North Carolina shows fight in ACC opener loss
No. 18 North Carolina couldn't stop their losing streak in its ACC opening defeat to Virginia Tech, 72-80.
The score was not indicative of how the game went, but it does reflect the fight showed by the team while down preseason first-team All American Armando Bacot.
For the majority of the game, Virginia Tech dominated a UNC team also without D'Marco Dunn in just about every way possible.
In the first half, the Hokies led the Tar Heels in field goal percentage, rebounds (UNC had zero offensive rebounds at the half), assists, and points in the paint. Seven minutes into the second half, the Tar Heels found themselves down by 18.
Bacot's absence definitely showed as Puff Johnson and Pete Nance couldn't defend the easy baskets at the rim. UNC also had trouble scoring in the lane without Bacot's post offense, only scoring 14 points in the paint before the deficit peaked.
Following a timeout with 11:52 left in the game, the Tar Heels began to heat up on both ends of the court, securing rebounds and turnovers that turned into fast break points. During the rally, UNC went on a 25-10 run to cut the Hokies' lead to three with 3:06 to go, including seven points points from plays in transition and 11 points off turnovers.
The Tar Heels couldn't tie or take the lead in the final three minutes, however, as they shot a cold 2-7 from the floor down the stretch.
Although this game got out of hand early on, the final result proved the issue on this team isn't effort. The players showed how much they wanted to win by finding it in themselves to climb back.
R.J. Davis and Nance played nearly the whole game, which may not be the best thing health wise amidst a three-game skid now without one of the best players.
Yet, they still performed well despite being down big. Nance finished the game with a 18 point, 10 rebound double-double ,and Davis also poured in 18 points on 6-11 shooting. Love, too, scored 18 on 50 percent shooting.
The problems began with a slow, lethargic start on both ends of the floor and ended with not making the winning plays at the end.
The now 5-4 Tar Heels have a long way to go, but they can take some positives from this game to build on, especially when Bacot, who's suffering from a shoulder injury, gets healthy.
