Lucas: Marquette Rapid Reactions

By Adam Lucas

1. Painful loss all the way around. Falling to Marquette doesn't hurt Carolina in the ACC race, of course, but it's damaging for the NCAA Tournament credentials and also raises some questions about the season overall. It wouldn't be surprising to hear Roy Williams use the phrase "fat and happy" after his team appeared to go through the motions early after a big win over Louisville.

2. Marquette came into the game last in the Big East in forcing turnovers by percentage. But Carolina couldn't hold on to the ball against the Golden Eagles. The Tar Heels committed 19 turnovers, including a big one with under four minutes to play that felt like a back-breaker.

3. Drive and pitch. Drive and pitch. Drive and pitch. Marquette repeated that formula constantly on Wednesday night, and they coupled that attack with one of their hottest three-point shooting nights of the season. You can be certain the Golden Eagles had an in-depth scouting report on Carolina, and they exploited the Tar Heels' occasional issues stopping dribble penetration and overeager help off perimeter shooters.

4. And, of course, Marquette made plenty of three-pointers. The visitors hit nine of 24 trifectas, clocking in just under 40 percent from the arc. They were very effective offensively in virtually every phase of the game, as they also shot over 50 percent from the field and converted 80 percent of their free throws.

5. Carolina got back into the game with more aggressive defense early in the second half. The Heels forced a bevy of Marquette turnovers by going to some full-court pressure, and then double-teaming the first pass across midcourt. They forced ten turnovers in the first 16 minutes of the second half. But they turned just four of those miscues into points, and that's why they weren't able to cut more substantially into the deficit. It felt like the Heels were making progress...and then you looked up and they still trailed by ten.

6. Carolina's abysmal first half put the Tar Heels in the largest halftime deficit they have faced this season. The Heels quite simply played very poorly in the first 20 minutes, missing all six of their three-point attempts, committing ten turnovers on 44 possessions, meaning they coughed it up almost 23 percent of the time down the court.

7. A more vintage performance from Garrison Brooks, who led Carolina in scoring with 18. But that was essentially the sum of the offensive contribution from the Tar Heel starters. Carolina's bench has been good recently (and they were again on Wednesday, outscoring Marquette 37-13 from the bench), but the Tar Heel starters were dominated by Marquette's starters, 70-33. Other than Brooks, who made 8 of 10 field goals, the UNC starters were 4-23 from the field.

8. Very uneven night for the Carolina guards. RJ Davis hit a big three-pointer as the Heels were trying to rally and scored 11 points, but he also committed four turnovers. And Caleb Love never really seemed to get in the flow of the game. Davis and Love combined for seven turnovers, and Leaky Black added three more from the wing.

9. D.J. Carton loves playing in the Smith Center. The Marquette guard played well in Ohio State's win in Chapel Hill last year, scoring eight points and handing out four assists in 19 minutes. After transferring to Marquette, he did it again on Wednesday, scoring 17 points to go with five assists. Carton also made what felt like the backbreaking bucket with under three minutes to play, and then secured the offensive rebound after he missed the ensuing free throw. He was the most impactful guard in the game.

10. You can see why Carolina heavily recruited Dawson Garcia. The Marquette freshman big man had 24 points and 11 rebounds in his 37 minutes.

11. So what does this mean for Carolina's NCAA Tournament hopes? That will be a Q3 loss by the NET ratings, which is a problem but is also the first loss this season in that category. It also leaves Carolina at 14-8 facing a final stretch that includes a home game against the best team in the conference (Florida State), a road trip to Syracuse and a regular season finale against Duke. It also makes you wonder if the Tar Heels might try a little harder to add a game next week between the Syracuse and Duke games. At minimum, the Heels need to win two of those three and would still have some work to do in the ACC Tournament.

Scoreboard Slider

University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Leaky Black

Garrison Brooks

RJ Davis

Caleb Love

Related Videos