By R.L. Bynum
CHARLOTTE — His face was etched with frustration. Several long pauses, as North Carolina coach Hubert Davis tried to explain his team’s latest failure to finish, spoke volumes.
The high-energy second-half surge could have flipped the early trajectory of North Carolina’s season with a signature win, but instead, it added more heartbreak.
After one long stretch of reflection toward the end of an answer, Davis just said, “We didn’t play well.”
After halftime, UNC brought energy and defensive intensity to take control of the game. The Heels fell behind again by double digits in the first half and led by four with 4:03 left.
But unbeaten No. 7 Florida scored the last seven points as the Gators pulled out a 90–84 victory Tuesday at the Jumpman Invitational at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center after blowing a 17-point lead.
Much like the game at then-No. 1 Kansas, UNC (6–5) wilted at the end. Not even a resurgent performance from fifth-year guard RJ Davis (20 points, 3 3-pointers, 4 steals) was enough. He hit three 3-pointers, but the rest of the team was 2 of 17 from outside the arc.
“If we played the way we played the second half and apply that for 40 minutes, I think there will be, what will be a different outcome,” RJ Davis said. “It’s frustrating because, obviously, it’s my last year. I’m still positive. At the end of the day, I’m still gonna have good spirits around this team and make sure everyone else is good. But we have to dial in.”
Carolina let the game get away under the boards, with Florida (11–0) getting seven of the last eight rebounds, amplifying a season-long concern. One or two more Tar Heels rebounds probably would have turned the game into a win.
“You can stay down. You can point fingers. You can whine and complain, make excuses,” Coach Davis said. “Or you can get your tail back up and step forward. You’re going to get knocked down in life. Not everything’s going to go your way, and so the only thing you really have control over is how you react and how you respond.”
(Photo by Smith Hardy)
Sophomore point guard Elliot Cadeau (11 points, 7 assists, 4 turnovers) played better after a tough stretch of games but was in tears as he left the court.
“I was just being really hard on myself,” Cadeau said. “I feel like I made some plays toward the end that didn’t help the team.”
UNC has fallen behind by at least eight points in the first half against every power conference opponent (and Dayton) and by at least 10 to every power conference opponent outside the league.
“I can’t explain … to play with that type of energy and effort in the second half and to not have that consistency in the first half or for an entire game,” Davis said.
Davis said the spark after halftime came from having “our backs against the wall,” a situation with which the Tar Heels are all too familiar.
“That’s how you have to play,” Davis said. “That’s how you have to prepare. You always have to be that way. And once this team gets there, then it’s going to be fun to watch.”
There were plenty of second-half moments to give Carolina hope, including dazzling drives from freshman guard Ian Jackson (11 points). You could hear cheers of anticipation from the crowd whenever the ball got into his hands, although he was a team-low -12.
“I was locked in, man,” Jackson said. “I didn’t really hear the crowd and the anticipation. If they were, I appreciate it. I was just playing my game.”
Because of Florida’s size and length, Carolina had to swarm the Gators’ big men inside, opening up perimeter chances they efficiently exploited. They hit big 3s many times when UNC got close. The Gators only scored one 3-pointer in the last 12 minutes, though.
“We’re too far in the season just to continue to show flashes of how good we can be,” Seth Trimble (11 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals) said. “But we’ve shown it, so that belief is still there, and that faith and trust and love for each other, so that will never go away.”
(Photo by Smith Hardy)
With poor defense, perimeter shooting and box-outs under the boards, Florida’s combination of 3-point shooting and inside strength made it a forgettable first half for Carolina.
UNC missed eight of its first nine shots, falling behind 10–2 on Will Richard’s 3-pointer 3:39 into the game. The Florida lead ballooned to 15 on Alijah Martin’s bucket at 10:58.
After going scoreless for nearly the first 10 minutes, RJ Davis scored 10 straight UNC points, and UNC cut the lead to 11 on a driving transition layup just before the eight-minute TV timeout during that stretch.
