Lucas: UConn Rapid Reactions

By Adam Lucas

1. Connecticut is one of the best teams in the country, and Carolina simply didn't play at that level in an 87-76 UConn win.

2. It's very difficult to make a comeback against a team as good as UConn, and it's almost impossible when you're not combining defensive stops with offensive scores. During the decisive part of the game--the 11:00 mark through the 4:00 mark--Carolina did not have a single stop and score. It's essentially mathematically impossible to come back from a deficit in that fashion.

3. It's not necessarily that Carolina was poor defensively. It's that Connecticut is very talented offensively and presents multiple problems for a defense. The Huskies put a lot of stress on numerous parts of a defense. In the first half, they were dominant inside the three-point line, as they hit 13-for-19 on two-point shots (68 percent). And although they weren't particularly good on three-point shots (4-16) in that half, they rebounded five of those misses.

4. Then, as you were afraid might happen, the Huskies coupled that efficiency with success from the perimeter in the second half. They warmed up and hit 6-for-15 from three (while still hitting 11-for-16 from two), and that was simply too much offense to overcome. For the game, they were 24-for-35 on two-point shots, nearly 70 percent. Carolina, if you're wondering, was 21-for-43 on two-point shots.

5. The Tar Heels would've had to play an almost flawless offensive game to compete, and they simply didn't. RJ Davis was very good again, scoring 26 points, and Harrison Ingram was consistently a weapon (20 points on 8 for 13 from the field), but the Tar Heels never unlocked a third reliable offensive option. Cormac Ryan (3-for-10, 0-for-6 from three) and Armando Bacot (4-for-12, didn't score after Carolina's first possession of the second half) had an especially frustrating evening. Bacot did get his 73rd career double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds but didn't score in the final 19:34 of the game.

6. Bacot's rebounds were the best individual effort on a night when UConn dominated the backboards. The Huskies, one of the best rebounding teams in the country, had a 41-31 overall edge and 11-9 on the offensive glass, even while missing more shots than the Tar Heels. Bacot, Ingram and Elliot Cadeau tied for the team lead with five assists apiece.

7. Carolina wasn't great at capitalizing on those offensive boards (just six points), but an even more frustrating stat was points off turnovers. UConn made just eight miscues (Carolina had only seven), but the Tar Heels turned them into only seven points. The Huskies, meanwhile, got 14 points off those UNC errors.

8. Tuesday night marked the first top-10 matchup for the Tar Heels since a 5 vs. 7 battle against Virginia in December of 2019. Carolina's last win in a top-10 game was a three vs. fourth-ranked Duke win in Chapel Hill in March of 2019.

9. There's no question that UConn coach Dan Hurley is a Hurley. He stayed in constant contact with the officiating crew, and perhaps not coincidentally, the very dubious first half technical foul on Armando Bacot was whistled immediately after Hurley spent the majority of a timeout berating an official. That technical essentially gifted the Huskies with two points on a pair of free throws; Carolina answered with a Harrison Ingram three-pointer just before the break. The 90 seconds after Bacot was called for the technical is perhaps the most animated Hubert Davis has been in his two-plus years as Carolina's head coach.

10. The Tar Heels broke out a halfcourt zone defense for the first time this season during a first half stretch when UConn was having significant success offensively. The Tar Heels tried a 1-3-1 to give them a different look; it resulted in a Cam Spencer three-pointer and was quickly shelved. Similarly, UConn tried starting the final possession of the first half in a man look but then switched to a zone...the Tar Heels likewise hit a three.

11. RJ Davis continues his march up Carolina's all-time scoring list. He entered the UConn game with 1,467 points, ranking him 37th, and after the 26-point performance, he has now passed Dennis Wuycik (1,469), Caleb Love (1,476) and Kennedy Meeks (1,482). The White Plains senior began the season in 48th place on that list.

12. This was Carolina's third appearance in the Jimmy V Classic (the others were a win over UMass in December of 1996 and a loss to Indiana in December of 1999, but both of those games were played at the Meadowlands) and second straight year with a visit to Madison Square Garden. Hubert Davis has both personal and UNC traditional reasons for wanting the Tar Heels to play a prominent role in New York. Expect it to continue, and don't be surprised if you see the Tar Heels right back in New York City next season.

13. The Jimmy V Classic is a great event, and it feels right to have the Tar Heels back in it again. They played the famous ESPYs speech at halftime of the Illinois-Florida Atlantic game on the in-venue jumbotron, and it was remarkable how quiet it got inside Madison Square Garden as the speech played. If you have some time this week, it's worth reading Gary Smith's incredible Sports Illustrated piece on some of the days that surrounded that speech.

14. As college basketball nonconference schedules continue to move more towards the elite teams playing the other elite teams, it wouldn't be surprising to see more Carolina-UConn matchups. The Tar Heels came into Tuesday night 5-1 all-time against the Huskies, including a win in the 1998 NCAA Tournament.

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Armando Bacot

Elliot Cadeau

RJ Davis

Harrison Ingram

Caleb Love

Cormac Ryan

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