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The loss to Florida was an abomination to the bitter end.
Do the Tar Heels really know how to win games? They have not proven that yet this season and are perilously close to falling out of early the NCAA Tournament projections with a 6-5 record and will need to fight their back in against a daunting ACC regular season schedule.
Sleepwalking through the first half and falling behind by 17 points, they mounted a gallant comeback in the second half and were about to turn the game into a nightmare for the undefeated, 7th-ranked Gators at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte that had come alive.
After Hubert Davis repeatedly told his team, “You’re not tough enough!” Carolina opened the second half on an 11-0 run and was on the verge of closing out the game on Elliot Cadeau’s driving layup for an 84-82 lead with 2:13 remaining.
The Heels had outscored Florida 50-36 in the second half. But they never scored again as the Gators won 90-84, leaving Davis and his team subdued afterward. This was a game they had to have, but missed shots, lost rebounds and turnovers were fatal.
Davis was clearly outcoached by Florida’s Todd Golden, who played a bigger lineup against the four-guard rotation Carolina used throughout the game. Hubert had Cadeau, Seth Trimble and Ian Jackson in the game and did not score over the last 2:12, giving up three offensive rebounds that yielded six points – the final margin of victory – for the Gators.
Seems unfathomable, but the Tar Heels did not look ready to go from the jump and missed their first 11 3-point attempts while Florida drained seven in the first half. R.J. Davis, who led all scorers with 29 points, got hot and cut into Florida’s double-digit lead to help reduce the deficit to a manageable 46-34 at halftime.
After Hubert questioned their toughness, the Heels came out on fire and made the second half a dogfight until the final two minutes. He played his bigs sparingly and went with Jackson, who made 5 of 8 shots in the second half to help spark the ill-fated comeback.
The 2022-23 team, ranked preseason No. 1 in the nation, started 5-0 and then lost four straight before closing out December with a 9-5 record and stayed on the NCAA tourney bubble before five losses in February put the Tar Heels on the outside looking in.
The best this team can do before ACC play resumes on New Year’s Day is 8-5 if the Heels can get their first Quad 1 win against UCLA Saturday at Madison Square Garden. Three of their next four conference games are on the road, with the only home date against SMU, one of four 9-2 teams overall and one of nine that are 1-0 and tied for first in the ACC standings. Carolina is among those nine for now.
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Featured image via Associated Press/Nell Redmond
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
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