Coming off a big win on Saturday, the North Carolina men’s basketball team (12-5, 4-2 ACC) suffered an 85-57 loss at Miami (14-4, 6-1 ACC) on Tuesday.
What happened?
After the Tar Heels opened the game with a three-pointer by graduate forward Brady Manek, the Hurricanes took a quick 11-point lead fueled by several offensive turnovers by UNC.
Three consecutive free throws by sophomore RJ Davis put a stop to Miami’s 14-point run, but the Hurricanes answered with a three-pointer, to maintain their double-digit lead. About halfway through the first half, UNC tallied six turnovers while Miami had none, and Miami led 25-11.
While the Tar Heels’ struggle to keep control of the ball on their half of the court presented a major issue, Miami’s offense was dominant, shooting 12-19 from the floor and 5-8 from behind the arc just under halfway through the first half.
Junior forward Armando Bacot — who had a career-high 29 points in the Tar Heels’ previous two games — didn’t score his first bucket until more than 12 minutes into the game. UNC had almost a three-minute drought before its next points – a turnaround jumper by sophomore wing Kerwin Walton.
After points off a turnover by sophomore guard Caleb Love and a deep three-pointer, Miami stretched the lead to 23. Going into halftime, the Hurricanes increased this lead to 27, with a halftime score of 49-22.
By the end of the first half, Miami had three players scoring triple digits, while UNC’s leading scorer had just six points. The Hurricanes, shooting 57 percent from behind the arc, were almost doubling the Tar Heels, who were shooting just 24 percent.
With an early three in the second half, Miami's Sam Waardenburg already reached a career-high 20 points, with almost a full half left to play. Early in the second half, Davis scored consecutive layups, followed by a basket from Bacot, but Miami answered with a second-chance jumper to keep a sound lead.
