UNC basketball’s road woes continue: Three takeaways from Tar Heels’ loss at Clemson
No. 23 Clemson kept its good times rolling and dealt struggling North Carolina another humbling defeat Monday night.
Back in the rankings for the third time this season, the Tigers rode Viktor Lakhin’s 22 points and 19 more from Chase Hunter to hammer UNC, 85-65, in ACC basketball at Littlejohn Coliseum.
The loss was the fifth in seven ACC road games for the Tar Heels (14-11, 7-6 ACC), who weren’t competitive as they fell short yet again to earn an important Quad 1 win and help their NCAA tournament chances.
Meanwhile, Clemson (20-5, 12-2 ACC) stayed hot, building on its 77-71 upset win over No. 3 Duke on Saturday to collect its eighth win in its past nine games.
The Tigers blasted UNC by shooting 50% from the field, making 12 of 24 3-pointers.
UNC shot 45.2% from the field but hit only 4 of 19 3-pointers (21%).
RJ Davis scored 18 points with Seth Trimble scoring 12 and Elliot Cadeau 11 for the Tar Heels. No other UNC players reached double figures.
The Tar Heels stayed with Clemson for the game’s first 12 minutes or so, as Ven-Allen Lubin’s basket with 8:23 to play in the first half left Clemson with a 27-25 lead.
But the Tigers reeled off eight consecutive points, with Lakhin scoring seven in a row on a bank shot, a hook shot and a 3-pointer that gave Clemson its first double-digit lead at 35-25.
The Tigers led 40-31 when another spurt, this one a 9-0 run, doubled their lead to 49-31. While Drake Powell missed three consecutive shots and the Tar Heels committed two turnovers, Jaeden Zackery hit a 3-pointer and Lakhin scored in the lane before Hunter and Ian Schieffelin got free for layups that pushed Clemson’s lead to 18 points with 15 seconds left in the half.
The Tigers led by as many as 26 points in the second half.
Here are three takeaways from UNC’s loss:
Jackson’s new role
For the first time since the calendar turned to 2024, Ian Jackson found himself out of UNC’s starting lineup. UNC coach Hubert Davis opted to start a pair of interior players, 6-8 Ven Allen-Lubin and 6-9 Jae’Lyn Withers, with the 6-4 Jackson a reserve.
A freshman forward, Jackson had started the Tar Heels last 12 games, scoring 20 points or more four times during that stretch.
But Jackson had struggled of late, going scoreless in Saturday’s 67-66 UNC win over Pittsburgh at the Smith Center. That was the fourth time in the last five games he’d failed to score in double figures.
Jackson remained an important part of the Tar Heels’ playing rotation, though. He was among the first UNC players off the bench.
Still, he missed all eight shots from the field and scored his only three points on free throws in the final 1:32 of play.
No slowing Lakhin
Clemson’s redshirt senior center, Lakhin had a big game Saturday with 22 points when Clemson upset Duke, 77-71.
He matched that against UNC, scoring 20 points in the first half alone before finishing with 22 points. The 6-11 Russian grabbed six rebounds, helping the Tigers dominate UNC in that statistic. Clemson finished with a 41-28 rebounding edge.
This came even after Hubert Davis opted for the taller starting lineup, aiming to offset Lakhin and 6-8 forward Schieffelin.
Another blow to UNC’s tournament resume
Its NCAA tournament hopes in jeopardy, UNC completed a four-game stretch that could have solidified, or even simply bolstered, its chances. Instead, the Tar Heels went 1-3, losing road games at Pittsburgh, Duke and Clemson while beating Pitt at home.
That leaves UNC 1-10 in Quad 1 games according to the NET ratings the NCAA selection committee uses to evaluate teams.
In seventh place in the ACC standings, the Tar Heels have chances to improve their overall record over the next six games, which are at Syracuse, home with N.C. State and Virginia, at Florida State, home with Miami and at Virginia Tech. Those are all teams below .500 in league play and behind UNC in the league standings.
But, even with wins, that would do little to boost UNC’s NET rating, which was No. 46 entering Monday night’s game. The Tar Heels have one last chance for a Quad 1 win when they close the regular season at home against Duke on March 8.
This story was originally published February 10, 2025 at 9:04 PM.