UNC Basketball: Another game, another ugly loss for the Tar Heels

Things continue to get worse for the UNC basketball program, as they suffered their second consecutive blowout loss in a span of less than a week.

It’s very safe to say that this is a week that the UNC basketball program would like to forget.

After a dreadful loss to Miami on Tuesday night, Hubert Davis’ team did not respond well, as they were once again blown out on Saturday night by Wake Forest.

Early on, it looked like North Carolina would benefit from their rebounding advantage, but they were simply unable to capitalize on their second-chance opportunities. As for the Demon Deacons, they simply had no issues putting the ball into the basket.

Overall, Wake Forest shot over 53 percent from the floor, including 38.5 percent from three-point range, en route to a season-high 98 points. Led by the duo of Alondes Williams and Jake LaRavia, the Demon Deacons gave the Tar Heels more than they could handle.

Let’s start with Williams, who coming in was an ACC Player of the Year candidate. He did nothing to change that on Saturday night, as he was heavily involved throughout and scored 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting. When he wasn’t shooting the basketball, the transfer from Oklahoma was active on all fronts, facilitating on offense and providing solid defense on the other side of the floor.

Although Williams has been the star for Wake Forest, LaRavia was the best player on the floor on Saturday night. The junior forward scored a career-high 31 points on an effective 12-of-15 shooting. He also made a living at the free throw line, making 12 of his 15 attempts from the stripe.

Add in Daivien Williams’ 19 points, along with the 13 points from Damari Montesano (who was appearing in just his second game this season), the combination of the aforementioned players recorded 86 of their teams’ 98 total points.

The Tar Heels did a great job rebounding the basketball, as they recorded 50 boards, 23 on the offensive side of the glass, but they simply couldn’t convert anything into points.

Brady Manek kept the Tar Heels in the game, as he was simply the only bright spot in this contest. The graduate transfer recorded 22 points before fouling out with the game out of reach in the second half.

In the first half, Manek made five of his nine shot attempts. On the other hand, his teammates converted just seven of their 31 shots through the first 20 minutes, and unfortunately, this trend did not change in the second half of play.

North Carolina put up 81 total shots, only making 27 of them. They shot 6-for-28 from three-point land, something that is uncharacteristic for a team that has been one of the better shooting teams in the ACC from deep.

Wake Forest did a tremendous job of limiting Armando Bacot’s production. Bacot has been one of the most dominant players in college basketball over his recent stretch of games but didn’t have that effect against the Demon Deacons.

Due to foul trouble and good defense against him, Bacot was limited to four points on 1-of-6 shooting in the first half. Although he finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds, this was not one of the junior big man’s best performances this season.

You could point to a lot of different things to try and figure out why the Tar Heels struggled once again, but it is a bit concerning that this team got blown out in back-to-back games. Right now, the momentum is shifting in a really bad direction for the UNC basketball program, and it is definitely possible that this trend could continue if the team puts up efforts like they have over the past two games.

Additional Game Notes:

• After seeing Hubert Davis limit his rotation, the Tar Heels head coach went deep into the bench on Saturday night. Through the first 11 minutes, Davis used 9 different players, and ended up using 10 overall in the first half. Will we see more of this moving forward, especially with Anthony Harris being out for the season?
• A surprise Tar Heel was the first off the bench on Saturday night, as Puff Johnson was the first player called upon by Davis. Johnson had two points in a season-high 13 minutes, but his effort and hustle were definitely on display and certainly earned him more playing time.
• As mentioned earlier, Armando Bacot recorded 12 points and 12 rebounds. His double-double extends his streak to nine consecutive games.
• For a program that has thrived on playing fast, they haven’t been able to slow down their opponents’ fast break attempts over the last two games. On Saturday night, the Demon Deacons outscored the Tar Heels 30-2 in fast break points, which definitely should be another area of concern for North Carolina.

The Tar Heels will have a quick turnaround, as they are back on the court on Monday in Chapel Hill against Virginia Tech. With three games on this week’s slate, all of which will be played at the Dean Smith Center, this is a great opportunity for this struggling unit to get back on track.

Continue to follow the Keeping It Heel team for all the latest news and updates regarding the UNC basketball program.