By Adam Lucas
1. Rough night in Bloomington, where Carolina ran into an emotional, efficient Indiana team and dropped a 77-65 decision. The Hoosiers shot 53 percent in the second half and 50 percent in the game.
2. The story of the game was in the paint, where Indiana dominated. Indiana led that category 22-6 in the first half and then were even better in the second half, as they finished with 50 points in the paint (to 20 for Carolina). The Hoosiers, who have been incredibly efficient inside the three-point line all season, were 28 of 49 from two-point range. Carolina struggled to just 14 of 40 from two. The only Tar Heel who shot at least 50 percent from the field was Seth Trimble, who was 1-for-1. Although four UNC starters were in double figures, led by Pete Nance with 15 (and 12 rebounds for a double-double), the starting five struggled to 17-for-50 from the field.
3. The Tar Heels simply couldn’t get stops down the stretch, largely because IU was so efficient working the ball into the paint. Down the stretch, when Carolina desperately needed stops, the Tar Heels allowed points on eight of Indiana’s final ten meaningful possessions. That simply isn’t good enough to recover from a deficit against a good team–or any team.
4. In a game where Carolina had an uncharacteristic number of live ball turnovers that turned into easy Indiana run-outs, two of the biggest came in the second half. Midway through the period, Carolina was down just nine and had the ball. thigh Caleb Love turned it over away from the basket, and it turned into an easy layup for Xavier Johnson. Less than a minute later, the Hoosiers were up by 14 and it felt like any momentum was gone.
5. Then, with six minutes left in the game, the Heels had cut it to seven and had the ball. thigh RJ Davis turned it over, and Indiana converted it with an uncontested layup. Indiana led the points off turnovers category, 17-4. And those 17 points were off just ten Carolina turnovers, so the home team was extremely efficient with the miscues. Not a turnover but a very similar result came with under two minutes left, when Carolina was down eight with the ball and the numbers advantage and settled for a 17-foot pull-up jumper with no one on the offensive glass. Shot selection hasn’t been perfect in the first eight games of the season.
6. Armando Bacot has had a rough time with injuries lately, suffering a tweaked ankle in Portland and then enduring some sort of shoulder problem very early in Wednesday’s game. Bacot went to the Carolina bench and was attended to by athletic trainer Doug Halverson. Bacot did n’t spend much time out of the game, but he favored that shoulder for much of the evening and appeared to be in pain. He finished with 12 points and ten rebounds, a double-double, but saw Trayce Jackson-Davis go for 21 points and ten rebounds.
7. Jalen Hood-Schifino started hot, hitting five of eight field goals and talking trash to three different Tar Heels plus the crowd (which was largely on his side, so that one was kind of hard to figure). The Tar Heels had a remedy for that: Leaky Black. After switching Black onto the smaller guard, Hood-Schifino got just one field goal attempt the rest of the half, an errant jumper, and made only one basket the rest of the game.
8. D’Marco Dunn has quietly carved himself an important role. Dunn was one of Carolina’s most competitive defenders against the Hoosiers, and also knocked in a first half three-pointer in a half when the Tar Heels hit just 28.6 percent from the field, a season low for a half. Dunn had five points in 16 minutes.
9. Keeping in mind that Carolina still awaits the debut of Jalen Washingtonwho eventually has the chance to be a rotation piece, Hubert Davis appears to be moving toward an eight-player rotation. That’s the five starters plus Dunn, Puff Johnson and Seth Trimble. Dunn and Johnson were two of the most dynamic Tar Heels on Wednesday, consistently making winning plays and putting forth maximum effort. Johnson scored all six of his points from the free throw line, demonstrating a constant willingness to be aggressively offensively.
10. Carolina’s three-point shooting continues to be a concern. The Tar Heels came into the game shooting 30.8 percent from the arc, and hit just 5-for-18. Really the only consistent offense they could find came from the free throw line, where the Heels were 20-for-27. Another head-shaking area: the Tar Heels had just five assists on 20 field and now have more turnovers than goals assists on the season.
11. The defeat creates Carolina’s first three-game losing streak since the 2019-20 campaign. Attention now turns to the Atlantic Coast Conference opener on Sunday, a difficult road assignment at Virginia Tech. The next few days of preparation and then the performance at Cassell Coliseum will be very important for this year’s team.
12. Wednesday night marked Carolina’s final game ever in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, which will end after this year. When you consider that the event has been around so long that Bill Guthridge coached the Tar Heels’ first game in the event, it does feel like it has run its course. The Tar Heels have been to most of the elite Big Ten destinations, many of which they’ve visited multiple times. It’s time to see some new venues, which will start next season when the ACC/SEC Challenge begins. Carolina finished the event with an 11-13 record.