‘It’s just not sustainable’: UNC basketball mounts another comeback, only to lose again
For a few minutes Tuesday night, UNC basketball felt like UNC basketball should feel.
The crowd was roaring, the Tar Heels were creating live-ball turnovers and suddenly a Florida lead that had been as large as 17 points in the first half was evaporating into the ether at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte.
UNC climbed all the way back and, with 4:02 to go, led the Gators by four points.
And then it all went away. The Tar Heels failed to rebound from this year’s slow start because in this game they literally failed to rebound. Florida won, 90-84, scoring the game’s final eight points while batting the basketball around to each other like it was a beach ball at a concert.
“Down the stretch, they got four offensive rebounds for seven points,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said of Florida. “And so that was the game.”
UNC (6-5) just can’t put it together this season — not often enough, at least, against high-quality opponents. The schedule has also been a bear, with the Tar Heels taking on four top-10 foes already. UNC keeps showing occasional promise in those high-level games, only to fritter it away.
“We’re too far in the season just to continue to show flashes of how good we can be,” UNC guard Seth Trimble said.
Florida (11-0) is very good and shows it every week. The veteran Gators are ranked No. 7 and had won their previous 10 games by an average of 21 points.
“To be honest, we haven’t had a game like this yet,” Florida coach Todd Golden said.
At first, it didn’t seem like this one would be, either. UNC shot 5-for-28 from 3-point range for the game and missed its first 11 threes in a row. The Tar Heels stumbled and slept their way through large stretches of the first half, as has been the pattern in several games this season.
Said Davis: “That’s been the consistent theme for us this year. Playing the way we want to play — for one half. ... It’s just not sustainable, against good teams. You have to put a full 40 minutes together.”
In the second half, while mounting a furious comeback, UNC shot 62.9% and made 19 of 23 attempts from two-point range. RJ Davis caught fire and would end up with a game-high 29 points. Davis and Trimble combined for seven steals. All of it meant that the Tar Heels were on the verge of a signature win in the Queen City, which they always have treated as a home away from home. The Tar Heels came in 168-27 all-time in Charlotte, and 18-2 in their last 20 at the Spectrum Center.
But this UNC team has had trouble finishing most of this young season, and that issue reared itself again in front of a mostly sky-blue crowd that included former Tar Heels greats Roy Williams, Mark Maye, Antawn Jamison and Phil Ford. Florida out-fought the Tar Heels for the ball in the final minutes. UNC missed the end of a few one-and-one free throws. RJ Davis missed an open three-pointer. And suddenly, that was that.
“I think we outrebounded them 8-1 down the stretch,” Golden said. “Big-time offensive rebounds.”
This was the third year of the Jumpman Invitational being played in Charlotte. It’s been a cool event, each year featuring the four original Jordan Brand-sponsored college teams — both men’s and women’s versions. The teams have rotated who they play each year, so UNC started with Michigan, then played Oklahoma in 2023 and Florida this year. There has been no word as of yet as to whether the event will continue, but traditionally UNC has found a way to play at least one game in Charlotte most years and was the primary draw for the crowd of 16,058 Tuesday (a number very similar to what the Tar Heels drew in each of their first two Jumpman years in Charlotte).
UNC’s men’s team had won its Jumpman game in each of the first two years, and last year had played an Oklahoma team that was No. 7 in the country and undefeated — exactly the way Florida came into this contest.
That Tar Heels team, though, had big men who were bigger threats inside. This one just keeps struggling. UNC has another chance for an impressive non-conference win Saturday, when it plays No. 18 UCLA in Madison Square Garden in New York.
“You’re going to get knocked down in life,” Hubert Davis said. “Not everything’s going to go your way. And so the only thing you really have control over is how you react and how we respond.”
So far, that response has been inconsistent.
It’s rare in December for people to seem more excited about UNC football (and new coach Bill Belichick) than UNC basketball. But here we are.
This story was originally published December 18, 2024 at 5:30 AM.
