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LAS VEGAS – It appeared as if North Carolina’s troubles keeping opponents from scoring bunches of points in the paint had become a non-issue since a disappointing trip to Connecticut a month ago.
That weekend, at the Hall of Fame Tip-Off at the Mohegan Sun, the Tar Heels allowed Purdue and Tennessee a combined 96 points in the paint, both games resulting in UNC losses. Most discouraging of those two performances were the 54 points the perimeter-driven Volunteers scored.
Drives, feeds, and shots at the rim were the norm for Tennessee that day, which was the same recipe Kentucky Coach John Calipari used as his team carved up a Carolina defense that had zero answers for anything the Wildcats did.
The result: UK 98, UNC 69.
Wash. Rinse. Repeat. At least with respect to the three NCAA Tournament teams that Tar Heels have played.
And Saturday versus Kentucky in the CBS Sports Classic at T-Mobile Arena was by far UNC’s worst effort and performance. It wasn’t just the Wildcats dumping the ball into the post, turning and scoring over the Heels. There was certainly some of that, but it was more UK’s effectiveness driving the ball at Carolina, often leading to layups and dunks (20 combined for UK), short jumpers, and missed shots with well-positioned Cats grabbing the misses and putting the ball back into the cylinder.
“I'll say going into the game we knew that's what they were going to do,” UNC junior forward Armando Bacot said about Kentucky’s intent on driving the ball right at them. “They did everything that the coaches told us they would do, we just didn't execute the game plan.”
Sophomore guard RJ Davis couldn’t help but echo those thoughts.
“Totally agree,” he said. “We knew coming in a couple players like to drive, and it just came down to toughness and executing, and we just didn't do that today.”
One reason Kentucky was hellbent on taking the ball right to the Tar Heels was because of what Calipari saw on tape from the Tennessee game.
The Volunteers scored 54 points in the paint because they had consistent success driving into the lane. Poor help side defense was an issue for the Heels that day, but help isn’t needed if the guards stay in front of the ball.
That didn’t happen in Connecticut and it didn’t happen in Nevada.
“When you go to the dribble-drive you're opening up the court, and that's what happened…,” Calipari said afterward. “
“I got on the plane (Thursday) and figured we may play North Carolina, let me watch two tapes… Tennessee got them, but guess what, it was a back-to-back game. It was a follow-up game. Because I said, ‘when did they play this? The next day. Well, okay. And Tennessee got them pretty good.”
It wasn’t just drives that caused Carolina problems. Kentucky controlled the backboards 44-26, including 17-6 on the offensive glass leading to a 15-6 advantage in second-chance points. That obviously wasn’t the primary factor in the game, but it offers a healthy indication that the pane was essentially a poisonous zone for the guys in black – not Carolina blue – in the Land of Opportunity.
Only that it was the Wildcats who seized, in part because the Tar Heels had no answers inside.
“The other area that led to their points in the paint was their offensive rebounds,” Carolina’s coach said. “They were tougher than us. Rebounding is really not about technique. Whether you're going off their offensive glass or you're boxing out, it's all about will and want-to. It's about toughness.
“From a defensive standpoint you have to make contact first, and the ball is up -- I always tell the guys, there's a 50/50 ball is 100 percent North Carolina, and so a missed shot is really a 50/50 ball. It's your will and your toughness that will allow you to box out and to rebound, and we didn't do that.”
The cavernous approach occurred against Tennessee, a game UNC lost by 17 points, and the day before in 93-84 loss to Purdue. That’s three games versus guaranteed NCAA teams with the Heels being outscored by an average score of 93.3-75, with 150 combined points allowed in the paint.
But Hubert Davis didn’t have any interest in connecting dots to the losses in November, no matter how relevant they are, given Saturday’s performance.
“I don't want to talk about Purdue and Tennessee anymore,” he said. “That was over a month ago. I'd like to talk about this game and what went wrong this game.”
And what went wrong also was a problem last month, and until the Tar Heels straighten things out, could be an issue again down the road.
