williams is still trying to find out things about his team.
The goal isn't to stand on the court in Asheville while "One Shining Moment" bizarrely plays after the Maui Invitational, as it did on Wednesday evening. The goal is to be there in March or April. Although it doesn't feel particularly good right now, these three days got Carolina closer to that goal.
What did we learn here? The Tar Heels are as stacked as advertised in the post. Garrison Brooks remains a lynchpin. Because of that depth in the paint, there's some very good defensive potential here—had Carolina not helped the Texas offense by turning the ball over 14 times (a major contributor to the Longhorns' 17-9 advantage in fast break points), they defended well enough to win. Carolina's competitiveness is excellent and will win it some games that it lost last year. And shooting remains the biggest area of needed improvement, with the Tar Heels going 12-for-41 (29.3 percent) from the three-point line and 54 of 88 (61.4 percent) from the free throw line in these three games.
Those struggles are somewhat ameliorated by Carolina's proficiency on the backboards. But this is a better shooting team than they've showed so far. And there are enough offensive options on the roster that those who make more shots will earn more minutes. None of that makes anyone feel better on December 2. But a long, probably unusual season awaits.
The head coach dropped an interesting nugget about the final play in the postgame, saying, "If we had more experience, we'd probably have tried to double team." The Tar Heels have done that periodically under Williams against a hot guard, sending two defenders at him in a late clock situation to force someone else to beat them. But with freshman guards on the floor, and with Carolina having not practiced that situation particularly successfully so far, Williams decided against it, saying, "I didn't want to give up a layup."
Experience might be a tired topic. But it has a tangible impact on the game. With single coverage from the smaller—but tenacious—Davis, the 6-foot-2 Coleman made a tough shot.
The Tar Heels don't have the experience just yet to play it the way Williams might have preferred to defend. But they will later—perhaps in March.
ASHEVILLE—Matt Coleman was deservedly pleased after his 5-for-12 shooting performance helped Texas to a one-possession victory over North Carolina in the pre-conference portion of the season. Coleman started and played 32 of 40 minutes, handed out five assists and scored two key points in the final three minutes.
Here's the catch: that isn't Coleman's line from the 2020 Maui Invitational championship game, when he scored 22 points in 37 minutes, including the game-winner with 0.1 seconds on the clock. That's his tally from two years ago in Las Vegas.
That's the kind of experience the Tar Heels were facing on Wednesday. While Carolina's freshman backcourt of Caleb Love and RJ Davis were, well, occasionally looking like a freshman backcourt in their fourth college game ever, Coleman was looking very much like a senior guard who started 101 of a possible 102 games in his first three seasons in Austin.
The Texas gameplan down the stretch was simple: give it to either Coleman or junior guard Courtney Ramey (who played 12 minutes and had two assists in the 2018 meeting in Las Vegas), let them operate, and get back on defense. That duo scored 19 of the final 23 Texas points over the game's final 14:10.
Here on December 2, Carolina isn't quite as defined. The Tar Heel post players were mostly very successful, with Armando Bacot notching a double-double, Garrison Brooks scoring a team-high 18 points and Walker Kessler and Day'Ron Sharpe combining for 12 points and seven rebounds (Sharpe had four offensive) off the bench.
In fact, those big men often provided the best offense by rebounding errant initial shots, as happened with under a minute to play when Leaky Black missed a jumper in a tie game, but Carolina kept it alive long enough to send Black to the line to nail two free throws. "Toss it up and go get it off the rim" isn't necessarily a foolproof option, but while Love and Davis are learning the Tar Heel offense, it's a strategy that got Carolina within two points of a veteran squad that returned 100 percent of its scoring from last season.
And they will learn. Go ahead and prepare yourself—there may be even rougher games ahead, because Carolina has to go to Iowa next week, and then face Ohio State in Cleveland, and then play an ACC schedule. There are going to be hiccups. The only freshman in the Roy Williams era who has looked completely immune from ever looking like a freshman was Tyler Hansbrough, who was not just a unique player, he was a unique human being.
Everyone else has had to learn.
It's frustrating while it's happening, especially when the opponent is Texas, a team that has an inexplicable hold over the Tar Heels. Seven of the last nine losses to the Longhorns are now by three points or fewer, and Williams is now 1-8 against Texas as Carolina's head coach. What's the problem? For one thing, take a look at when the games are played. Eight of those nine contests are in November or December.
It's not that Carolina is too busy making a shopping list. It's that November and December are the times Williams is traditionally tinkering with his team. On Wednesday, in a six-point game in the second half, the Tar Heels went with five freshmen on the court. Maybe that's not the lineup they'll be using further down the road. Or maybe it will be. The point is, Williams is still trying to find out things about his team.
The goal isn't to stand on the court in Asheville while "One Shining Moment" bizarrely plays after the Maui Invitational, as it did on Wednesday evening. The goal is to be there in March or April. Although it doesn't feel particularly good right now, these three days got Carolina closer to that goal.
What did we learn here? The Tar Heels are as stacked as advertised in the post. Garrison Brooks remains a lynchpin. Because of that depth in the paint, there's some very good defensive potential here—had Carolina not helped the Texas offense by turning the ball over 14 times (a major contributor to the Longhorns' 17-9 advantage in fast break points), they defended well enough to win. Carolina's competitiveness is excellent and will win it some games that it lost last year. And shooting remains the biggest area of needed improvement, with the Tar Heels going 12-for-41 (29.3 percent) from the three-point line and 54 of 88 (61.4 percent) from the free throw line in these three games.
Those struggles are somewhat ameliorated by Carolina's proficiency on the backboards. But this is a better shooting team than they've showed so far. And there are enough offensive options on the roster that those who make more shots will earn more minutes. None of that makes anyone feel better on December 2. But a long, probably unusual season awaits.
The head coach dropped an interesting nugget about the final play in the postgame, saying, "If we had more experience, we'd probably have tried to double team." The Tar Heels have done that periodically under Williams against a hot guard, sending two defenders at him in a late clock situation to force someone else to beat them. But with freshman guards on the floor, and with Carolina having not practiced that situation particularly successfully so far, Williams decided against it, saying, "I didn't want to give up a layup."
Experience might be a tired topic. But it has a tangible impact on the game. With single coverage from the smaller—but tenacious—Davis, the 6-foot-2 Coleman made a tough shot.
The Tar Heels don't have the experience just yet to play it the way Williams might have preferred to defend. But they will later—perhaps in March.
Players Mentioned
F/C
/ Men's Basketball
G/F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
F/C
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F/C
/ Men's BasketballCarolina Insider: Rapid Reactions – Men’s Basketball vs. Radford – November 11, 2025
Wednesday, November 12
Hubert Davis Post-Radford Press Conference
Wednesday, November 12
UNC Men's Basketball: Tar Heels Handle Radford, 89-74
Wednesday, November 12
FB: Head Coach Bill Belichick Pre-Wake Forest Press Conference
Tuesday, November 11