By R.L. Bynum
There have been plenty of forgettable North Carolina games in Atlanta in many sports over the years, but the latest frustrating Tar Heels loss there will be remembered for a foul that wasn’t called.
As RJ Davis drove the lane with the No. 3 Tar Heels trailing by a point in the final seconds, Georgia Tech’s Ebenezer Dowouna lunged his shoulder into Davis. There was no foul, and Davis missed the shot as the Yellow Jackets pulled off a 74–73 upset at McCamish Pavilion to end UNC’s 10-game win streak.
“We wanted to get RJ on the run, and it was exactly what we got,” UNC coach Hubert Davis told the Tar Heel Sports Network after his team’s first road loss of the season. “I couldn’t see on the other side what happened. I knew that RJ had a couple of steps on his defender. Other than that, I couldn’t see what happened. I just saw RJ on the ground, and the game was over.”
Carolina (17–4, 9–1 ACC) rallied from an eight-point deficit with 5:12 left as Davis scored seven of his game-high 28 points after that, and gave the Tar Heels a 73–72 lead on a transition layup with 34.6 seconds left.
But Davis, who tied his career-high with 24 shots (also against Alabama last season), couldn’t score again after a layup by Georgia Tech’s Naithan George with seven seconds left turned out to be the winning basket. He hit it over Armando Bacot, who switched off on George during the play.
“I felt like the energy and effort in the second half was really good,” Coach Davis said. “Down the stretch, they made one more play than us.”
The Tar Heels wouldn’t have been in a close game at the end if they had made more than 9 of 17 free throws (a season-low 52.9%), their lowest percentage since shooting 38.9% against Louisville on Feb. 20, 2021.
“If we make our percentage, that’s a different ballgame,” Coach Davis said of his team’s troubles at the line after it came into the game shooting 76.2%.
There were long stretches of bad offense against the changing defenses from the Yellow Jackets (10–11, 3–7). UNC shot a 36.4% from the floor, the second-lowest this season (35.6% at Pittsburgh).
“One of the things that we wanted to do was dominate points in the paint that would allow us to get to the free-throw line. We didn’t,” Coach Davis said, pointing out that both teams had 17 attempts at the line after UNC came into the game with more makes than Georgia Tech had attempts. “That’s just an indication of us not attacking the basket, not being too strong when we attack the basket.”
UNC tries to rebound in a huge battle of top-10 rivals, with No. 7 Duke (16–4, 7–2) coming to the Smith Center at 6:30 Saturday (ESPN).
“I’m very proud of this team thus far this year,” Coach Davis said. “So, regroup and learn from the mistakes, grow from them and make sure, in our next game, we don’t make those types of mistakes.”
RJ Davis was the only UNC player to score in double figures, with Cormac Ryan (three 3-pointers) and Bacot (9 rebounds) each scoring nine and Harrison Ingram (two 3-pointers, 13 rebounds) adding eight.
Elliot Cadeau fouled out for the third time in his career but the first time since November, with all five fouls coming in the second half, and finished with five points and five assists and a game-high +12 in only 21 minutes.
Ryan, Ingram and Cadeau combined to go 8 of 35 from the floor (22.9%).
“In the first half, I just didn’t think we were playing very well,” Coach Davis said. “I felt like the first half, [Georgia Tech] played like the more-hungry team out there. They were getting loose balls and rebounds, second-chance opportunities. We were making mistakes defensively on assignments, and they were scoring off of our mistakes.”
A Miles Kelly 3-pointer gave the Jackets an early four-point lead, but Bacot scored six points in a 15–0 run as UNC took a 10-point lead on a Jalen Washington dunk with 11:54 left in the first half.
After seven consecutive Jackets points cut their deficit to three, UNC’s 7–2 run pushed it back to 11 on a Ryan 3-pointer with 7:20 left. Carolina went scoreless for the next five minutes and didn’t score another first-half field goal as the Jackets tied it at 37 by halftime with a 12–1 run.
