By R.L. Bynum

LAWRENCE, Kansas — There was a lot of talk about showing toughness in an emotional Carolina dressing room at halftime.

When it came in full force in the second half, with a heavy dose of heart, the No. 9 Tar Heels proved they could play with anybody in the country. They rallied from a 20-point late first-half deficit to take the lead against No. 1 Kansas before falling 92–89 Friday night in front of a raucous crowd at Allen Fieldhouse.

“He just challenged us,” said RJ Davis (16 points, four assists) of Coach Hubert Davis’ halftime message. “He said, ‘I know you guys are tough. It’s going to be a dog fight, and winning on the road is hard.’ “

Coach Davis didn’t question their toughness but emphasized that the game wasn’t over despite a 15-point halftime deficit.

“Things can change quickly if our will and our want to and our desire and the defensive end rises,” Coach Davis said he told his team. “That’s what we did in the second half.”

In a high-level game that you usually don’t see until March, UNC led probably the best team in the country by four with 3:28 left by becoming repeatedly effective with pick-and-rolls. Another shot made or another rebound pulled down, and UNC would have emerged with a huge upset.

But Elliot Cadeau’s potential game-tying 3-point attempt from the left wing at the buzzer rimmed out.

“The main thing was for us just toughness,” said Cadeau, who collected 12 points and seven assists with only two turnovers. “We felt like they out-toughed us, and we needed to come out with more fire, and that’s what we did.”

After center Hunter Dickinson split a pair of free throws with 12.1 seconds left to put Kansas up by three, Cadeau got the call from the sideline for a flare screen as Coach Davis elected not to call a timeout. Cadeau said that the Jayhawks’ switching led him to end up taking that last shot.

“We just didn’t execute,” Coach Davis said. “We didn’t make the shot.”

Seth Trimble showed tons of heart in leading six Tar Heels to score in double figures with a career-high 19 points and being the catalyst in the parade to the free-throw line by making all 10 attempts. They went 28 of 31 from the line.

That was the fifth-best free throw percentage in UNC history in a game it attempted 30 or more free throws and the best in road game in program history.

Best FT percentage (at least 30 attempts)

92.3% vs. N.C. State, Jan. 21, 2023 (36 of 39)
91.9% vs. Syracuse, Feb. 26, 2019 (34 of 37)
91.7% vs. Kentucky, March 19, 1977 (33 of 36) in College Park, Md.
90.6% vs. Maryland, March 11, 1989 (29 of 32) in Atlanta
90.3% at Kansas, Nov. 8, 2024 (28 of 31)

Jae’Lyn Withers, a team-high +9, scored all of his 11 points and three 3-pointers in the second half and was a presence on the defensive end.

“He was much better on both ends of the floor,” Coach Davis said of Withers. “I felt like defensively … he was being more physical with their bigs. On the offensive end, I thought he did a really good job rolling to the basket, attacking the offensive glass, and just giving us a rolling presence to the rim.”

In the first half, Kansas exploited the void Armando Bacot and Harrison Ingram left inside. The trio of 7–2 Dickinson (20 points, 10 rebounds, eight fouls drawn), 6–9 forward Flory Bidunga (8 points), and 6–7 K.J. Adams (14 points) dominated, and all UNC’s frontcourt seemed to be able to do was foul.

“They were getting everything that they wanted,” Coach Davis said. “They were running their offense like they do in shootaround. They were getting 3s. They were getting layups. They were getting dunks. They were getting to the free-throw line … didn’t feel any pressure or physicality from us [on the] defensive end.”

Four UNC big men combined for 15 fouls: Ven-Allen Lubin (10 points before fouling out), Jalen Washington (seven points and four fouls), Wither (three fouls) and Ty Claude (three fouls in 3½ minutes).

Coach Davis says the size that matters is the size of their hearts, not their heights.

“Those guys competitively fought better than they did in the first half,” said Coach Davis, whose team outrebounded Kansas 40–39.

RJ Davis scored UNC’s first five points, and the Heels jumped to a 7–2 lead. After Kansas tied it, Trimble drove on Dickinson and drew a foul on a three-point play.

With Cadeau on the bench, Kansas turned a three-point deficit into a 3-point lead. The Jayhawks went up by seven, 27–20, on an 8–2 run, with a Cadau drive accounting for the only UNC bucket.

With Dickinson on the bench with two fouls, Zeke Mayo’s two 3-pointers started a 12–2 Kansas run to push the lead to 15. UNC scored one field goal in the last 6½ minutes of the first half but managed to cut a 20-point lead to 53–38 on James Brown’s bucket at the halftime buzzer.

The Jayhawks’ 53 first-half points were the most by an opponent in a first half under Davis (previous high was 50 by College of Charleston on Nov. 11, 2022, and Brown on Nov. 12, 2021).

“What ignites our transition game is getting rebounds off of stops,” Coach Davis said. “We got more stops, and so it allowed us to run. After we get misses — and it all ties back to defense — our transitioning from defense to offense is real. In the second half, we were able to get to that.”

