JV men's basketball team loses to Central Carolina, 67-59

After a convincing win in its season opener, the North Carolina junior varsity men’s basketball team took a step back Friday, losing to visiting Central Carolina 67-59.

The Tar Heels, who defeated Pfeiffer 96-72 on Nov. 5, were held to their lowest scoring output any member of UNC’s team had witnessed while on the team.

While the Cougars could only muster 67 points of their own, the total was enough to secure the victory.

“They played harder than us,” sophomore guard Shaun Scott said. “We just weren’t focused from the jump of the game and put ourselves in a hole that we couldn’t get out of.”

In the opening minutes, UNC looked poised for another decisive win as it jumped out to an early 6-0 lead. But the Cougars quickly clawed back and by halftime were ahead 32-25.

The halftime deficit only grew wider as play resumed. The Cougars scored eight unanswered points within the first three minutes of the second half, leaving UNC with 15 points of ground to make up — a margin that proved insurmountable.

“We didn’t make very many shots,” sophomore guard Miguel Cardona said. “They came out, kind of hit us in the mouth, and we were playing catch-up for most of the second half.”

UNC coach C.B. McGrath kept his bench active, constantly rotating his players until he could find a combination that worked. By the time he found a group that gelled, it was already too late.

“We just never turned it around,” McGrath said. “I tried to give everyone a chance, hoping to find somebody who could give us a little fire, a little intensity, but nobody decided to do it until seven minutes left in the game.”

Sophomore forward Frank Tanner was the only Tar Heel to post double-digit numbers in the low-scoring contest, tallying 10 rebounds and dropping 12 points that matched his previous season-high in points scored.

Freshman guard Zack Richardson was UNC’s second-leading scorer with nine points.

More than individual statistics, McGrath said a lack of team cohesion is what ultimately doomed the Tar Heels.

“It’s just basketball — it’s not that difficult of a game to figure out,” McGrath said. “You work as a team, try to get a really good shot. We probably had five assists in the game. Everybody thought they could just take them one-on-one.”

The Tar Heels’ play against the Cougars stands in stark contrast to their practices where — as McGrath points out — the men work as a collective unit, setting up screens, passing to the open man and communicating.

But that sort of play didn’t translate into the game Friday. Players cited a lack of chemistry and the intimidating Smith Center atmosphere as possible factors, knowing that they need to turn up the intensity when they hit the court against Guilford Tech next week.

“If we come out and play our game, it shouldn’t matter who we play,” Cardona said. “We can’t bank on the North Carolina on our jersey to win it for us. We have to go out and win the game.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.