UNC Basketball: Tar Heels come up short in Iowa City

The UNC Basketball program fell to 3-2 on the year after their second-straight loss to a ranked opponent this season

For the second-straight game, the UNC Basketball program finds themselves in the loss column against a ranked opponent falling to 3-2 on the year. And similar their previous loss to Texas a week ago, the Tar Heels struggled defending the three-point line, committed too many turnovers and struggled at the free-throw line.

Those three things were the biggest keys in No. 3 Iowa’s 93-80 win over the No. 16 ranked Tar Heels in Iowa City on Tuesday night as the Hawkeyes made 17 three-pointers including 11 in the first half to roll past UNC. The Hawkeyes caught fire early on despite star Luka Garza finishing the first half with just six total points.

UNC’s strategy of doubling Garza in the post led to some open looks for Iowa shooters and they took advantage. Iowa jumped out to a 43-31 lead at the break as the Tar Heels looked flat out sloppy.

But just like they did against Texas, UNC roared back in the second half.

The Tar Heels came out on a quick 8-3 run to cut the deficit to 7 early in that second half, keeping them in the ballgame. It was a different mindset for UNC as Roy Williams’ halftime speech worked and kept them alive. They would trim it down a little more and even took the lead with under 10 minutes left.

However, Garza got going in that second half and was the biggest factor. The All-American had a few big And-1 plays to help Iowa extend their lead as they went on an 11-0 run to grab the 10-point lead. From there, they never looked back as UNC continued to commit turnovers and allow open shots.

Garza finished the game with 16 points and 14 rebounds, doing most of his damage in that second half. But in the end, Iowa’s 17 three-pointers and hot shooting from Jordan Bohannon (24 points), CJ Fredrick (21 points) and Joe Wieskamp (19 points) did UNC in. The Tar Heels were just too late on their rotations and didn’t close out in time, leading to open shots.

Garrison Brooks led the way for UNC with 17 points as R.J. Davis scored 12 points and Caleb Love had 11. Freshman Day’Ron Sharpe added 13 points off the bench and did a nice job on Garza before getting into foul trouble.

It’s a tough loss for UNC with some glaring problems but this team is making progress. They finished this game 12/20 from the free throw line and committed 18 total turnovers. That’s somethings that they MUST clean up moving forward.

Next up, UNC takes on a ranked Ohio State team in Cleveland as they look to get back on track.

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