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Heel Tough Blog: Jumpman Invitational - Florida Recap

Writer's picture: Joshua MarlowJoshua Marlow

Miami Daily Life

Last night in the Spectrum Center, the Tar Heels fell to #7 Florida, in arguably the best game in the short history of the Jumpman Invitational, losing 90-84, in a game that drops the once preseason top 10 Tar Heels to 6-5 on the season, a week before Christmas. As has been the story most of the season, Carolina fell behind double-digits in the first half, for the sixth game this season, all against power conference competition. Florida built a 46-34 lead at the half, after shooting 53% from the field and connecting on seven three-pointers. As the Tar Heels have done plenty of times this season, they responded in the second half, starting the second 20-minute stanza on a 9-0 run, to make it a ballgame the rest of the way. The Heels now only got back in the game, they took a lead at the under-8 timeout, and as you can imagine, with a lot of UNC fans in the building, it felt like the Heels were on the verge of taking control of the game. At the 4-minute mark, Carolina had built an 81-77 lead, but that would be the end of the good times. Florida would outscore UNC 13-3 down the stretch, going 8-8 from the foul line, and grabbing 4 offensive rebounds.


RJ Davis entered the season with high expectations, after winning ACC Player of the Year last year, he was the Preseason Player of the Year for 2024-25 while being a consensus preseason All-American. And while he scored 29 points, and grabbed 8 rebounds, he missed the front-end of a one and one, with Carolina up two, but could’ve given UNC a two-possession lead. Then, when trailing 86-84, Hubert Davis drew up a great play out of a timeout and got Davis a clean look from behind the arc, but he wasn’t able to make the shot.


It wasn’t just Davis who struggled down the stretch, so did Elliot Cadeau, who also missed the front end of a one-and-one, and committed a costly turnover. After the game, Cadeau was seen crying going back to the locker room, as his frustrations from the Maui Invitational have officially carried over, and boiled over, on and off the court.


Carolina is now 6-5, after starting the season preseason ranked inside the top 10, and along with Arizona, they are one of the biggest disappointments in all of college basketball. Here’s what to take away from last night’s loss to the Florida Gators: 


  1. Another Slow Start: For the sixth time in eleven games, the Tar Heels have trailed by double digits in the first half of a game, and it’s the third time they’ve trailed by at least 17 in the first half. Even though they were able to overcome the deficit, there’s no denying that the comeback took energy out of them, playing a role in their inability to execute down the stretch. Furthermore, had they played 40 minutes, they win the game, and we’re having a different conversation today. Hubert Davis doesn’t have an answer for the slow starts, but it is his to job to figure it out and come up with some sort of solution for them. 

  2. History for Davis: Despite the loss, it was a historic night for RJ Davis, who in the process of scoring his 29 points, passed Phil Ford for third on the all-time scoring list at UNC, with Armando Bacot the next guy he’s tasked with chasing down. RJ has yet to shoot the ball the way that he’s capable of shooting, but nonetheless this is a neat moment for him, in what will be his final season at UNC. 

  3. Second Chance Points: Florida is among the better offensive rebounding teams in college basketball, and very proficient at turning those offensive rebounds into second chance points In the second half, the Gators scored 17 second chance points, including 11 in the final six minutes of the game. Meaning Carolina’s initial defense was good, but their inability to rebound the basketball, (UNC was outrebounded by 10), proved to be costly in more ways than one. 

  4. Poor Shooting: Carolina struggled to shoot the ball from the onset, going 11-37 in the first half, and that extended to the perimeter, where they shot just 5-28 from behind the arc. As guard-dependent as UNC is right now, they need more efficiency from the field, because those types of shooting performance won’t translate into wins, even during ACC play. Over the last four games, the Tar Heels are shooting 23% from behind the arc. 

  5. Late Game Mistakes: Up 81-77 at the under-4 timeout in the second half, Carolina was poised to dictate the way the game would finish up, but that simply wasn’t the case, in large part because of themselves, Both Davis and Cadeau missed the front end of one-and-one’s, Cadeau dribbled the ball of his leg, and they failed to box out, and gave up multiple baskets on second chance opportunities. The good news is that Carolina has been there with a chance to win against Kansas, Michigan State, and now Florida. What’s discouraging is they still haven’t found a way to close out games properly. 

Up Next: UNC is back in action on Saturday against UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic. Tip is scheduled for 3 PM, on CBS.


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