By R.L. Bynum
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — One game after eventually getting over the hump against Duke, it never happened for No. 11 North Carolina at Miami.
Coach Hubert Davis tried many lineup combinations, but the same poor defense and rebounding continued in a 75–66 loss to the Hurricanes at the Watsco Center.
The added adversity of Caleb Wilson missing 6½ second-half minutes, coming back with his left hand and wrist heavily wrapped, then sitting out the last 1:43, didn’t help.
After enjoying a court-storming Saturday, UNC (19–5, 6–4 ACC) watched an opponent’s fans storm for its third consecutive road loss.
The frustration was obvious in the way Davis responded to questions and the looks on his face. While Davis dismissed any suggestion of a hangover from the Duke win, he acknowledged the little things that swung the game.
“The energy, effort, loose balls up in the air on the ground. Miami was getting them,” Davis said before rattling off a list of reasons UNC lost, from turnovers, shot selection to rebounding, admitting that his team was “out of sorts” on many plays.
Jarin Stevenson, who led UNC with 13 points and shared the team-high with six rebounds, saw it differently, saying the Tar Heels showed the effects of a hangover.
“We didn’t come out with the right mindset,” Stevenson said. “They started off really good, and I feel like we could have prevented that. We’ve got to start off better, pick up the intensity.”
Carolina, which only led for a half-second in the last two games, trailed from the opening minute and was dominated inside as Miami had a 46–28 edge in paint points.
Seth Trimble (4 points) and Derek Dixon (season-low 2 points as a starter) combined to go 1 of 14. Wilson was held to a season-low 12 points.
Asked about what Wilson was dealing with, he said, “There is no situation.” That despite Wilson’s mom and sister going back to the dressing room to check on how he was doing.
When asked if the wrap on his hand impaired his ability to be effective, Davis said, “not to my knowledge.”
An example of the mood of Davis’ press conference was when a Miami reporter asked him what the win meant for the Hurricanes (19–5, 8–3).
“I answer questions on the University of North Carolina,” Davis said. “That’s my job. But Miami is a good team, and they played better than us tonight, and they’re deserving of the win.”
With Dixon struggling, Kyan Evans gave UNC a spark with eight points in eight first-half minutes after playing only six minutes against Duke. But he was scoreless in 11 second-half minutes and took only one shot.
“Yeah, I think we just kind of want to bring a spark off the bench,” said Evans, who tied Dixon for the team lead with four assists. “We try to do that every game, but today, shots weren’t falling for us.”
UNC had numerous chances in the second half to take the lead but never could, many times settling for jump shots that didn’t fall. Evans said the Tar Heels felt how close they were, but couldn’t make the final defensive stops to swing momentum.
“We were right there,” Evans said. “We had plenty of chances, you know, we couldn’t finish some possessions on defense, and that hurt us late game.”
Henri Veesaar struggled against Miami’s physicality, but managed 11 points and six rebounds. He pointed to UNC’s defensive breakdowns in ball-screen coverage as Miami repeatedly drove to the basket for easy shots.
“They did a really good job on the ball screens,” Veesaar said. “Overall, they came down, and they made it in a two-on-one.”
Ernest Udeh Jr., Miami’s 6–11, 266-pound center, made it rough inside on both ends for Carolina, with 15 points and 10 rebounds. The Tar Heels simply couldn’t stay in front of Malik Reneau, who had 16 points, 10 rebounds and three steals.
“They’ve got guys that can score in the post, they’ve got guards that can get downhill, they’ve got lob threats,” Davis said. “They have the personnel to be able to do it. We do too. We want to dominate points in the paint, also through post and penetration and offensive rebounds. They just did a better job of it against us tonight.”
The game was within UNC’s grasp when it only trailed by three at halftime after shooting 55.2% and scoring seven 3-pointers in the first half, considering that the Tar Heels have been a good second-half team in recent games. But they shot 26.5% after halftime and were 1 of 14 from 3-point range.
Miami jumped out to a 15–6 lead after scoring four layups and taking advantage of five early UNC turnovers, two by Wilson.
Two more layups pushed the lead to 10 before a Jaydon Young 3-pointer started a 25–15 UNC run, including four 3s, to tie it at 37 on a Zayden High drive with 3:14 left in the first half. Miami finished the first half with a 6–3 run and led 43–40 at halftime.
UNC only scored two field goals in the first 6½ minutes of the second half, but tied it, 51–51, at 12:51 on a Jonathan Powell drive and 3-pointer.
Miami never led by more than four while Wilson was out for 6½ minutes. It took him nine seconds to score when he returned, and he netted UNC’s next seven points.
After a Shelton Henderson dunk stretched Miami’s lead to six with 7:24 left, five Wilson points cut it to three. But repeated offensive rebounds helped Miami push the lead to seven on a Reneau free throw with 1:43 left.