Withers scored eight points, including two corner 3s, during a 16–5 run as UNC, down 11 with 10:39 left, took the lead, 81–80, on his driving layup with 7:09 left.

Lubin’s drive gave UNC a three-point lead, 84–81, with 4:58 left. Dickinson’s layup capped an 8–0 Kansas run to give it a two-point lead, 91–89, with 1:17 remaining. After Washington missed a corner three with 38 seconds left, Dickinson made his late free throw.

“Total class on both sides,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “It was cheer your team but don’t get after the other team. Even though we didn’t play our best, we found a way to win. I think it was a good game for both programs.”

Mayo led Kansas with 21 points, five rebounds and four assists.

NOTES — Carolina gets a week off before hosting American at 8 p.m. Friday (ACC Network). The Eagles, who went 16–16 last season and lost their opener Monday at La Salle 65–52, host Harvard at 2 p.m. Sunday (ESPN+) and visit Siena at 7 p.m. Tuesday (ESPN+). … With the win, Self tied Phog Allen in all-time Kansas coaching wins with 590. … Claude made his UNC debut late in the first half, picking up two fouls and getting his shot blocked in the first 90 seconds. … It was the first time UNC took the lead in a game in which it trailed by at least 20 points since a two-point loss to Georgia Tech in the Smith Center on Jan. 16, 2010. … Carolina made only 12 of 24 layup attempts. … UNC scored 1.187 points per possession, but Kansas was at 1.278. … Kansas dominated points off turnovers (16–2) and inside points (50–32), but UNC had the edge in fast-break points (17–13). … Carolina fell to 14–21 against No. 1 teams, and Kansas was the 13th program the Tar Heels have faced when that team is No. 1. UNC is 6–8 in road games against No. 1 teams. … Kansas leads the series 7–6. … UNC has a 4–2 edge in regular-season meetings. … Cade Tyson, who continued his slow start, played 63 seconds and airballed a short jumper on his only shot.

No. 1 Kansas 92, No. 9 UNC 89

UNC schedule, scores

Date	Month/day	Time/ score	Opponent/event (current ranks)	TV/ record
	October
15	Tuesday	W, 84–76	at Memphis	Exhibition
27	Sunday	W, 127–63	vs. Johnson C. Smith	Exhibition
	November
4	Monday	W, 90–76	vs. Elon	1–0
8	Friday	L, 92–89	at No. 1 Kansas	1–1
15	Friday	8 p.m.	vs. American	ACCN
22	Friday	12:30 a.m ET	at Hawaii	ESPN2
			Maui Invitational
25	Monday	11:30 p.m. ET	Dayton	ESPN2
26	Tuesday	8:30 or 11 ET	No. 5 Auburn or Iowa State	ESPN or ESPNU
27	Wednesday	2:30 ET, 5 p.m., 9:30 or midnight	Memphis, No. 3 UConn, Colorado or Michigan State	ESPN or ESPN2
	December		ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge
4	Wednesday	7:15	vs. No. 2 Alabama	ESPN
			—————————
7	Saturday	2 p.m.	vs. Georgia Tech	ACCN
14	Saturday	4 p.m.	vs. LaSalle	The CW
			Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte
17	Tuesday	7 p.m.	Florida	ESPN
			CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden
21	Saturday	3 p.m.	UCLA	CBS
			—————————
29	Sunday	8 p.m.	vs. Campbell	ACCN
	January
1	Wednesday	TBA	at Louisville	ACCN
4	Saturday	Noon	at Notre Dame	CBS
7	Tuesday	9 p.m.	vs. SMU	ACCN
11	Saturday	4 p.m.	at N.C. State	ACCN
15	Wednesday	7 p.m.	vs. Cal	ACCN
18	Saturday	2:15	vs. Stanford	The CW
21	Tuesday	9 p.m.	at Wake Forest	ESPN
25	Saturday	2:15 p.m.	vs. Boston College	The W
28	Tuesday	9 p.m.	at Pittsburgh	ESPN
	February
1	Saturday	6:30 p.m.	at No. 6 Duke	ESPN
8	Saturday	4 p.m.	vs. Pittsburgh	ESPN or ESPN2
10	Monday	7 p.m.	at Clemson	ESPN
15	Saturday	6 p.m.	at Syracuse	ESPN
19	Wednesday	7 p.m.	vs. N.C. State	ESPN or ESPN2
22	Saturday	4 p.m.	vs. Virginia	ESPN
24	Monday	7 p.m.	at Florida State	ESPN
	March
1	Saturday	Noon	vs. Miami	ESPN or ESPN2
4	Tuesday	7 p.m.	at Virginia Tech	ESPN, ESPN2 orESPNU
8	Saturday	6:30	vs. No. 6 Duke	ESPN
11– 15	Tues.–Sat.		ACC tournament Spectum Center, Charlotte