By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — It took a half for No. 3 Carolina to shake off a Duke hangover.
It started with bad practices since that big win and continued until the Tar Heels finally found their stride. But the best they could do was tie it when Harrison Ingram shook off cramps with a game-tying 3-pointer with 4:17 left.
Clemson, determined for a win to help its NCAA resume and playing like the hungrier team, wouldn’t back down and never trailed in an 80–76 victory Tuesday at the Smith Center for the program’s second win in Chapel Hill.
“I didn’t particularly enjoy or like our practices leading up to the game tonight,” said UNC coach Hubert Davis, who also didn’t like how flat his team came out when it fell behind 15–2 in the first 3½ minutes, prompting a timeout.
During that timeout, Coach Davis told them that, “it’s just not about X’s and O’s. There’s nothing from a basketball standpoint we can talk about until the energy and the effort and enthusiasm rises.”
Davis wasn’t going to talk about basketball until the effort changed. It was one of the earlier timeouts Davis has taken since becoming the head coach. He said he didn’t want to take it, but saw Clemson was playing harder.
“We regrouped and understood that we needed to pick up our energy and effort,” Coach Davis said. “And we did, but we just weren’t able to finish it.”
The Tar Heels (18–5, 10–2 ACC), who trailed by 16 points in the first half, have routinely taken control after halftime this season. But after outscoring their opponents by 83 points in the previous 10 games, the juice wasn’t there, particularly on defense, with sixth-man Seth Trimble out with an upper-body injury.
Clemson rebounded 33.3% of its second-half misses and scored 13 second-chance points in the second half.
“We’ll go back to work,” Coach Davis said. “And, as I said before, there’s two things that you can do — you can whine and complain and point fingers and make excuses, or you can get back up and move forward and join the fight. And for us, it’s never a choice. It’s a requirement for us to get back up, and let’s get back to work.”
UNC didn’t play like the No. 3 team or hustle like it in the first half, getting little offense besides Armando Bacot (24 points and 13 rebounds), who scored 12 of UNC’s first 14 points, and RJ Davis (22 points and three 3-pointers).
“We got what we deserved,” Bacot said. “That wasn’t what we wanted. I wasn’t happy with how we practiced and with some of the things we did. I guess Saturday was an emotional game. A lot of stuff goes into it. But we’ve got a job to do, and we’ve got to come ready to play. Today we definitely learned that lesson. The hungrier team won.”
Nobody was happy three days after the Tar Heels were on a high.
“We just didn’t battle or bring any energy tonight, any effort,” RJ Davis said. “That’s on us. I don’t think I’ve ever seen us just go out there without any energy to be able to compete.
“We didn’t come out and play our best basketball today and didn’t have the energy that was needed for us to win this game,” he said. “That’s unusual for us, and that’s going to change moving forward.”
Clemson (15–7, 5–6), which was 1 of 18 from 3-point range in the Tigers’ 65–55 loss to UNC on Jan. 6, was 11 of 31 from 3-point range, led by PJ Hall (25 points, four 3-pointers) and Joseph Girard III (21 points, five 3-pointers).
“I just think we weren’t prepared,” RJ Davis said. “I think we got too satisfied with the Duke win rather than to know there are more games to play. That’s something that’s going to have to be addressed in the locker room, but just to understand that mentally.”
Bacot said that the team came out too casual in practice, then had a bad shootaround earlier in the day.
“We weren’t panicking or freaking out at halftime,” Bacot said. “We knew we would have a chance to get back in the game as long as we defended and played hard. We did, but we had a lot of silly fouls. I got in foul trouble, made a lot of mistakes. We all made mistakes.”
Much like in the 74–73 loss at Georgia Tech, UNC struggled to defend ball screens, leading to many open shots.
Clemson had a decent number of open shots in the first game but didn’t shoot well. Tuesday, the Tigers shot 39.7% from the floor and 35.5% from outside the arc, tying the most 3s by Clemson in ACC play with 11.
“They did a good job, had a lot of ball-screen action, off-ball action, on-ball action,” RJ Davis said. “They do a good job of just having different actions with it. And we just weren’t in the right spots. We weren’t communicating and helping the helper, just playing our normal defense, and that’s gonna have to change.”
Trimble’s on-the-ball defense and ability to be a ringleader in UNC’s press has been big in the second half of a few games, but nobody filled that role against Clemson.