Cadeau got three questionable fouls in 77 seconds, and came out after a Davis jumper gave UNC a 45–42 lead with 16:21 left. When Cadeau returned more than six minutes later, UNC trailed by four. He fouled out with 5:49 left with the deficit still four.
The Heels led by five before consecutive 3-pointers from Kyle Sturdivant and Dallan Coleman ended a 10–0 run to give the Jackets a two-point lead with 12:31 left.
A 7–0 Jackets run, all but two at the free-throw line, pushed their lead to eight with 5:12 left.
Back-to-back three-point plays from RJ Davis and Seth Trimble on drives ignited an 8–1 run to cut the lead to one on a Davis layup. Sturdivant banked in a 3-pointer, but an Ingram 3 with two minutes remaining cut the Jackets’ lead to one with two minutes left.
NOTES — UNC’s five poorest shooting games this season are all on the road: 41.7% at Clemson, 41.4% at Florida State, 38.7% at N.C. State, 36.5% at Pitt and Tuesday’s season-low 36.4% at Georgia Tech. … Ryan is 2 of 11 from 3-point range in the last three games. … Six UNC January road league games were the most since the Tar Heels played seven Southern Conference road games in 1952. … RJ Davis has multiple 3-pointers in a school-record 18 consecutive games. … Davis passed George Lynch (1,747) for 17th in UNC career scoring with 1,755 points. … Davis passed Donald Williams and Rashad McCants for fifth in UNC history with 224 3-pointers. They both made 221; Wayne Ellington is fourth with 229. … Ingram has double-digit rebounds in four consecutive games and seventh of the last nine. … It was UNC’s first one-point loss since a 65–64 home loss to Pittsburgh on Feb. 2, 2023. … It was Bacot’s 153rd game, second all-time in UNC history behind Leaky Black’s school record of 155. … Georgia Tech center Baye Ndongo didn’t return after Ingram inadvertently kneed him in the head 4½ minutes into the game. … It was the first time an opponent has scored more than 70 points against UNC since its last visit to Atlanta and its last loss, an 87–73 setback against No. 10 Kentucky on Dec. 16. … Carolina is 17–2 outside of Atlanta this season and 0–2 in Atlanta. … Carolina had a season-high 22 offensive rebounds and converted them into 23 second-chance points. … UNC went from 10 first-half turnovers to only one after halftime. … Georgia Tech coach Damon Stoudamire joined N.C. State’s Sidney Lowe and Kevin Keatts as the only first-year ACC head coaches in the last 30 years to beat UNC and Duke in their first seasons. … Carolina leads the all-time series with Georgia Tech 72–28, including 23–14 at Tech. … It was Georgia Tech’s first win against a top-five team since beating No. 2 UNC 78–75 in the in 2005 ACC tournament.
