UNC men's basketball gives up 44 free throw attempts in overtime loss to Louisville

LOUISVILLE, KY. — In this moment, Roy Williams has nothing to say. Instead, the body language of the North Carolina men’s basketball coach articulates everything his words don’t have to.

Williams is kneeling. His elbow is on his knee, and two fingers frame his chin. There’s a bit of a scowl on his face.

In just a second, he’ll take off his glasses and point to sophomore forward Isaiah Hicks, motioning for him to sub in for junior forward Brice Johnson.

There are still nearly four minutes left on the clock of No. 10 Louisville’s eventual 78-68 overtime win over No. 13 North Carolina on Saturday, but Johnson has already fouled out. Hicks, who will replace him, has four, and in a matter of just 41 seconds, he’ll be gone with five, too.

Such was the script for the Tar Heels (17-5, 7-2 ACC) Saturday, who saw six of the nine players who took the floor end the game with at least four fouls.

Kennedy Meeks, J.P. Tokoto and Justin Jackson all had four by the end of the overtime period, and Nate Britt would join Johnson and Hicks on the bench with 43 seconds remaining in extra time. Junior guard Marcus Paige had three.

“We tried to talk about not fouling, and we put them on the line 44 times,” said Williams in his opening statement.

“When we played at Kentucky, we shot (12) free throws, and they shot 31. Today we shot 20 and (Louisville) shot 44.”

But it was UNC’s own fault, Williams said — nothing his players couldn’t control.

“I’m not talking about the officials,” he said. “We made the fouls and we should not have done that.”

The Tar Heels ended the game with 33 team fouls, tied for fourth-most in school history and the most under Williams at North Carolina.

The 44 free throws Louisville (18-3, 6-2 ACC) shot were also the most a UNC team under Williams’ command has ever allowed. The Cardinals, on the other hand, only committed 16 team fouls for 20 UNC free throws.

After the game, in a UNC locker room that was eerily quiet other than the thud of Johnson’s head hitting a locker, Meeks was asked if his team had to be more cautious as a result of all of the fouls.

“You do,” he said. “But at the same time, you can’t take your foot off the pedal, and I felt like I did at least, which isn’t good.”

Additionally, the fouls forced Williams to be more creative with his lineup.

At one point, the Tar Heels were forced to go small, keeping Meeks as the only big man in the game. Later, at the beginning of overtime, Britt started instead of Johnson, who could only watch from the bench.

Paige wasn’t hesitant to admit that the foul trouble affected the flow of the offense.

But Williams refused to cite his players’ overagression as one of the reasons UNC lost.

Instead he blamed himself, saying fellow Hall of Famer Rick Pitino outcoached him, and that the Cardinals simply wanted the ball more than the Tar Heels.

“(Foul trouble) affected (the rotation), but that’s an excuse, too. Louisville beat North Carolina,” he said.

“Somebody kicked our tails and I’m not going to say anything trying to make excuses.”

Johnson, on the other hand, still felt like he was searching for answers in terms of how many times the three officials blew their whistles.

“I don’t know what to say to it. They called it,” he said.

“It’s the end of the game now. Can’t do nothing about it.”

sports@dailytarheel.com