North Carolina’s Armando Bacot (5) drives by N.C. State’s Terquavion Smith (0) during the first half of N.C. State’s game against UNC at PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C., Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023.
ehyman@newsobserver.com
If North Carolina ends up missing the NCAA Tournament, Sunday’s 77-69 loss at N.C. State might be viewed as its final stand.
The Tar Heels (16-11, 8-8 ACC) left PNC Arena still without a Quad 1 win in the NCAA’s NET rankings. At this point in the season, even if they secure one against Virginia on Saturday, or against Duke in the regular season finale, it still might not be enough when stacked up to the 10 losses they have in the category.
Carolina again found itself unable to produce offensively in the decisive stretch of the game. With the scored tied at 60, the Heels went scoreless over three minutes as the Wolfpack reeled off a 9-0 run.
Prior to that, the ebb and flow of the game was very much back and forth and hinted that it may come down to a final shot. That did not materialize, as the Heels shot just 32.4 percent in the second half.
Only Caleb Love, who scored 13 of his team-high 20 points in the second half, and Armando Bacot, who added 16 points and 14 rebounds, reached double-figure scoring for the Heels.
Carolina had just seven turnovers in its 80-69 win in their first meeting back on Jan. 21. The Heels had eight in the first half, which turned into 12 points for the Pack. It wasn’t that State catching them in traps or pressure, several times it was just a matter of the Heels trying to force action in lane traffic.
UNC took better care of the ball — the Pack only scored two points off four turnovers through the first 15 minutes of the second half. And it allowed the Heels to take their biggest lead 54-48 thanks to an 11-4 spurt with 10:23 remaining.
Carolina did show an edge during the game that underscored their desperation.
Love was called for a foul on a Jarkel Joiner jumper and, while lining up for the ensuing free throws, he turned to referee Pat Driscoll and said, “That’s bull…” with both his arms in the air.
Fast forward four minutes, Love made a 3-pointer to give Carolina a 31-30 lead with 1:09 left in the half. Terquavion Smith ran to contest the shot and may have made contact with Love’s follow through. As he fell to the ground, Love again lifted his arms in exasperation wanting a foul call.
This time, Driscoll gave him a technical foul for his protest.
C.L. Brown covers the University of North Carolina for The News & Observer. Brown brings more than two decades of reporting experience including stints as the beat writer on Indiana University and the University of Louisville. After a long stay at the Louisville Courier-Journal, where he earned an APSE award, he’s had stops at ESPN.com, The Athletic and even tried his hand at running his own website, clbrownhoops.com.