Great start, poor finish
The game started about as well as UNC could hope; a Henri Veesaar three and two Caleb Wilson dunks pushed the Tar Heels to an early 7-0 lead.
But Navy took heed of the lessons learned from the USS New Orleans, a World War II era heavy cruiser during the Battle of Tassafaronga, near Guadalcanal. The USS New Orleans was struck by a Japanese torpedo, which tore the bow off her hull. The surviving crew limped to the island of Tulagi and fitted a makeshift bow made out of coconut logs, then sailed 1,800 miles backwards to Australia to undergo repairs. In other words, that crew performed admirably after being dealt a devastating blow.
With 4:57 left in the second half, James Brown hit two free throws to put North Carolina up 68-44, a comfortable +24 margin. Over the next three minutes, Navy went on a 15-0 run. Some boneheaded fouls and turnovers gave the Midshipmen ample opportunities to cut into their deficit.
The talent gap was enough to brush Navy aside. But imagine this UNC team up +24 at Cameron Indoor and then letting Duke go on a 15-0 run. Is that a scenario you'd want to face in crunch time? Hubert Davis will no doubt be echoing this message as he looks to clean things up.