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basketball Edit

UNC-BC Concerns

The Tar Heels did little right in stealing one over Boston College on Tuesday night.
The Tar Heels did little right in stealing one over Boston College on Tuesday night.


CHESTNUT HILL, MA – So much for the new lineup generating new energy.

North Carolina escaped Conte Forum with a 68-65 victory over Boston College on Tuesday night but the new starting lineup of regulars Marcus Paige and Joel Berry in the backcourt and newbies up front in Theo Pinson, Isaiah Hicks and Joel James did nothing to change the course this team is on.

The Heels weren’t any grittier and edgier in the first few minutes than in losing the last two games. And when the regulars came in it was as if they were going through the motions at times, with a brief spark here and there.

BC was the aggressor, running its offense with little interruption. If only the Eagles had average ACC talent and skill they could have opened up a lead at the half that would have been extremely difficult for the Tar Heels to overcome.

That BC (7-17, 0-11 ACC) outrebounded the Heels in the first half 19-15 and grabbed 5 offensive rebounds (leading to 6 second-chance points) to UNC’s 2 ORBs leading to 2 second-chance points is more evidence.

Want more? BC attempted 9 free throws to UNC’s 1 in the first half. Carolina (20-4, 9-2) simply was not trying to force its will, and when it did it too often blew the play with an offensive foul or missing something near the rim.

More? Carolina rebounded only 2 of its 16 missed shots in the first half.

So, a tongue-lashing in the locker room at halftime was sure to light a fire under the Heels, right?

Uh uh.

Some of these numbers simply defy logic: 33 minutes into the game, UNC had 2 second-chance points and had attempted 1 free throw. Give the obvious mismatch in personnel, that only speaks to one team wanting it and another going through the motions.

BC led 56-49 with 7:38 left. At that point, Paige had just scored his second basket of the night, mirroring a struggle in his overall floor game, especially in the first 20 minutes.

“We just didn’t come out with any energy,” Berry said. “We thought Boston College was just going to lay down to us just because we’re North Carolina. They’re last in the league, so we kind of took it as that they’re not going to come out here and play, they already gave up.

“But they came out and started competing in the first half, and they kept continuing that in the second half.”

Carolina fought back and won the game, but the likelihood is that had UNC been playing anyone else in the ACC it could have been blown out, and against most teams it would have been blown out.

More numbers:

*The Heels had an 8-possesion stretch in which they turned over the ball on 7 possessions.

*Isaiah Hicks fouled out with 3 turnovers, all were offensive fouls.

*UNC had 2 fast-break points, giving it a total of 8 in its last three contests.

*UNC’s trio of big men totaled 15 points and 18 rebounds, with only Hicks grabbing an offensive board, and he had just 3.

*The Tar Heels managed a paltry 6 offensive rebounds on the night, thus they grabbed only 6 of their 25 misses.

*Theo Pinson was called for a four riding out a BC player who slammed home an alley oop.

*Johnson fouled a 3-point shooter in the corner: The shot was good and so was the free throw for a 4-point play.

*UNC went 3 straight possessions at one point in the first half with a turnover in the lane: Berry stepping on the baseline; Hicks getting position and Meeks lowering his shoulder trying to make a move.

*On two separate sequences, UNC went consecutive possessions committing offensive fouls. Both times involved Hicks, the second with Hicks driving to the basket followed by Berry pushing off as he was working his way into the lane.

*BC senior Eli Carter, a 30 percent 3-point shooter on the season, drained 5 of 12 on the night and finished with 26 points, 10 above his season average.

*BC’s Dennis Clifford routinely gave Johnson fits essentially using basic big man moves. Clifford isn’t quicker and isn’t so skilled that he gives everyone trouble. He’s a decent player and is experienced, and he used that tonight against a senior who just didn’t lay a body on him until late in the game, and then he fouled him twice on the same possession 24 seconds apart. Clifford, who averages 8.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds, Johnson ended up with 9 and 5.

There’s more, but it lies more in the areas of effort, focus, grit, and want. Carolina did manage to pull out the victory and do so clamping down defensively, so the Heels deserve credit there. But had they been playing anyone else in the ACC they never would have had that chance.


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