North Carolina felt a sense of urgency from a weak NCAA Tournament resume going into its game against No. 15 Miami on Monday.
They’ll be downright desperate now after going cold from 3-point line in an 80-72 loss to the Hurricanes in the Dean E. Smith Center.
Miami (21-5, 12-4 ACC) represented one of the Heels’ dwindling chances for a quality win, and now they’re at a point where they can’t take too many more good losses, either. Saturday’s game at N.C. State and Feb. 25 against Virginia are currently the only two Quad 1 games in the NCAA Net rankings they have remaining. Duke in the regular season finale could possibly qualify by the time March 4 arrives, but that’s it.
Carolina’s win over Ohio State had stood as a Quad 1 win, but the Buckeyes’ season has declined fast and fell into the Quad 2 category. It left the Heels with an 0-8 record in Quad 1 games, which could leave them outside of the NCAA Tournament’s at-large bids.
UNC (16-10, 8-7) guard Caleb Love made the first 3-pointer he attempted for the first points in the game. The Tar Heels proceeded to miss their next 16 straight attempts from behind the arc. Carolina had just tied a season-high with 15 3s in its win over Clemson on Saturday.
The Heels finished just 5-for-31 or 16.1 percent from behind the arc, which surpassed their season-low. The previous low was shooting 16.7 percent when they went 3-for-18 in their loss to Iowa State.
In the first half, they compensated for those misses from deep by getting to the rim. Miami couldn’t stop them from getting to the basket or getting in the lane for short jumpers. UNC scored 26 points in the paint in the first half.
Carolina shot 51 percent from the field because it made 14 of 18 attempts from inside the arc in the first half. despite going just 1-for-11 from 3-point range,
All that dried up in the second half.
Miami forward Norchad Omier did a good job of keeping UNC’s Armando Bacot from getting comfortable in the post. While he was in the game, Bacot either had to move to the perimeter to get the ball or he didn’t get it at all. That all changed when Omier picked up his second foul with 12 minutes left in the first half.
Bacot dominated once Omier was sidelined, scoring 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting in the first half. But it was Bacot who found himself in foul trouble in the second half.
The senior forward picked up four fouls in just under a five minute stretch and was replaced in the game with 12:10 remaining and the Heels trailing 52-40.
