By R.L. Bynum
CLEMSON, S.C. — North Carolina’s early-season pattern of falling behind by double digits in the first half is back, dooming the Tar Heels’ NCAA tournament chances with another embarrassing effort.
UNC appeared to have buried that issue after losing Dec. 4 to Alabama. The only two times it’s happened since then have come in the last three games. Like at Duke nine days earlier, Carolina couldn’t dig itself out of the hole, this time in an 85–65 Monday loss to No. 23 Clemson at Littlejohn Coliseum.
“I’m not necessarily mad that we lost this game,” said Seth Trimble, who had 12 points and four rebounds. “I’m pretty upset with the fact that we got bullied today. I think some guys responded. But it takes all 15 of us, and we just didn’t have it.”
UNC (14–11, 7–6 ACC) fell to 1–10 in Quad 1 games and has lost five of the last seven games.
The difference is that in the early season, the Tar Heels showed fight after falling into deep holes. That was absent Monday, even with the NCAA hopes hanging in the balance.
“I thought guys understood what this game meant for us,” Trimble said. “I thought they knew how good this Clemson team was. But I guess not.”
A lack of effort combined with 4 of 19 shooting from 3-point range (the fourth-worst this season at 21.1%) and 5 of 11 shooting (a season-worst 45.5%) at the free-throw line never allowed Carolina to make a run.
After Duke reeled off a 33–7 first-half run, Clemson (20–5, 12–1 ACC) overwhelmed the Tar Heels with a 28–10 flurry before halftime, as both games were decided early. Unlike against Duke, there was no big second-half garbage-time run from UNC.
“We got knocked down today, but we’ve got to get back up, and we’ve got to move forward, and we have to competitively fight,” Coach Hubert Davis said.
“[Playing with a sense of urgency] doesn’t guarantee you that things will work out your way. But, without it, you have no chance,” Coach Davis said before pausing for several seconds. “So, from that standpoint … it’s just sad.”
RJ Davis, one of three players who has consistently brought energy to every game of late — along with Trimble and Drake Powell — knocked in 18 points but didn’t get much help. Elliot Cadeau avoided foul trouble and finished with 11 points and six assists but had six turnovers.
“I just think they were the better team tonight. They were the more hungry team, and they played like they wanted more than us,” RJ Davis said. “I’m not gonna sit here and say that we lost our fight because we did show the fight throughout the rest of the game. It just has to be consistent, and that’s just the frustrating part about it. Just can’t get over that hump and continue to show we want it more.”
The game slipped away after UNC went up 23–21 on a Davis jumper with 9:23 left in the first half, and Clemson put together its big run.
“I just felt like every effort, physicality part about the game from that stretch they dominated,” Coach Davis said. “From a defensive standpoint — very difficult. They were physical, getting us off of our screens, off of our cuts. On the offensive end, they were able to run their offense like they do in shootaround. They’re a very good team, and they played tonight hungry and in every aspect of the game, and I thought that was the deciding factor.”
A season-long issue again burned Carolina: a daunting size disparity. Coach Davis tried to combat it by starting Jae’Lyn Withers and Ven-Allen Lubin, but that only helped so much. Davis said a big factor in that decision was the strength under the boards of Ian Schieffelin, who pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.
“We’re not very big. We’re a small team. We start a really small lineup,” Davis said, explaining the change. “And I just didn’t think that would put us in a position rebounding to start the game [to play the usual lineup], and we got off to a good start.”
Clemson dominated under the boards 41–28, tying the Hawai’i game for the worst rebounding disparity this season.
Viktor Lakhin was huge in more ways than one. The 6–11 Cincinnati transfer came into the game with 15 3-pointers for the season, but fired in a season-high four 3s (all in the first half) after not attempting one against Duke. He burned the Tar Heels on pick-and-pop plays, scoring 20 of his game-high 22 points in the first half.
“A couple of those 3s came off of offensive rebounds as a result of us not boxing out on ball screens,” Coach Davis said. “They got really too much depth. And so, when you get too much depth in terms of recovering to him, it’s just too long of a closeout.”
Perimeter defense continues to be a huge issue. Since the second half of the Boston College game — a stretch of 4½ games — opponents are 49 of 102 from 3-point range (48%).
After carrying UNC through a seven-game stretch with six games of at least 20 points, Ian Jackson continues to be snake-bit of late. He is 6 of 27 from the floor in the last four games, 5 of 26 from 3-point range in the last seven games, and has not made a field goal in the last two games (0 of 11).
“He’s a really great player,” RJ Davis said. “I just think he’s trying to find his groove, a rhythm a little bit. Teams just play Ian a little bit differently now. But he’ll find his groove to help us.”
An example of a UNC player lacking effort was when a ball was tipped out beyond half-court during a Carolina possession. Jackson didn’t hustle to the ball as it went out of bounds a few feet away from him, and he was immediately taken out of the game.
In 16 minutes coming off the bench for the first time since the UCLA game on Dec. 21, Jackson missed all eight shots from the floor, including a couple of layup attempts and three 3-point attempts, and scored three points, with two rebounds and two steals.
An early 7–0 run gave UNC a four-point lead that vanished after back-to-back Clemson 3-pointers. After the teams traded 10–2 runs, it was all Clemson for the last nine minutes of the second half. Consecutive Clemson 3-pointers started its big run, leading to a 49–33 halftime lead.
It only got worse in the second half, with Clemson opening up a 26-point lead with a 17–7 run, and UNC never got closer than 19 points in the final eight minutes.
