No. 3 UNC basketball upset at Georgia Tech. 3 takeaways from Tar Heels’ first ACC loss
Well, that stung.
Georgia Tech lost eight of its last nine games coming into Tuesday night, but that didn’t matter. The Yellow Jackets ended No. 3 North Carolina’s 10-game winning streak, handing the Tar Heels their first ACC loss in a 74-73 result at McCamish Pavilion.
It was UNC’s first loss since Dec. 16, when it played Kentucky...also in Atlanta.
The Tar Heels (17-4, 9-1 ACC) led by as many as 11 points in the first half, but shooting went cold and they played from behind most of the second.
“In games like this, we’ve got to come in with a killer mentality and we got to put them away,” Armando Bacot said. “First half, we went up 11 and that’s when we’ve got to really show that killer instinct. We let them stick around and hit tough shots.”
UNC implemented its press midway through the second half, which slowed down the Yellow Jackets (10-12, 3-8 ACC) in certain possessions.
Then, UNC took a one-point lead with 34.6 seconds remaining. RJ Davis made a layup over Georgia Tech’s Naithan George. George followed things up with a bucket over Bacot.
Davis attempted another floater with four seconds remaining. He missed, and the Yellow Jackets pulled down the defensive rebound.
The senior finished with a game-high 28 points, but he was the only player in double figures. UNC’s offensive efficiency ended up just 28-of-77 from the field and 8-of-28 from 3-point range. Add in 11 turnovers and 16 personal fouls on top of the other issues, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.
“Definitely a rough one,” RJ Davis said. “It’s not the type of game that you would want to lose, but credit to Georgia Tech. They outplayed us today.”
Here are three takeaways from the loss.
Carolina gets the ball rolling
Coming into the game, both teams excelled at ball movement and would look to slow down the other’s offensive rhythm. Georgia Tech averaged 13.5 assists per game, while the Tar Heels were nearly at 14.
Carolina found success early in the game and recorded four assists on its first four buckets. By the under-12 TV timeout, the Heels logged seven assists on eight buckets. That included an impressive series with two offensive rebounds and a dunk by Jalen Washington.
Elliot Cadeau contributed four assists in the first half, as well. He earned credit for two corner 3s off the inbound by Harrison Ingram and Cormac Ryan.
At halftime, the Heels had 10 assists on 14 shots. They finished with 17 assists on 28 baskets, but it wasn’t enough.
UNC’s mid-half slump
After the Tar Heels’ win at Florida State, Ingram said the team’s main area of improvement needed to be its slump in the first half of games.
“We started off pretty well. After the first four minutes or after the first media timeout, usually that’s when a team will come back against us, so just being as strong as the first four to eight minutes,” Ingram said on Saturday.
That remained an issue on Tuesday.
Georgia Tech took an early lead, but the Tar Heels responded with a 12-0 run and led by 11 points twice. It looked like they were on a path to break away from the Yellow Jackets, right on schedule, the offense tanked.
Carolina finished the first half just 1-of-10 from the field and missed three free throws. Washington made one free throw – the only point in the final 5:34.
“They’re an extremely good basketball team. They play extremely well at home,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “This is a team that’s beat Duke here and won on the road against Clemson, who’s an outstanding team. During those times, you want to extend the lead, and we just didn’t.”
The slump continued into the second half, when the Tar Heels started 8-of-24 from the field and 1-of-8 from 3-point range. They had an offensive surge late, hitting three in a row and then two of its final four, but it wasn’t enough.
Defense struggles to hold
Carolina gave up more points than it has in more than a month, which could be attributed to missed assignments and Georgia Tech catching fire on offense.
In fact, the Yellow Jackets shot 25-of-61 from the field (41%) and 9-of-20 on 3-pointers (45%). They had three players in double figures, despite not having Baye Ndongo. The star freshman left the game four minutes into play after hitting his head on the floor.
Even with Georgia Tech’s success, Carolina looked soft at times. It gave up a 7-0 run midway through the half — when Georgia Tech began its momentum — and a 12-1 run to end the first half. The teams went into halftime tied at 37.
“In real-time, I don’t think we realized as a group what was going on,” Bacot said.
At the start of the second, the Yellow Jackets pulled down five offensive rebounds just three and a half minutes into play. Bacot was pulled after allowing Georgia Tech to get to the bucket with ease.
RJ Davis said the defensive rotations struggled against the pick-and-roll, as well. They weren’t getting to the ball and that allowed Georgia Tech to make easy layups or get the ball to its bigs.
The defense has been Carolina’s calling card for most of this season. It fell short this time around.
“They wanted it more than us,” Ingram said. “They came out harder. They were playing harder. Every loose ball was theirs, rebounds and everything. They were just playing harder than us.”
This story was originally published January 30, 2024 at 10:21 PM.
