What we learned from UNC basketball’s loss to Duke in the ACC regular-season finale

The last time Leaky Black set a pick for Caleb Love with a 7-footer closing in to contest the shot, it had a very different result for North Carolina.

In New Orleans a year ago, Love drained the 3-pointer over Mark Williams that essentially clinched North Carolina’s win over Duke in the Final Four.

Saturday in Chapel Hill, Love’s shot to tie the game over Kyle Filipowski with 9.4 seconds left clanged off the back rim. It was the Tar Heels’ last hope in their 62-57 loss to the Blue Devils in the Dean E. Smith Center, a loss that all but ensured Carolina (19-12, 11-9 ACC) needs to reach the ACC tournament championship game - or win it outright - in order to make the NCAA tournament.

“The ACC tournament is definitely huge for us,” said UNC forward Armando Bacot, who had 17 points to tie for the team-high Saturday. “We’ve just got to go in there with the mindset, we just got to go win, really. That’s all we can do.”

Carolina will be the No. 7 seed in the tournament and play the winner of No. 10 Boston College and No. 15 Louisville on Wednesday in Greensboro. The Heels will try to duplicate what Virginia Tech did last year as the first ever seventh seed to win the ACC.

Here’s what we learned from the Heels loss:

3-point drought

Saturday’s game was an example of what it looks like when the 3-pointers dry up for the Tar Heels. They shot just 5-for-23 from behind the arc -- after making 14 against Florida State and 11 against Virginia in their past two outings.

Love shot 35 percent from 3-point range in his previous six career meetings against Duke, but he was 0-for-6 on Saturday as the Blue Devils’ 6-foot-5 freshman Tyrese Proctor was effective in eliminating his open looks.

Junior guard R.J. Davis, who scored 17 points including 3-for-5 from 3-point range, said it was indicative of the Heels’ “up and down season” to struggle from 3. But he was still confident those shots will fall in Greensboro.

“We may miss a couple shots this game, but next game we’re capable of making any of those shots when it’s needed,” Davis said.

Keep Bacot involved

Bacot did not have a shot attempt in the final 12:57 of the game Saturday. That was partly due to the fact that Bacot sat out nearly five and a half minutes -- from 9:15 until 3:51. It was supposed to be a short rest, but he was left idling in front of the scorer’s table waiting to check from the 7:08 mark on because there was no stoppage in play, and UNC didn’t call a timeout to get him back in the game.

When he did return, Duke used shadow double teams to dissuade Carolina from getting him the ball, and they by and large went away from him if the first look wasn’t there. This, despite the fact that Duke’s Dereck Lively picked up his fourth foul just three minutes into the second half.

It mirrored the Heels’ loss at Duke when Bacot didn’t have a shot attempt in the final 12:14 of that 63-57 loss.

Carolina has played its best basketball this season when it has emphasized getting Bacot the ball and playing inside-out. Opponents have made it tougher for him to get post position and clean looks at the basket and the Heels are still trying to figure out the right counter move.

Playing out of sorts

A lack of focus on offense led to some uncharacteristic plays for the Heels. Black, who set a program record for most games played at 153, took a career-high 16 shots in his last home game. Black had only logged double-figure shot attempts twice this season -- at Notre Dame and at Duke.

Graduate forward Pete Nance, who scored double figures the past three games and had made seven of his last 10 3-pointers, never got into an offensive flow. His lone 3-pointer gave UNC its biggest lead of the second half at 49-45 with 8:32 left, but he finished the game just 1-for-4 shooting.

“Obviously, when you’re not on the floor, it’s hard to get a feel for the game,” said Nance, who had one of fewer baskets for the third time in the last seven games. “But I just tried to get settled in as quick as I could.”