NOTES — Carolina visits Syracuse at 6 p.m. Saturday (ESPN) for a Quad 3 game. The Orange (11–13, 5–8), who beat Boston College 95–86 in triple overtime on Saturday, visit Miami at 7 p.m. Tuesday (ACC Network Extra). … Withers started for the first time since the Nov. 27 loss to Michigan State in the Maui Invitational, which was the last time neither Jackson nor Powell started. … Clemson honored the 1990 ACC championship team at halftime. … This is the first time Clemson has beaten Duke and UNC at home since 1990. It was the first time that’s happened in a three-day span since the Tigers beat Duke 79–53 on Jan. 30, 2020, and UNC 63–50 on Feb. 2, 2020, with both games also at Littlejohn Coliseum. … UNC leads the series 136–25, including 42–19 at Clemson. … Clemson played its walk-ons at the end (possibly a first against UNC), something Carolina hasn’t done since the Jan. 15 home victory over California.
No. 23 Clemson 85, UNC 65
ACC standings
| Team | League | Overall | NET |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 3 Duke | 12–1 | 20–3 | 2 |
| Clemson | 12–2 | 20–5 | 30 |
| Louisville | 11–2 | 18–6 | 28 |
| Wake Forest | 10–3 | 18–6 | 60 |
| SMU | 9–3 | 18–5 | 39 |
| Stanford | 8–5 | 16–8 | 78 |
| North Carolina | 7–6 | 14–11 | 45 |
| Virginia Tech | 6–7 | 11–13 | 152 |
| Florida State | 5–7 | 14–9 | 87 |
| Pittsburgh | 5–7 | 14–9 | 47 |
| California | 5–8 | 12–12 | 128 |
| Virginia | 5–8 | 12–12 | 105 |
| Georgia Tech | 5–8 | 11–13 | 127 |
| Syracuse | 5–8 | 11–13 | 146 |
| Notre Dame | 4–8 | 10–13 | 97 |
| Boston College | 2–10 | 10–13 | 221 |
| N.C. State | 2–10 | 9–14 | 120 |
| Miami | 1–11 | 5–18 | 225 |
Monday’s result
No. 23 Clemson 85, North Carolina 65
Tuesday’s games
Syracuse at Miami, 7 p.m., ACCN
Pittsburgh at SMU, 9 p.m., ACCN
Wednesday’s games
Stanford at Georgia Tech, 7 p.m., ACCN
Florida State at Wake Forest, 7 p.m., ESPNU
Louisville at N.C. State, 7 p.m., ESPN 2
Notre Dame at Boston College, 9 p.m., ESPNU
California at No. 3 Duke, 9 p.m., ACCN
Saturday’s games
No. 23 Clemson at Florida State, noon, The CW
Miami at Pittsburgh, noon, ESPN2
Virginia at Virginia Tech, 2 p.m, The CW
Boston College at N.C. State, 2 p.m., ACCN
Stanford at No. 2 Duke, 4 p.m., ABC
California at Georgia Tech, 4 p.m., ACCN
North Carolina at Syracuse, 6 p.m., ESPN
Wake Forest at SMU, 6 p.m., ACCN
Sunday’s game
Louisville at Notre Dame, 8 p.m., ACCN
| Date | Month/day | Time/ score | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 15 | Tuesday | W, 84–76 | at No. 19 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. 17 Kansas | 1–1 |
| 15 | Friday | W, 107–55 | vs. American | 2–1 |
| 22 | Friday | W, 85–69 | at Hawai’i | 3–1 |
| Maui Invitational | ||||
| 25 | Monday | W, 92–90 | Dayton | 4–1 |
| 26 | Tuesday | L, 85–72 | No. 1 Auburn | 4–2 |
| 27 | Wednesday | L, 94–91, OT | No. 11 Michigan State | 4–3 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 4 | Wednesday | L, 94–79 | vs. No. 2 Alabama | 4–4 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 7 | Saturday | W, 68–65 | vs. Georgia Tech | 5–4, 1–0 ACC |
| 14 | Saturday | W, 93–67 | vs. LaSalle | 6–4 |
| Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte | ||||
| 17 | Tuesday | L, 90–84 | No. 3 Florida | 6–5 |
| CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden | ||||
| 21 | Saturday | W, 76–74 | UCLA | 7–5 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 29 | Sunday | W, 97–81 | vs. Campbell | 8–5 |
| January | ||||
| 1 | Wednesday | L, 83–70 | at Louisville | 8–6, 1–1 |
| 4 | Saturday | W, 74–73 | at Notre Dame | 9–6, 2–1 |
| 7 | Tuesday | W, 82–67 | vs. SMU | 10–6, 3–1 |
| 11 | Saturday | W, 63–61 | at N.C. State | 11–6, 4–1 |
| 15 | Wednesday | W, 79–53 | vs. California | 12–6, 5–1 |
| 18 | Saturday | L, 72–71 | vs. Stanford | 12–7, 5–2 |
| 21 | Tuesday | L, 67–66 | at Wake Forest | 12–8, 5–3 |
| 25 | Saturday | W, 102–96, OT | vs. Boston College | 13–8, 6–3 |
| 28 | Tuesday | L, 73–65 | at Pittsburgh | 13–9, 6–4 |
| February | ||||
| 1 | Saturday | L, 87–70 | at No. 3 Duke | 13–10, 6–5 |
| 8 | Saturday | W, 67–66 | vs. Pittsburgh | 14–10, 7–5 |
| 10 | Monday | L, 85–65 | at No. 23 Clemson | 14–11, 7–6 |
| 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 or ESPNU |
| 8 | Saturday | 6:30 | vs. No. 3 Duke | ESPN |
| 11– 15 | Tues.–Sat. | ACC tournament Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
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