Georgia Tech 74, No. 3 UNC 73
ACC standings
| Team | League | Overall |
|---|---|---|
| No. 4 North Carolina | 17–3 | 25–6 |
| No. 11 Duke | 15–5 | 24–7 |
| Virginia | 13–7 | 22–9 |
| Pittsburgh | 12–8 | 21–10 |
| Clemson | 11–9 | 21–10 |
| Syracuse | 11–9 | 20–11 |
| Wake Forest | 11–9 | 19–12 |
| Virginia Tech | 10–10 | 18–13 |
| Florida State | 10–10 | 16–15 |
| N.C. State | 9–11 | 17–13 |
| Boston College | 8–12 | 17–14 |
| Georgia Tech | 7–12 | 14–17 |
| Notre Dame | 7–13 | 12–19 |
| Miami | 6–14 | 15–16 |
| Louisville | 3–17 | 8–22 |
Saturday’s games
No. 4 North Carolina 84, No. 11 Duke 79
Virginia Tech 82, Notre Dame 76
Florida State 83, Miami 75
Boston College 67, Louisville 61
Wake Forest 81, Clemson 76
Pittsburgh 81, N.C. State 73
Virginia 72, Georgia Tech 57
ACC tournament
March 12–16, Capitol One Arena, Washington
UNC season statistics
| Date | Month/day | Score | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 27 | Friday | W, 117–53 | vs. St. Augustine’s | Exhibition |
| November | ||||
| 6 | Monday | W, 86–70 | vs. Radford | 1–0 |
| 12 | Sunday | W, 90–68 | vs. Lehigh | 2–0 |
| 17 | Friday | W, 77–52 | vs. UC Riverside | 3–0 |
| Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas | ||||
| 22 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | Northern Iowa | 4–0 |
| 23 | Thursday | L, 83–81, OT | Villanova | 4–1 |
| 24 | Friday | W, 87–72 | Arkansas | 5–1 |
| ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | ||||
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 100–92 | vs. No. 6 Tennessee | 6–1 |
| December | ||||
| 2 | Saturday | W, 78–70 | vs. Florida State | 7–1, 1–0 ACC |
| Jimmy V Classic in New York | ||||
| 5 | Tuesday | L, 87–67 | No. 1 Connecticut | 7–2 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 16 | Saturday | L, 87–83 | No. 12 Kentucky | 7–3 |
| Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte | ||||
| 20 | Wednesday | W, 81–69 | Oklahoma | 8–3 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 29 | Friday | W, 105–60 | vs. Charleston Southern | 9–3 |
| January | ||||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 70–57 | at Pittsburgh | 10–3, 2–0 ACC |
| 6 | Saturday | W, 65–55 | at Clemson | 11–3, 3–0 ACC |
| 10 | Wednesday | W, 67–54 | at N.C. State | 12–3, 4–0 ACC |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 103–67 | vs. Syracuse | 13–3, 5–0 ACC |
| 17 | Wednesday | W, 86–70 | vs. Louisville | 14–3, 6–0 ACC |
| 20 | Saturday | W, 76–66 | vs. Boston College | 15–3, 7–0 ACC |
| 22 | Monday | W, 85–64 | vs. Wake Forest | 16–3, 8–0 ACC |
| 27 | Saturday | W, 75–68 | at Florida State | 17–3, 9–0 ACC |
| 30 | Tuesday | L, 74–73 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 9–1 ACC |
| February | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | W, 93–84 | vs. No. 13 Duke | 18–4, 10–1 ACC |
| 6 | Tuesday | L, 80–76 | vs. Clemson | 18–5, 10–2 ACC |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 75–72 | at Miami | 19–5, 11–2 ACC |
| 13 | Tuesday | L, 86–79 | at Syracuse | 19–6, 11–3 ACC |
| 17 | Saturday | W, 96–81 | vs. Virginia Tech | 20–6, 12–3 ACC |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 54–44 | at Virginia | 21–6, 13–3 ACC |
| 26 | Monday | W, 75–71 | vs. Miami | 22–6, 14–3 ACC |
| March | ||||
| 2 | Saturday | W, 79–70 | vs. N.C. State | 23–6, 15–3 ACC |
| 5 | Tuesday | W, 84–51 | vs. Notre Dame | 24–6, 16–3 ACC |
| 9 | Saturday | W, 84–79 | at No. 13 Duke | 25–6, 17–3 ACC |
| ACC tournament Washington | ||||
| 14 | Thursday | W, 92–67 | Quarterfinals: Florida State | 26–6 |
| 15 | Friday | W, 72–65 | Semifinals: Pittsburgh | 27–6 |
| 16 | Saturday | L, 84–76 | Final: N.C. State | 27–7 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 21 | Thursday | W, 90–62 | First round in Charlotte: Wagner | 28–7 |
| 23 | Saturday | W, 85–69 | Second round in Charlotte: Michigan State | 29–7 |
| 28 | Thursday | L, 89–87 | Sweet 16 in Los Angeles: No. 19 Alabama | 29–8 |
Photo via @UNC_Basketball
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