Carolina missed its first 11 3-point attempts before Cadeau swished one in at 4:05 to trim a lead that had bumped back up to 17 down to 11. Again, Florida went up by 17; this time, UNC went on a 9–2 run to cut it to 12 on a Trimble inside bucket in the last minute, and the Gators led 46–34 at halftime.
With defensive intensity, overplaying passing lanes with intense ball pressure, UNC scored the first 11 points of the second half, with Ven-Allen Lubin’s put-back dunk and a Davis jumper slicing the lead to one at 17:35.
“That’s really the first time all year where we’ve allowed a team to dictate the terms of the game,” Florida coach Todd Golden said. “Credit to them, though, I thought they were really a lot more aggressive defensively and then trying to get downhill, driving the ball in the second half. And to their credit, they made it a great game.”
Florida’s lead went to seven before a Jackson 3-pointer and Jae’lyn Withers three-point play on a baseline drive seven minutes into the second half pulled UNC within three. Three Jackson buckets, all on incredible moves, trimmed the Gators’ lead to one.
Trimble’s steal and left-handed layup for a three-point play gave UNC its first lead since the game’s first 2½ minutes during a 7–0 Heels run to go up by four on a Davis bucket with 7:23 left.
During the next few minutes, the lead changed hands three times. But two Cadeau assists, for a Davis layup and a lob for a Jalen Washington transition dunk, gave UNC an 81–77 lead with 4:02 left.
Alijah Martin scored Florida’s first 3-pointer in 13 minutes (and only its third of the second half) to tie it with 2:29 left. Cadeau’s layup 16 seconds later accounted for UNC’s final points.
Richard’s follow shot gave Florida an 86–84 lead with 54 seconds left, and Davis missed a 3-point attempt at the other end. Thomas Haugh’s two free throws with 7.9 seconds left after another big offensive rebound put the game away.
NOTES — Carolina heads to Madison Square Garden in New York for the CBS Classic on Saturday, facing No. 18 UCLA at 3 p.m. (CBS). The Bruins (10–1) beat Prairie View A&M 111–75 on Tuesday. … UNC is 2–1 in the Jumpman Invitational after beating Michigan 80–76 in 2022 and Oklahoma 81–69 in 2023. … UNC has already allowed at least 90 points more times this season (five) than in the previous two seasons combined (three). Tennessee was the only opponent to do that last season. … Carolina is 168–28 in Charlotte and 18–3 in the arena now called the Spectrum Center. … UNC has lost two of its last three meetings with Florida but leads the series 4–3. … Florida is 4–0 against the ACC, also winning at Florida State 87–74 on Nov. 5, vs. Wake Forest 75–58 on Nov. 28 at a neutral site and at home against Virginia 87–69 on Dec. 4.
