DURHAM, NC – If Duke’s 10-minute 33-7 explosion Saturday was the low point for this North Carolina basketball team, how do the Tar Heels climb out and make something of their remaining season?
Nine regular season games remain, so there is no hiding from what has become of this 13-10 campaign.
If it were just a bad night inside sweltering Cameron Indoor Stadium that would be one thing. Duke is going to hammer a lot of teams, especially when the No. 2 Blue are totally dialed in, which was the case against the Tar Heels.
But Carolina helped fuel a lot of that juice for Duke. When things go well for a team it uplifts everyone and they often play harder, more spirited, and more connected. Duke put on a clinic in that respect, and the Tar Heels had something to do with it because they were the polar opposite.
And this wasn’t the first or second or third or fourth time UNC has done that, and so on. Albeit runs by other teams weren’t so extreme, yet that’s what could mark Saturday night as a bottoming out.
“We’re just taking the strides that we need to do, I think right now we’re in the midst of the season where it’s got to be a lot better,” said RJ Davis, who led the Heels with 12 points in the 87-70 loss that was a 32-point margin with 9:04 remaining.
Trailing by 22 at halftime, Carolina lacked intensity and focus out of the gate in the second half as it watched Duke freshman Kon Knueppel railroad them pushing out the margin as freshman Cooper Flagg did in the first half.
In the meantime, UNC’s freshman guard Ian Jackson, also its second-leading scorer, didn’t hit from the field until 14:14 left to play, and his 3-pointer made it 64-39.
Turnovers leading to 19 fast break points, allowing the Blue Devils to shoot better than 50% in both halves, and an ugly offensive approach that appeared to have no distinct mandate sunk Carolina to its season low.
“They got out in transition and capitalized off of our turnovers,” junior Seth Trimble said. “You get turnovers and you’re able to run. Any team can execute. A team like them, they execute night in and night out like that.”
To avoid another new even uglier low, or a bottoming out, the Heels must right themselves in a big way. And they know it.
“I think we have a lot of time,” said junior forward Ven-Allen Lubin. “I really believe we can turn this thing around. We just got to continue to stick together and just trust that we can do this. It’s all about belief, it’s all about heart, and it’s all about faith. We have that so I think we’ll be fine.”
Yet, similar words were said after the two-loss trip to Maui, the home debacle against Alabama, the meltdown at Louisville, the meltdown at home against Stanford, the ugliness at Wake Forest, and even earlier in the week after Pittsburgh closed its win over the Heels on a 14-2 run.
The Tar Heels know what to say and what must be done, but can they do it? Or is there another new low coming?
“I’m gonna stay positive for this group and continue to pull through,” Davis said. “We will see them (Duke) again in a month, so we’ll be ready this time.”
Or maybe they won’t.