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Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. In desperate need of a Quad 1 win, UNC builds a second-half lead only to fall apart down the stretch and fumble away yet another opportunity for a quality win in a season where opportunities are quickly running out. For the sixth time in nine Quad 1 games this season, the Tar Heels led in the final 20 minutes and, for the sixth time, Carolina was unable to finish the game and hold on for a victory.
RALEIGH — The questions keep coming for North Carolina’s men’s basketball team. There are no easy answers for the Tar Heels, who after this latest slippage might find that time is ticking a bit too fast.
Caleb Love and Hubert Davis give their thoughts on the loss to Miami and Sunday’s crucial game at N.C. State..
With a lot of help from a teammate who was traded along with him from Phoenix, Cam Johnson finally got a victory for Brooklyn in his third game since joining the Nets. Meanwhile, Coby White scored a season-high 25 points in his best game of the season one day before his birthday. Johnson scored 18 points and three 3-pointers while dishing out three assists as Brooklyn headed into the NBA All-Star break with a 116–110 home victory over the Miami Heat.
North Carolina’s men’s team hasn’t done much of late to help its NCAA resume, and factors that the Tar Heels can’t control are making it look even worse. There are now two wins that, on game day, were Quad 1 that are now Quad 2. For the second consecutive season, UNC is on the bubble in mid-February.
With five games left in the regular season, Siena is in a battle for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title, thanks to another big performance Sunday from Andrew Platek. Platek scored 18 points and four 3-pointers, with four rebounds and three assists, as the Saints earned a 73–65 home victory over Marist. It was Platek’s sixth game this season with at least 18 points and seventh with three or more assists. Platek was +19 in 29 minutes.
Well, that didn’t last long. After arguably their best performance of the season on Saturday against Clemson, UNC came out and gave 19th-ranked Miami a great run for a half, before the old bugaboos made a return, and the Tar Heels missed a big chance to put a good win on the resume, falling 80-72 to the Hurricanes at the Smith Center.
CHAPEL HILL — For one half, it looked like it might be a night where Carolina starts the early process of flipping the switch on the season. As one 3-point attempt after another rattled off the rim in the second half, it was apparent that Miami would have none of that.
By the time the Tar Heels tried to fight back in the last 10 minutes, it was too late as No. 15 Miami held on for an 80–72 victory Monday at the Smith Center.
Hear what RJ Davis, Armando Bacot and Caleb Love had to say after UNC’s rally against Miami falls short.
Cameron Johnson joined the new-look Brooklyn Nets, and was one of four newcomers who started in Saturday night’s home game against Philadelphia. Johnson and Mikal Bridges, nicknamed “The Twins” by former Suns teammate Deandre Ayton because they spent so much time together, each started in the Nets’ 101–98 loss to the Sixers. Joining them in the lineup were Spencer Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney, who Brooklyn got in the Kyrie Irving deal with the Dallas Mavericks.
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