The North Carolina men's basketball team won 93-67 over Long Beach State on Tuesday in the Smith Center. But the fatigue showed in the Tar Heels' third game in five days, as they only outscored the Rams by three in the second half.
The scoring and rebounding margins between the two teams also mask some of the struggles Justin Jackson, Isaiah Hicks and Kennedy Meeks dealt with and played through.
It started off well for the Tar Heels, who started the game on a 14-0 run. Long Beach State didn't earn its first points of the night for nearly eight minutes.
But Long Beach State started out the second half on a 17-10 run, and there were signs of frustration all over the court for the Tar Heels. At a timeout with 13:35 left in the second half, Coach Roy Williams punched his clipboard in frustration.
One stretch in the middle of the second half illustrates the lull in the Tar Heel offense. Meeks missed two free throws in a row with 9:25 left in the second half. In between the first and second miss, nearly everyone in the Smith Center could hear him yell at himself.
“I told (assistant) coach (Hubert) Davis, ‘I’ve been shooting like Ben Wallace, dog,'" said Meeks, who made one of four free throws Tuesday. “I’ve never shot this bad from the free-throw line, ever.”
After the second miss, UNC got the offensive rebound and the ball ended up in Hicks' hands. While unguarded, he quickly sent an entry pass in the post to Meeks. He sent it right back to Hicks, who clanged an open jumper off the rim.
It was a disjointed possession from the Tar Heels' two big men, who usually display more chemistry.
“Kennedy can’t post up and stay in there the whole time,” Williams said. “He’s got to get out, so we can have some space to drive. And he was in there and Isaiah never went in there because he thought Kennedy was in there all the time.”
