Tar Heels bullied on the offensive glass in loss to Kentucky
Over the years, one of the UNC men’s basketball team’s greatest strength has been its ability to crash the offensive glass.
This gives any team much-needed, second-chance opportunities, particularly when shots aren’t falling. On Saturday evening against Kentucky, the Tar Heels really needed their big men to step up.
The opposite happened.
A veteran Carolina squad, with one of college basketball’s best big men in Armando Bacot and a top forward in Harrison Ingram, was out-rebounded by a significantly younger, more inexperienced Kentucky team in an 87-83 loss on Saturday night in the State Farm Classic.
The Wildcats out-rebounded UNC 43-32 overall, but it was their 18-6 advantage on the offensive glass that ended up making the difference. Kentucky’s final offensive rebound, which essentially sealed the game, came after a missed free throw and Carolina failing to grab the basketball.
Despite this unfortunate play, which the Wildcats capitalized on and knocked down both free throws to extend their lead to four (85-81) at the time, UNC closed its deficit to two on a pair of Harrison Ingram free throws. Kentucky went 1-of-2 on its ensuing free throws (after a foul), giving Carolina one last chance.
Elliot Cadeau brought the ball up the floor. The plan was, likely, for R.J. Davis or Cormac Ryan to drain a 3-pointer with even the slightest bit of space.
Instead, Cadeau turned it over when he crossed half-court. He passed the ball over towards Ryan, only for it to bounce off Ryan’s back and land back up in Cadeau’s hands. Cadeau committed a backcourt violation, as he was falling backwards with no room to maneuver – yet UNC had one timeout.
Wouldn’t it have made sense to call a time-out and draw up a play? It’s not something that Roy Williams did a lot in his 18 years as head coach, but something current Carolina head coach Hubert Davis could have utilized on Saturday night.
If the Tar Heels had converted on a couple opportunities, you could say they’d win the game. But they played catch-up all night and – despite taking a brief, 1-point lead on a Bacot free throw, Kentucky’s youth and rebounding ability proved the difference-maker.
Player of the Game
He must have been reading the game preview, because he had the bounce-back game Carolina was hoping for. Our UNC player of the game for tonight’s Blue Blood matchup is Notre Dame transfer Cormac Ryan, who scored 20 points and shot 66 percent (8-of-12) from the field.
Saturday was a vast contrast from the UConn loss, when Ryan only scored six points and missed all six attempts from deep.
Ryan drained four of his seven 3-pointer against Kentucky, including a couple of big-time, second-half makes that kept UNC within striking distance.
What’s next?
UNC makes its long-awaited return to the Tar Heel State on Wednesday, Dec. 20, playing an undefeated Oklahoma (9-0) squad at 9 p.m. ET, inside the Spectrum Center. This game will be part of the Jumpman Invitational, which includes a Florida-Michigan women’s basketball matchup at 6:30 p.m. ET on the same night.
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