Improvement in late game situations a key for UNC moving forward

It was a disappointing but eye-opening trip to Portland for the UNC basketball program this weekend as the Tar Heels dropped back-to-back games in the Phil Knight Invitational, including a 4OT marathon against Alabama on Sunday.

For a team that was so strong finishing out games late in the season a year ago, making big play after big play, that was not the case on Sunday, and even in the Tar Heels’ loss to Iowa State on Friday night.

After allowing the Cyclones to finish on a 21-8 and shooting just 1-of-4 with four turnovers in the final three minutes, the Tar Heels failed to improve on the offensive end against the Crimson Tide.

North Carolina went 0-of-6 in field goals under 45 seconds in the second half and overtime periods. After getting everything they wanted with high ball screen action in the second half, they went away from that and towards a one-man show at the top of the key. Whether it was Caleb Love or RJ Davis, the late game execution was out of sync and nowhere to be found.

“There’s two things — yes, late clock execution, something that has got to improve and get better,” UNC head coach Hubert Davis said postgame. “Let me stay specifically with that. A lot of late clock execution, good or bad, really comes down to does the ball go in or not? We had a number of looks in those situations, mid-range jump shots and threes that normally we make, and we just didn’t make it (today). It’s a make or miss game, make or miss league.”

On the night, Love and Davis combined to take 60 shot attempts — or 65.9 percent of the total shot attempts (91) by UNC. Love finished with a career-high 34 points but on 13-of-36 from the field. Davis was 8-of-24 from the field for 19 points.

In the first overtime, UNC had the ball with the chance to take the last shot and it was Love who dribbled out the clock from 31 seconds to eight seconds before launching a step-back contested three.

In the second overtime, it was Love with the ball in his hands again, this time attacking the paint but getting called for a questionable charge as the defender appeared to have his left foot inside the restricted zone in the paint.

In the third overtime, it was a long mid-range jump shot by Leaky Black that was the attempt for the Tar Heels with 37 seconds left that rattled out.

And finally, the fourth overtime brought a lot of mishaps. With 39 seconds left, RJ Davis missed a contested mid-range jumper. Then, after an Alabama score, Love had the ball in his hands again and drove into the paint. He used his floater that was initially called for goaltending, giving the Tar Heels the lead. After review, it was overturned and the possession gave the ball back to Alabama. After a turnover out of the timeout, it was the Tar Heels’ ball once again with 8.3 seconds left.

Pete Nance was inbounding the ball in front of the North Carolina bench. It was a difficult spot on the floor, in the corner of the court between the baseline and sideline. Nance saw Leaky Black cutting to the basket with a smaller Jahvon Quinerly switched on him and fronting the 6-foot-8 Black. There was a miscommunication and the ball went over Black and into the hands of the Crimson Tide.

“Coach drew up a play and I thought the first three options were pretty covered,” Nance said postgame. “And I saw Leaky kind of had a smaller guy on him, I tried to lob it up to him. But I thought the guy pulled him out of the way a little bit, but it was a bad play by me.”