Cold shooting condemns UNC men’s basketball to third straight loss to Alabama

The Carolinas’ offense was as cold as the weather outside against No. 10 Alabama on Wednesday night as the Crimson Tide rolled past the Tar Heels 94-79 at the Smith Center. It is Carolina’s third straight loss overall and third straight against Alabama.

“We didn’t consistently do the things to put ourselves in a position to win a game like this,” head coach Hubert Davis said.

RJ Davis struggled en route to 18 points, shooting just 7:23 from the field. Freshman Ian Jackson scored 23 points off the bench, the highest of his career, but no other Tar Heel scored more than 12. As a team, Carolina shot just 32-78 (41 percent) from the floor. Alabama finished 35-71 (49.3 percent). The Crimson Tide made 12 three-pointers on the night while UNC scored just five points. Carolina was 5-for-28 on its three-point attempts and missed 16 points once in the first and second half. In the second half, in which Alabama extended its lead to 18 points, the Crimson Tide scored 18:34 (52.9 percent).

“I just feel like we’re not tough enough yet,” Jackson said. “There were many moments in the game where we could have come back and fought, but we didn’t. This is something we need to fix internally – and we will fix it.”

“Harder, effort, excitement, energy, all of the above,” Davis said when asked what needs to change. “All those little details that come with basketball. You can’t play basketball without energy and joy.”

UNC led for just the first time after two free throws from Seth Trimble with 2:01 left in the game. Alabama quickly took the lead after that, extending its lead to 31-18 with 8:20 left in the first half. It is the fourth straight game and fifth overall this season in which the Tar Heels have trailed by at least 10 points in the first half. Carolina only got within 33-28 late in the half, but trailed 43-34 at halftime. In the second period, UNC scored the first four points and was close at 43-38, never getting closer than nine points the rest of the night.

Carolina is 4-4 this season. The Tar Heels will be back in action when they host Georgia Tech in the ACC opener on Saturday at 2 p.m

“I told the guys, put on your Timberland boots,” Hubert Davis said. “Your overalls, your shoulder pads and your helmet. Tomorrow you will get dirty. We will go back to work on Thursday and Friday to prepare for the game against a very good Georgia Tech team.”

Featured image via Associated Press/Chris Seward

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Cold shooting condemns UNC men’s basketball to third straight loss to Alabama

The Carolinas’ offense was as cold as the weather outside Wednesday night against No. 10 Alabama as the Crimson Tide rolled past the Tar Heels 94-79 at the Smith Center. It is Carolina’s third straight loss overall and third straight against Alabama. “We have not consistently done the things to put ourselves in a position (…)

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