Heartbreaker! Texas sinks UNC in Maui Invitational championship on Matt Coleman’s shot
No. 14 North Carolina couldn’t overcome a first half to forget and lost to No. 17 Texas, 69-67, in the Maui Invitational championship on Wednesday.
The Tar Heels (3-1) trailed 40-28 at halftime due to being sloppy with the ball and had 10 turnovers to just one assist. Their backcourt players drove aimlessly to the goal without a plan. And the frontcourt players were not getting enough touches inside.
It led to one of those halftime speeches from coach Roy Williams. The kind that kept them off the floor for warmups until 1:52 remained before the second half began. The Heels clearly got the message.
Carolina focused on getting the ball inside. Of its initial 10 shots to start the second half, nine of them were inside the paint. The Heels outscored the Longhorns 36-22 in points in the paint and it helped them rally from down by as many as 16 in the first half.
Garrison Brooks, who scored a team-high 18 points for Carolina, gave the Heels a short-lived 65-63 lead with 2:34 left. It was their first lead since 15-13 midway through the first half.
With the game tied at 67-67 with 25 seconds left, the Longhorns (4-0) had the ball for a final shot. Matt Coleman III was isolated on UNC’s R.J. Davis. He dove right then bounced in a step-back jumper over Davis’ hand with 0.1 seconds left to give the Longhorns the win.
And One
Armando Bacot had arguably his best game of the season in posting his first double-double through four games. Bacot was efficient from the field, scoring 10 points on 7-of-12 shooting. He also grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds.
Lane Violation
Missed free throws appeared to be the equivalent of turnovers for Carolina, because often it didn’t get any points from a possession that ended in a trip to the line. The Heels shot a season-low 56.3% from the free-throw line, making 18-of-32 attempts.
ICYMI
Guard K.J. Smith got his first meaningful action of the season in the first half against Texas. UNC guards Caleb Love and R.J. Davis combined for four turnovers and Smith came in for a three-minute stretch to calm things down. Smith is the son of former UNC standout Kenny Smith.
Making sense of the numbers
31.4 — From watching the first half, it may have seemed like Texas was a great 3-point shooting team. Texas shot 7-of-15 (46.7 percent) from behind the arc and ran out to a 40-28 lead at the half. But 31.4 represents the Horns’ 3-point percentage entering Wednesday’s game against UNC.
Consider this, freshman Greg Brown missed his first 10 attempts from 3-point range this season and he made one against the Heels. Texas shot more like its average in the second half, going just 2-of-7.
This story was originally published December 2, 2020 at 6:32 PM.