Tidbits: Heels Lose to Jackets

ATLANTA – North Carolina’s ten-game win streak came to an end Tuesday night at The Flats, as the cold-shooting Tar Heels fell 74-73 at Georgia Tech.

Third-ranked UNC led by as many as 11 points with 5:34 left before halftime, but then everything came apart. The Yellow Jackets closed the first half on a 12-1 run tying it at 37 apiece.

The Jackets used a key 24-11 run after halftime to seemingly take control of the game, but UNC temporarily led inside the last minute before Naithan Goerge’s runner off the glass with seven seconds were the game’s final points.

UNC dropped to 17-4 overall and 9-1 in the ACC. Tech improved to 10-11 and 3-7.

Here are some noteworthy takeaways from Carolina’s loss to Georgia Tech:

*Heading into the game, UNC was the last team in the nation that was unbeaten at home and in true road games.

*Carolina’s 11-point lead in the first half was its largest in a loss this season.

*UNC hit 12 of its first 23 shots from the floor, but then missed 17 of its next 23 (26.1%). And, after the hot start, Carolina was 16-for-54 the rest of the way, which is 29.6%.

*Interestingly, as poorly as the Heels shot, they once again had success hitting threes from the corner on inbound plays under their own basket. Both Cormac Ryan and Harrison Ingram did so in the first half tonight.

*Perhaps Georgia Tech’s best player, 6-foot-9 freshman Baye Dndongo left the game with a head injury just 4:32 into the contest, and did not return.

*UNC’s largest second-half lead was 49-44 with 14:54 remaining, but then Tech went on a 24-11 run for a 68-60 advantage with 5:12 left to play.

*RJ Davis led the Tar Heels in scoring for the ninth consecutive game and 17th time in UNC’s 21 games. Davis finished with 28 points. Davis passed George Lynch (1,747) for 17th in UNC career scoring with 1,755 points.

*Davis was 3-for-4 from the free throw line and his now 82-for-89, which is 92.1%. However, he has missed a free throw in each of the last four games.

*Harrison Ingram grabbed 13 rebounds, the seventh time in UNC’s last nine games he’s had 10 or more boards, and it was the sixth time he’s had at least 13 in that span.

*Carolina grabbed a season-high 22 offensive rebounds, leading to 23 second-chance points. Tech had 10 offensive boards leading to eight points.

*Jalen Washington had his most productive performance since January 13 against Syracuse. He totaled eight points and five rebounds in 11 minutes of play. He was 3-for-3 from the floor, and 2-for-4 from the free throw line.

*Seth Trimble’s 22 minutes were his most in a month since Carolina won at Pitt four weeks ago tonight. He played 23 minutes that night. Here in Atlanta, Trimble logged a lot of minutes because of Elliot Cadeau’s foul trouble. Trimble finished with six points, two assists, a rebound, and two turnovers.

*Jae’Lyn Withers played only seven minutes, his fewest since playing just four in the win over Oklahoma on December 20. In fact, his low since then until tonight was 10 minutes at FSU this past weekend.

*UNC once again had a 10-0 run or better, as this one reached 12-0, but Tech immediately responded with a 7-0 spurt. The Jackets had two 7-0 spurts on the night.

*Carolina once again had the edge in fast break points, outscoring the Yellow Jackets 12-3. UNC has now allowed just 29 fast break points over the last nine games.

*This was UNC’s sixth true road game in January, which is the first time since 1952 the Tar Heels played that many true road games in the same month. That was also the last year UNC was in the Southern Conference, so this was the first time it has happened in their time in the ACC.

*UNC went 8-1 in January, the first time it has won eight games in a month since 2017.

*When UNC takes the court at the Smith Center on Saturday, it will have played just four home games in a span of 65 days.

*Some Stats:

-Rebounding: UNC 48-41

-Points in the paint: UNC 34-26

-Blocks: GT 8-0

-Steals: UNC 8-4

-Assists: UNC 17-10

-Turnovers: GT 14-11

-Points off Turnovers: UNC 14-9

-Bench points: GT 39-14

-UNC 8-for-22 layups / 1-for-1 dunks

-UNC 33 scores in 78 possessions (42.3%)

-GT 8-for-14 layups / 2-for-3 dunks

-GT scored on 32 of 72 possessions (44.4%)