No. 7 Florida 90, UNC 84
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 4 Duke | 9–0 | 20–1 | 2 |
| No. 20 Clemson | 8–1 | 18–4 | 31 |
| No. 18 Virginia | 7–2 | 18–3 | 18 |
| N.C. State | 7–2 | 16–6 | 26 |
| Miami | 6–3 | 17–5 | 39 |
| No. 14 North Carolina | 5–3 | 17–4 | 25 |
| No. 24 Louisville | 5–4 | 15–6 | 17 |
| Virginia Tech | 5–5 | 16–7 | 56 |
| SMU | 4–4 | 15–6 | 34 |
| California | 4–5 | 16–6 | 51 |
| Syracuse | 4–5 | 13–9 | 78 |
| Stanford | 3–6 | 14–8 | 77 |
| Florida State | 3–6 | 10–12 | 102 |
| Boston College | 2–6 | 9–12 | 152 |
| Georgia Tech | 2–7 | 11–11 | 143 |
| Notre Dame | 2–7 | 11–11 | 85 |
| Wake Forest | 2–7 | 11–11 | 70 |
| Pittsburgh | 2–7 | 9–13 | 114 |
* — Through Saturday games
Saturday’s games
No. 14 North Carolina 91, Georgia Tech 75
No. 4 Duke 72, Virginia Tech 58
N.C. State 96, Wake Forest 78
No. 20 Clemson 63, Pittsburgh 52
No. 18 Virginia 73, Boston College 66
No. 24 Louisville 88, SMU 74
California 86, Miami 81
Florida State 88, Stanford 80
Syracuse 86, Notre Dame 72
Monday’s game
Syracuse at No. 14 North Carolina, 7 p.m., ESPN
Tuesday’s games
Boston College at No. 4 Duke, 7 p.m., ACC Network
Pittsburgh at No. 18 Virginia, 9 p.m., ACC Network
N.C. State at SMU, 9 p.m, ESPN2
Wednesday’s games
Notre Dame at No. 24 Louisville, 7 p.m., ESPN2
Georgia Tech at California, 8 p.m., ACC Network
No. 20 Clemson at Stanford, 10 p.m., ACC Network
Saturday’s games
Virginia Tech at N.C. State, noon, The CW
Syracuse at No. 18 Virginia, noon, ESPN
No. 24 Louisville at Wake Forest, noon, ACC Network
Miami at Boston College, 2 p.m., ACC Network
SMU at Pittsburgh, 2 p.m., The CW
Florida State at Notre Dame, 4 p.m., The CW
No. 4 Duke at No. 14 North Carolina, 6:30, ESPN
No. 20 Clemson at California, 8 p.m., ACC Network
Georgia Tech at Stanford, 8 p.m., ESPNU
| Date | Month/day | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. No. 13 BYU in SLC | Exhib. |
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 95–53 | vs. Winston-Salem St. | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 94–54 | vs. Central Arkansas | 1–0 |
| 7 | Friday | W, 87–74 | vs. No. 14 Kansas | 2–0 |
| 11 | Tuesday | W, 89–74 | vs. Radford | 3–0 |
| 14 | Friday | W, 97–53 | vs. N.C. Central | 4–0 |
| 18 | Tuesday | W, 73–61 | vs. Navy | 5–0 |
| Fort Myers Tip-Off | ||||
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 85–70 | vs. St. Bonaventure | 6–0 |
| 27 | Thursday | L, 74–58 | vs. No. 7 Michigan State | 6–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 67–64 | at Kentucky | 7–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 81–61 | vs. Georgetown | 8–1 |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 80–62 | vs. USC Upstate | 9–1 |
| 16 | Tuesday | W, 77–58 | vs. ETSU | 10–1 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 20 | Saturday | W, 71–70 | vs. Ohio State | 11–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 22 | Monday | W, 99–51 | vs. East Carolina | 12–1 |
| 30 | Tuesday | W, 79–66 | vs. Florida State | 13–1, 1–0 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | L, 97–83 | at SMU | 13–2, 1–1 |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 87–84 | vs. Wake Forest | 14–2, 2–1 |
| 14 | Wednesday | L, 95–90 | at Stanford | 14–3, 2–2 |
| 17 | Saturday | L, 84–78 | at California | 14–4, 2–3 |
| 21 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | vs. Notre Dame | 15–4, 3–3 |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 85–80 | at No. 17 Virginia | 16–4, 4–3 |
| 31 | Saturday | W, 91–75 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 5–3 |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. Syracuse | ESPN |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | vs. No. 4 Duke | ESPN |
| 10 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at Miami | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 14 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | vs. Pittsburgh | ESPN |
| 17 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at N.C. State | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 21 | Saturday | 1 p.m. | at Syracuse | ABC |
| 23 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 20 Louisville | ESPN |
| 28 | Saturday | 6:30 or 8:30 | vs. Virginia Tech | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 22 Clemson | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | at No. 4 Duke | ESPN |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photos by Smith Hardy
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