Heel Tough Blog: Miami Recap

@UNC_Basketball

After winning the biggest game of the season last Saturday, the Tar Heels couldn’t avoid the letdown game, losing to Miami 75-66 last night, to see their five-game win streak come to an end, as Miami led from start to finish. After a high-scoring first half, both teams struggled to put the ball in the basket, as Carolina scored 26 second-half points, on 26% shooting from the field, including going 1-14 from behind the arc, as UNC finished the game going 2-12 from the field. On the flip side, Miami shot 47% from the field and scored 46 of their 75 points in the paint, where they outscored UNC by 18. Four Miami starters scored in double figures, led by their leading scorer, Malik Reneau, who was the best player on the floor, producing a 16-point, 10-rebound, double-double. 

Jarin Stevenson started his second straight game and led Carolina in scoring, with 13 points, on 6-10 shooting, in 26 minutes. Caleb Wilson arguably had his worst game as a Tar Heel, scoring just 12 points and grabbing 6 rebounds, as he went 4-10 from the field. Not only did he struggle on the floor, but he was also in the locker room for an extended period of time in the second half, getting his left hand taped up. While he struggled, so did Henri Veesaar, who scored 11 points and grabbed 6 boards, while going 5-12 from the field, and only scored two points in the second half. Wilson finished -15, and Veesaar finished -10. 

It wasn’t just Carolina’s frontcourt that struggled; so did Derek Dixon and Seth Trimble, who combined for just 6 points, on 1-14 shooting. Dixon only played 20 minutes, going 1-9 from the field, 0-4 from behind the arc, with 4 assists, but also with 4 turnovers. After making the biggest shot of his life on Saturday, Seth Trimble failed to make a basket last night, going 0-5 from the field, scoring all of his points at the foul line. 

Last night’s loss hurt Carolina on two different fronts, as it hurts UNC’s chances to earn a top-4 seed in the ACC Tournament, which would earn them a double-bye, and it dropped them off the top-4 seed line for the NCAA Tournament, after moving up after the win over Duke. Here’s what to take away from a disappointing result last night in Coral Gables: 

1. Wilson’s Off Night: After scoring 20 points or more during Carolina’s hot streak, Caleb Wilson only managed to score 12 points and took 10 shots, while being in and out of the game in the second half, as he sat the last 1:43 of the game. Once again, there were too many times in the game where Carolina didn’t play through Wilson enough for him to have the impact on the game he’s used to having. And unlike in the second half against Duke, he didn’t get the help he needed from Veesaar, Trimble, and Dixon. 

2. Wilson’s Injury: Hubert Davis didn’t offer much on the status of Caleb Wilson, but after leaving the game for an extended period of time in the second half to get his left hand wrapped, it’s apparent there’s something wrong. With the team off until Saturday, will be interesting to see if the program releases any information about Wilson’s status on the availability report on Friday. 

3. Points in the Paint: Miami attacks from the inside-out, as they entered the game in the top 3 in two-point field goals made, and they got the better of UNC’s top-10 two-point defense last night, scoring 46 points in the paint. In the second half alone, 9 of Miami’s 11 made baskets were either layups or dunks, including three straight, when the game was tied at 55. 

4. Derek Dixon Struggles: You knew once Hubert Davis made the switch to start freshman Derek Dixon over Kyan Evans, there would be some growing pains, and last night was an example of just that. Dixon not only struggled with his shot, going 1-9, and with turnovers, giving the ball away 4 times, in only 20 minutes. After Kyan Evans scored 8 points off the bench in the first half, he earned the favor of his head coach and was the point guard on the floor in the closing minutes. With as clutch as Dixon has been in big wins this season, I would’ve liked to see Dixon stay on the floor late in the game, maybe even with Kyan Evans sharing the backcourt with him, but there’s no denying that Dixon will need to play better on Saturday against Pittsburgh. 

5. Turnovers & Rebounding: Once again, Carolina was outrebounded, this time 41-35, including giving up 12 offensive rebounds. In addition to not winning the battle of the boards, Carolina’s turnovers played a role as well, as UNC gave the ball away 11 times, leading to 10 points for Miami. 

6. Wire to Wire: In the last 80 minutes of basketball, Carolina has led for exactly 0.4 seconds, after not leading at all against Miami last night. 

Up Next: Carolina returns home on Saturday, as they host Pittsburgh at 2 PM, on ESPN.