Stevenson said the problems in the paint came down to missed assignments and second-chance opportunities.
“Got to defend better in the paint,” Stevenson said. “A lot of that comes from messing up our switches or just offensive rebounds.”
A Stevenson inside bucket ended a nearly five-minute UNC field goal drought to trim the lead to five, but the Heels got no closer. Two Tre Donaldson free throws put the Miami lead at eight with 39 seconds left.
For Davis, the loss again came back to the same areas that have followed his team in road setbacks at SMU, Stanford and California.
“What needed to work was rebounding and making those toughness plays,” Davis said. “It’s not about missed shots. It’s about defense, rebounding and taking care of the basketball.”
Veesaar echoed that frustration, especially late when Miami’s physicality showed up on the glass.
“At that time of the game, which is crunch time, you have to get the rebounds every single time,” Veesaar said. “And that’s on us as players.”
Notes
— UNC returns home Saturday at 2 p.m. (ESPN) to face Pittsburgh (9–15, 2–9). The Panthers took a three-game losing streak into Tuesday night’s game at No. 4 Duke.
— It was the third time in the last five games that UNC has trailed at halftime but the first time that the Tar Heels failed to rally.
— After getting called for only one second-half foul against Duke, UNC got 13 after halftime at Miami.
— Miami snapped a three-game losing streak against UNC, which leads the all-time series 29–11, including 11–5 in the arena now called the Watsco Center.
Miami 75, No. 11 UNC 66
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 4 Duke | 11–1 | 22–2 | 3 |
| No. 20 Clemson | 10–1 | 20–4 | 30 |
| No. 15 Virginia | 10–2 | 21–3 | 17 |
| N.C. State | 9–3 | 18–7 | 29 |
| Miami | 8–3 | 19–5 | 37 |
| No. 24 Louisville | 8–4 | 18–6 | 14 |
| No. 11 North Carolina | 7–4 | 19–5 | 22 |
| SMU | 6–5 | 17–7 | 34 |
| California | 5–6 | 17–7 | 58 |
| Virginia Tech | 5–6 | 16–8 | 55 |
| Stanford | 4–7 | 15–9 | 68 |
| Syracuse | 4–7 | 13–11 | 71 |
| Florida State | 4–7 | 11–13 | 95 |
| Wake Forest | 2–8 | 11–12 | 67 |
| Boston College | 2–8 | 9–14 | 148 |
| Georgia Tech | 2–9 | 11–13 | 151 |
| Notre Dame | 2–10 | 11–14 | 89 |
| Pittsburgh | 2–10 | 9–16 | 123 |
* — Through Monday games
Monday’s result
No. 24 Louisville 118, N.C. State 77
Tuesday’s games
Miami 75, No. 11 North Carolina 66
No. 15 Virginia 61, Florida State 58
SMU 89, Notre Dame 81
No. 4 Duke 70, Pittsburgh 54
Wednesday’s games
Virginia Tech at No. 20 Clemson, ACC Network
California at Syracuse, 7 p.m., ESPNU
Wake Forest at Georgia Tech, 9 p.m., ACC Network
Stanford at Boston College, 9 p.m., ESPNU
Saturday’s games
No. 20 Clemson at No. 4 Duke, noon, ESPN
Georgia Tech at Notre Dame, noon, The CW
California at Boston College, noon, ACC Network
Pittsburgh at No. 11 North Carolina, 2 p.m., ESPN
Florida State at Virginia Tech, 2 p.m., ACC Network
SMU at Syracuse, 2 p.m., The CW
No. 24 Louisville vs. Baylor in Fort Worth, Texas, 4 p.m., ESPN or ESPN2
Stanford at Wake Forest, 4 p.m., ACC Network
Miami at N.C. State, 4 p.m., ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU
No. 15 Virginia vs. Ohio State in Nashville, 8 p.m., Fox
| Date | Month/day | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. No. 22 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. 9 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. 10 Michigan State | 6–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 67–64 | at No. 25 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. 15 Virginia | 16–4, 4–3 |
| 31 | Saturday | W, 91–75 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 5–3 |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | W, 87–77 | vs. Syracuse | 18–4, 6–3 |
| 7 | Saturday | W, 71–68 | vs. No. 4 Duke | 19–4, 7–3 |
| 10 | Tuesday | L, 75–66 | at Miami | 19–5, 7–4 |
| 14 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | vs. Pittsburgh | ESPN |
| 17 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at N.C. State | ESPN |
| 21 | Saturday | 1 p.m. | at Syracuse | ABC |
| 23 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 24 Louisville | ESPN |
| 28 | Saturday | 6:30 or 8:30 | vs. Virginia Tech | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 20 Clemson | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | at No. 4 Duke | ESPN |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photo via @CanesHoops
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