UNC Basketball: Texas downs Tar Heels in final seconds

The UNC Basketball program fell short on Wednesday afternoon as Texas stunned them with a last second shot to seal the game

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: The UNC Basketball program lost to Texas. Well, folks it happened again.

With the Maui Invitational on the line, No. 17 Texas got a bucket with 0.1 seconds left from Matt Coleman III to beat the Tar Heels 69-67 to capture their first Maui title. The loss to Texas marks the fifth-straight loss for the Tar Heels to the Longhorns, dropping them to 3-9 overall in the series.

The game got off to a slow, sloppy start with both teams struggling to hit shots and committing turnovers. But it was Texas that jumped out to the big lead first as they caught fire from the three-point line to take a 14 point lead at one point. Texas took a 40-28 lead into the break, beating the Tar Heels in all aspects of the game.

UNC made just 5 of their 13 free throws in the first half, falling into a hole by also committing turnovers and shooting poor from the three-point line. But then things started to turn in the second half. UNC opened up the half on a 6-0 run to cut the lead down to six and would eventually get even closer as the half went on.

The Tar Heels even tied the game a few times down the stretch by going into the post with their talented bigs in Garrison Brooks, Armando Bacot, Day’Ron Sharpe and Walker Kessler. However, luck just wasn’t on their side.

Up two late, the Tar Heels had a few chances to get a stop on the defensive end of the floor and potentially extend their lead. It didn’t happen and after UNC tied it with two free throws late by Leaky Black, Texas came out in a set and ran iso for the best player on the court in Coleman III.

The difference in this game for UNC can be pointed to the free throw line, three-point line and turnovers. UNC finished the game 1 of 9 from beyond the arc, 18/32 from the free throw line and committed 14 turnovers.

Yikes.

Garrison Brooks led the way for the Tar Heels, scoring 18 points and grabbing 7 rebounds while playing 30 minutes. Sophomore Armando Bacot finished with another double-double grabbing 12 rebounds and scoring 10 points.

As for the guard play, freshmen R.J. Davis and Caleb Love combined to go 5-of-24 from the field with seven turnovers and just 16 points. UNC is going to need much better guard play if they want to win games this year.

Next up for the Tar Heels is a trip to Iowa on Tuesday for the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The Hawkeyes are currently ranked No. 3 in the nation. That game will tipoff at 7:30 p.m. ET.

For more on the UNC Basketball program, please check back with Keeping It Heel.