UNC junior varsity basketball outworked in 106-100 loss to Vance Granville

The North Carolina junior varsity basketball team wasn’t just outplayed — UNC was outworked.

The Tar Heels (3-1) lost for the first time this season, falling to Vance Granville Community College, 106-100, at the Smith Center on Wednesday.

“It was definitely a rough loss,” sophomore guard Caleb Ellis said. “Probably the biggest disappointment is, as a team, we feel like we got outplayed as far as effort goes.”

“They just wanted it more, honestly.”

The Vanguards put their speed and athleticism to good use against the Tar Heels, as they outworked North Carolina from the opening tip of Wednesday night’s contest.

Vance Granville’s guards kept the ball moving on offense and crashed the offensive boards with intensity. The Tar Heels’ defense could do little to stop the Vanguards from scoring.

“Congratulations to Vance Community College,” Head Coach Hubert Davis said. “They earned it.”

“I just felt like the entire game they were the tougher team. They were the team that worked the hardest, that wanted it more.”

Despite not being able to stop Vance Granville from scoring, UNC’s offense kept the game close — as the two teams knotted the score at 51-51 heading into halftime.

The second half was just as much of a back-and-forth affair as the first, and the Tar Heels found themselves with a slim lead with as little as three minutes left in the game.

But a late turnover by North Carolina and four straight-made free throws by Vance Granville sealed the game for the visiting Vanguards.

Despite posting 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting from behind the 3-point line to lead all Tar Heels in scoring, junior guard Lucas Bouknight wasn’t pleased with his performance after Wednesday’s loss.

“Its really hard to be happy about yourself when you have 14 other guys who are just as disappointed as you are,” he said.

“It’s nice to see the ball go in, but it’s nicer to see you score more than the other team at the end of the day.”

Davis wants his team to push the ball on offense and score as quickly as possible. But when his players are ignoring the other facets of the game, the UNC coach knows things can only end poorly.

“One of the things that we talk about is that we want to win four battles: the turnover, the rebound, the free throw and the effort battle,” he said. “They were winners of all four of those.”

“It’s gonna be tough to win a game if you do that.”

Despite the loss, Davis remains optimistic. The Tar Heels endured a grueling start to the season, opening with four games in eight days and little time for practice.

But the quick turnaround was no excuse for the Tar Heels’ head coach.

“I did not anticipate them playing harder than us, tougher than us,” Davis said. “That’s something that’s going to have to change ... it will change.”

@The_Belshe

sports@dailytarheel.com