“We definitely missed him today,” RJ Davis said. “But that’s no excuse for all our energy not being there.”
Ingram finished with 11 points, three 3-pointers and six rebounds and had fans worried when he was slow to get up after taking a hard fall in the second half. Fortunately, it turned out that he went back to the dressing room only because he was cramping.
“I think they were just the hungrier team that came out from the beginning and really had nothing to lose,” said Ingram, adding that the team was late for warmups. “They played harder than us. They bullied us. They played better defense and better offense. They were just the better team.”
RJ Davis continues to get a lot of attention from opposing defenses, making him earn every point.
“I would say the last couple of games teams have been very physical with him, and a lot of things defensively — not just individually but as a team — to make it very difficult for him to get free,” Coach Davis said.
Offensively, Carolina had trouble finding a rhythm against the Tigers’ zone defense.
“We have a lot of zone plays, but we really weren’t executing well,” Ingram said. “Their zone was giving us problems, and their coach recognized that, and he kept going to it, and we couldn’t score.”
Clemson made its first three 3-point attempts in that 15–2 run to start the game. After Ingram’s bucket 39 seconds into the game, Bacot scored UNC’s next 12 points, including an 8–0 run that cut the deficit to five on his three-point play.
Paxson Wojcik scored Carolina’s next four points, but Clemson opened up a 14-point lead with a 9–1 run. RJ Davis didn’t score until a 3-pointer nearly 13 minutes into the game, but that did little to slow Clemson’s momentum and the Tigers took a 16-point lead after a 7–0 run.
Back-to-back 3s from Davis and Ingram in the final 65 seconds cut UNC’s halftime deficit to 43–34, and a 7–3 run to start the second half cut the deficit to five. Two Davis 3-pointers in an 8–2 run sliced the lead to two with 14:28 left.
A Chauncey Wiggins 3-pointer capped a 7–0 run to push the lead back to nine with 8:57 left.
After going down hard and leaving the game with cramps, Ingram returned 4½ minutes later to cap a 16–7 run to tie at 70 on his 3-pointer.
“Down the stretch, that’s when the discipline and details have to be even tighter,” said Coach Davis, saying his team made mistakes after the game was tied that it can’t make.
A Girard 3-pointer and two Jack Clark free throws put Clemson back up by seven with 1:41 left.
The closest that UNC got after that was when RJ Davis’ 3-pointer with two seconds left cut the deficit to four points.
“We just didn’t play well enough,” Coach Davis said. “You really have to compliment Clemson and the way that they played. They’re a really good basketball team and extremely well-coached. They were deserving of winning tonight.”
NOTES — Carolina is on the road next for two games in four days, playing at Miami at 4 p.m. Saturday (ESPN) in a game that’s sold out and at Syracuse at 7 p.m. Tuesday (ESPN). The Hurricanes (15–8, 6–6) lost Monday at Virginia 60–38, a program-record low in an ACC game. The Orange (14–8, 5–6) take a two-game losing streak into a 7 p.m. Wednesday home game (ACC Network) against Louisville (7–15, 2–9). … In addition to Trimble, senior walk-on guard Creighton Lebo (illness) wasn’t in uniform for the game. … UNC had only five turnovers for the second consecutive game. … The nine-point halftime deficit was UNC’s biggest since trailing by 17 in a 76–67 loss to Pittsburgh on Feb. 16, 2022. … RJ Davis extended his school record of consecutive games with multiple 3-pointers to 20, and his 231 3-pointers passed Wayne Ellington (229) for fourth-most by a Tar Heel. He also passed Michael Jordan for 15th on the all-time UNC scoring list (1,794 points). … Bacot passed Penn’s Ernie Peck (1,557) and Seattle’s Elgin Baylor (1,559) for 18th in NCAA history with 1,566 rebounds. … Wojcik’s seven points and 22 minutes were both season-highs. His highest previous point total was six against Northern Iowa. … Bacot earned his 10th double-double of the season and 78th of his career. … Clemson snapped a four-game losing streak against UNC, but the Tar Heels lead the series 136–24, including 2–69 in Chapel Hill. … Jae’Lyn Withers has two points and six rebounds combined in the last four games.
Clemson 80, No. 3 UNC 76
UNC season statistics
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
| 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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