Alex Barlow, somewhat of a surprise contributor, paced the scoring for Butler (4-0, 0-0 Big East) with 17 points and was very instrumental in hounding Marcus Paige on defense, forcing him into quite a number of tightly guarded shots. Kelan Martin also poured in 17 for the Bulldogs who stayed close with the Heels all first half long and then opened the game up in the second. Roosevelt Jones turned in another one of his all-around efforts by netting 12 points, dishing 6 assists, and grabbing 8 rebounds. Those rebounds were the difference in this one. Kameron Woods led Butler with 13 boards and it was the Heels inability to snag defensive rebounds that led to its demise on this particular afternoon. Never before in the Roy Williams era has Carolina (3-1, 0-0 ACC) given up as many offensive rebounds to its opponent than it did versus Butler. A whopping 29 offensive boards were pulled down by the Bulldogs and that was quite mind-boggling considering the post play by the Carolina big men so far this season.
Let's put this rebounding effort by Butler in perspective for a second. The Bulldogs actually grabbed three more offensive rebounds than Carolina grabbed defensive rebounds. With 29 offensive boards to 26 defensive boards by Carolina, Butler rebounded its misses 52.7% of the time. An unfathomable number in the Roy Williams-coached era for the Heels. Carolina will need to regroup and bring more energy and want for the basketball off the rim. Coach Williams touched on this in his post-game press conference.
"The biggest thing is you have to want to get the basketball. You have to fight and get off the box out. It's a little bit about having to have five guys willing to box out on defense and finish the defense."
How the Heels respond to this lackluster rebounding performance will be indicative of the passion and will to succeed defensively moving forward.
Carolina led at the half 35-32 behind a true bright spot, Isaiah Hicks. Hicks showcased some aggressiveness towards the basket, finishing a couple of flushes downlow with authority. His quickness allowed the Heels to stay on top for most of the first half. Hicks would finish with 10 points and 5 rebounds. But, Butler would not stay down for long.as they began to heat up from the outside and continue to rule the boards. There was a period of the second half where the Bulldogs could do no wrong, tipping a slight 43-41 lead all the way to a 59-45 insurmountable obstacle.
With the lead down the stretch, Butler unexplainably put up quick shots which allowed the Tar Heels to go on a decent run towards the end of the game. Paige finally found his rhythm as the Heels shifted into desperation mode. He finished with a team-high 18 points but it was only his flurry at the end that padded his scoring numbers. Paige nailed two 3's and completed a 3 point play off an attacking move to the rim and cut the Butler lead to 69-66. However, the Heels never had a possession where it could tie or take the lead and Butler sealed the deal when Jones calmly drained four important free throws in the final minute.
Free throws were the other component of this game that did not go Carolina's way. While Butler was 21-29 (72.4%) from the line, Carolina was a measly 18-32 (56.3%). And, even more shocking, was the fact that Paige, UNC's all-time leading free-throw shooter, went 5-9 from the stripe missing more than two free throws in a game for the first time in his career.
You can say it was just one of those days.
One positive twist that the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament brings is that the Tar Heels can get back on the court tomorrow evening and try to erase the problems from this head-scratching game. With Oklahoma beating #22 UCLA, Carolina will now face the Bruins at 7pm EST in the consolation bracket with hopes of flipping the script in the Bahamas Thursday and ending Thanksgiving night with some celebratory turkey, stuffing, and gravy.
Next Game: #5 North Carolina (3-1, 0-0 ACC) vs #22 UCLA Bruins (4-1, 0-0 Pac-12)
Date & Time: Thanksgiving, Thursday November 27th @ 7:00pm EST
Location: Imperial Arena at Atlantis Resort in Paradise Island, Bahamas
TV/Radio: AXS TV / Tar Heel Sports Network
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