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North Carolina (5-1) struggled mightily down the stretch as Iowa State (5-0) handed the top-ranked Tar Heels their first loss of the season 70-65 at the Phil Knight invitational in Portland.
The late-game performance was especially concerning for a team returning four starters from a group that made it to a National Championship game, and a fifth one who is in his fifth season of college basketball.
North Carolina led 60-53 with 3:57 left to go in the game. From there Iowa State outscored the Tar Heels 17-5. A 61-61 tie with 2:30 remaining saw the Cyclones close out the contest to the tune of 9-5.
North Carolina struggled mightily with execution in the game's final three minutes. There were four turnovers: three by Armando Bacot, and one by Leaky Black, as well as an air-ball on a quick contested three by Caleb Love.
North Carolina took advantage of a very aggressive and handsy Iowa State defense in the opening stage of the game. Cyclone center, Osun Osunniyi, picked up two early fouls in a row trying to defend Bacot. He went to the bench at the 18:30 mark of the first half. The Tar Heels were in the bonus with 13:47 left.
UNC's first run came with a 13-12 lead seven minutes into the game. An 11-3 burst gave the Heels a 24-15 lead halfway through the first half at the second media timeout. The trio of Bacot, Love, and R.J. Davis combined for 20 of Carolina's 24 points up to that juncture.
Iowa State fought all the way back to tie the game at 30 as a 9-0 run capped off a 15-6 Cyclone surge. Much of their first-half offense hinged around Caleb Grill and and Jaren Holmes who combined for all but four of ISU's points up to that point. The duo was six of its first seven from three-point territory.
North Carolina held off the run, and took a 34-32 lead into the half. Love and Davis both had nine points. Bacot followed with 8. The Tar Heels were shooting 50 percent at that point, but were only 2-for-10 from deep. Iowa State's biggest ally may have been curbing the fouls. They didn't commit any the final eight minutes, and UNC only attempted five free throws for the half after getting to the line early.
Iowa State took its first lead of the game at the 15:23 mark of the second half as a Robert Jones jump hook make it 40-39 Cyclones. They pushed their run to 9-0 when Grill hit his fifth three pushing the advantage to 43-39.
Carolina came back with four points to tie the game up at 43. The teams traded punches and the lead back and forth in what became more of a physical, defensive battle in the second half.
Iowa State took a 47-45 lead with 9:12 remaining on a pair of Osunniyi free throws, but a huge 10-0 answer in the next three minutes came from a Tar Heel team that looked like it had been there before. Puff Johnson, Davis, and Bacot scored five straight points from the foul line, and Pete Nance drilled his first three pointer of the game. Bacot added a layup off an assist from Black to give UNC a 55-47 advantage with 6:27 remaining.
Iowa State would not go away, however. Holmes and Grill kept up there stellar offensive play with a runner and a three-pointer respectively to trim the North Carolina lead to 60-56 at the last media timeout with 3:15 left.
After a UNC free throw out of the break, Robert Jones answered with a dunk, and Grill banged his seventh three-pointer from the Seattle area code to put Iowa State down one. Bacot had three straight turnovers. Grill hit three pointer number eight, and Holmes hit two free throws. To make it 65-61 ISU with 1:18 remaining.
After a North Carolina miss they were forced to foul Gabe Kalsheur. He hit one of two. A pair of RJ Davis free throws on the other end put the Heels down one possession, 66-63, with 19.4 seconds remaining in regulation.
Holmes was fouled on the inbounds pass. His two foul shots made it 68-63. UNC had one last breath, but yet another turnover closed the door as Iowa State closed out a 70-65 victory.
Many of the problems North Carolina has struggled with early this season manifested themselves in the losing effort. There were more turnovers (14) than assists (12). Three-point shooting was abysmal with the Heels going just 3-for-18 for 16.7 percent.
North Carolina won the rebounding battle 36-29 which included 12 on the offensive boards. They shot 44% from the field, and made more foul shots than Iowa State attempted. The Heels were 18 of 25 from the line.
RJ Davis led UNC in scoring with 15 points, but he struggled from the field. He was 5-for-14 overall from the field, and just 1 of 7 from the line. The point guard also had only one assist. Caleb Love had identical three-point shooting numbers, and had one less make on the same amount of attempts (4-14). He had 12 points for the game. Overall, the starting backcourt was just 9 of 28 from the field and 2 for 14 from deep.
Armando Bacot finished with 13 points and nine rebounds, but his five turnovers may have been the most critical statistic. Puff Johnson came off the bench with 8 points. After scoring 28 points on Thursday, Pete Nance had just seven on five shot attempts. Leaky Black added six, and Seth Trimble and D'Marco Dunn both chipped in two.
The biggest factor of the game was Carolina's inability to find Caleb Grill. The Iowa State guard finished with 31 points. He was 7-for-11 from deep with two of them coming in the crucial stretch run. Jared Holmes added 22 giving ISU's dynamic duo 53 points. Robert Jones was the only other Cyclone in double figures with 10.
Iowa State shot 43.9% from the field, but 9-for-20 three-point shooting gave them 18 more points from that range than North Carolina. They were also 11 of 15 from the foul line. The Cyclones also had 17 points compared to 10 turnovers.
