Lucas: Kansas Rapid Reactions

By Adam Lucas

1. What a great college basketball game--this is exactly why you play these. Carolina somehow was a missed Elliot Cadeau three-pointer from tying the game, falling 92-89 in Lawrence.

2. Go ahead and be honest: late in the first half, you didn't expect to be that invested late in the second half. But the Tar Heels put on a ferocious rally, coming from down 20 to take the lead with 7:10 left and leading as late as two minutes left in the game.

3. The big spark for that rally was Jae'Lyn Withers. The Charlotte native hit a couple three-pointers and scored on a twisting drive to provide the lead and complete a stretch where he scored eight straight for the Tar Heels. Withers was also big on the boards, where he led the team in rebounds with nine. He was charged with a late turnover and missed a three-pointer, but Carolina isn't in that spot without him.

4. Carolina's defense was much tighter in the second half. After Kansas blistered the nets in the first half, the Heels limited them to 34.3 percent in the second half. KJ Adams had been very tough to stop in the first half, scoring 14 points. He was scoreless in the second half, going 0-for-4. Withers, too, was a big part of the defense on Adams.

5. Quite an offensive display by Kansas in the first half. The Jayhawks closed the half scoring on 17 of their final 24 trips, and two of those empty trips were on missed free throws. In the second half, they eventually just had too much Hunter Dickinson. He provided points every time they needed offense, finishing with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

6. The primary Tar Heel bright spot during that half was Ian Jackson. The freshman rebounded from a subpar performance in the opener to drop in three of his four shots.

7. Remember: Davis, Cadeau and Trimble combined to shoot 4-for-19 in the first half. That's going to be a recipe to be trailing at halftime against most teams. That's especially true when the other team is a Kansas squad shooting 59.5 percent from the field.

8. And the Tar Heels were in a one possession game in the final minute with Davis shooting 3-for-15 for the game. That should tell you something about the fight in this group. Seth Trimble led the Heels with 19, including 10-for-10 from the free throw line.

9. The fight often came from names you might not expect. The Tar Heels other than Davis, Trimble and Cadeau--the backcourt is the strength of this year's team under any circumstances--shot 17-28. That's why it's hard to quibble too much with two key possessions in the final 90 seconds, as Withers and Jalen Washington missed three-pointers. Logic would hold that you'd want to get the ball to your guards there. But logic hadn't gotten Carolina back in the game. Going into the game, would you have drawn up a Washington three-pointer trailing by two with under a minute to play? Nope. But this game didn't make much sense.

10. Another second half standout: Ven-Allen Lubin. He made all three of his field goals and generally showed the aggressiveness that was touted as his trademark.

11. Carolina stayed in the game at the free throw line. The Heels hit 28 of 31 from the charity stripe, a stellar 90.3 percent.

12. Really strong turnout by Carolina fans. As expected, it was the toughest ticket of the year in Lawrence. But Carolina fans found a way inside the building, with pockets of Carolina blue throughout the 15,300 seats.

13. Carolina was in town on the day Kansas is debuting significant updates to Allen Fieldhouse in which the program tried to retain the historical nature of the building while upgrading some of the fan features and technology. That includes a brand new sound system which they were not shy about turning to 11.

14. Kansas has now won the last five games in this series going back to 2008 and has taken a 7-6 lead in the overall series.

15. The Tar Heels now get a week off before hosting American a week from tonight. It's going to be interesting to see what tweaks come from this exposure to one of the nation's best teams. In roughly three weeks, Carolina is going to face three very good teams in three days in Maui.

16. From right behind where he took the shot, the final Cadeau three looked like it was on line. It fell short...but it was that close. Carolina learned something Friday night in Lawrence.

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Elliot Cadeau

Ian Jackson

Ven-Allen Lubin

Seth Trimble

Jalen Washington

Jae'Lyn Withers

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