UNC Basketball: Tar Heels drop second straight as Tennessee rolls
By Zack Pearson
After a 3-0 start to the season, the UNC Basketball program finds themself at 3-2 after losing on back-to-back days at the Hall of Fame Tip-off Classic. Following a tough loss to Purdue on Saturday, UNC looked lifeless out there against Tennessee on Sunday as the Volunteers cruised to a 89-72 victory.
To put it simple in this one, UNC’s defense struggled from the start and allowed 21 layups in the game as they were confused on rotations and were dominated in the paint. It was an ugly performance on the defensive end as the Volunteers made the Tar Heels pay. Tennessee shot 54 percent from the field including 45 percent from the three-point line in the victory.
UNC didn’t have the energy they had on Saturday against Purdue. After they kept it somewhat close in the first half, they found themselves down 39-32 at the break.
But then things got worse. The Volunteers outscored UNC 50-40 in the second half and every time the Tar Heels got a bucket to trim the lead, Tennessee would answer. UNC never got it closer than eight in the second half and the Volunteers lead even grew to 20 at one point.
Zakai Zeigler led the Volunteers with 18 points, shooting 70 percent from the field while Santiago Vescovi added 17, Kennedy Chandler 14 and John Fulkerson had 13. Brady Manek led the way for UNC with 24 points, a season high for the former Oklahoma transfer, but that was all the scoring UNC got from their bench.
Kerwin Walton, Anthony Harris, and Dontrez Styles all had 0 points off the bench, and Walton was the only one of the trio to attempt a field goal. Armando Bacot had 16 and R.J. Davis continued his hot play with 14.
UNC’s struggles on defense are apparent now. Over the past four games, they are allowing an average of 88 points per game and 9 made threes per game, an ugly stat for that side of the ball.
In its last four games, North Carolina has allowed an average of 88.0 points and more than nine 3-pointers per game. Purdue and Tennessee shot a combined 55% from the field and 44.2% from 3-point range. Three of the last four opponents have scored at least 1.20 points/possession.
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) November 21, 2021
The Tar Heels have one game next week as they host UNC-Asheville but another tough test aways in early December as they host Michigan.
Next. Game grades for loss to Purdue. dark
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