There was the first-half possession where center James Banks attempted a dunk and missed. There was the second-half possession when guard Jose Alvarado was alone in the front court after a North Carolina turnover but mishandled a throw-ahead pass, leading to a missed layup by guard Michael Devoe. And there were Tech’s first nine 3-point tries, many of them wide open, that the Yellow Jackets failed to make.
Even before Tech tipped off against the No. 9 Tar Heels, the game on its face was a mismatch. But the Yellow Jackets’ offensive misadventures – inferior even for their humble standards – gave away any chance of an upset. The end product was a 77-54 defeat in which the Tar Heels were largely contained for all but an incendiary 10-minute stretch but still won handily.
“Obviously, we have some limitations, and we’re still a work in progress,” coach Josh Pastner said.
Tech (11-10 overall, 3-5 ACC) managed to cajole the basketball through the hoop just 21 times in 60 tries, 31.3 percent. Shots from 3-point range (2-for-16, 12.5 percent) weren’t working, nor were attempts closer to the basket aside from forward Abdoulaye Gueye’s solid effort in the paint (7-for-14 for a team-high 14 points). Guards Curtis Haywood, Devoe and Alvarado were a combined 7-for-29 from the field, including 2-for-13 from 3-point range. Devoe and Alvarado were repeatedly unsuccessful on forays to the basket against North Carolina (16-4, 6-1).
Driving to the basket, “they get competitive and they want to try to do it themselves,” Pastner said. “We’re not built that way. Jose, he plays so hard, but size-wise, when he goes in there, he’s going in with the trees. He’s got to suck people in and then be able to find those kickouts for 3’s.”
It was the second game in a row in which Pastner found lacking the play of the two guards that he is trying to build his team around in the next two seasons. In the loss at No. 2 Duke on Saturday, it was their 11 combined turnovers, critical in the Jackets’ 66-53 defeat.
Tuesday, they had a combined our turnovers, but generated only 14 points in a combined 57 minutes of play. They came into the game averaging a combined 22.4 points per game.
“I told Jose and Michael Devoe, those two guys have got to be better for us,” Pastner said. “They’ve got the ball in their hands. It’s their responsibility. They’ve got to be responsible.”
It was an exceedingly poor showing from 3-point range, particularly considering how unchallenged Tech shooters often were when taking them. But it was one more avenue that the Jackets have traveled en route to a losing offensive performance. Against Duke, Tech self-destructed in an eight-possession stretch in which it turned the ball over five times, enabling a game-changing 13-0 Blue Devils run.
“I love those guys,” Pastner said. “They play hard, but in games – a stretch here, a stretch there – they’ve got to keep locked in with the hardness and toughness that we demand, that we need.”
Tech’s 3-point shooting percentage dropped to an even 30.0 percent. Pastner chose not to try guard Brandon Alston, who sat out his third consecutive game after returning from what Pastner termed a “personal matter.” Alston is the team’s third leading scorer at 9.6 points per game and is shooting 40.9 percent from 3, highest among all Tech players with 10 or more attempts.
“I just didn’t play him,” Pastner said. “Nothing more than that.”
Asked if he thought Alston would play again this season, Pastner replied, “Absolutely.”
Tech put to waste a pretty good first half of defense against the high-octane Tar Heels. The Jackets retreated well in transition and were effective in keeping North Carolina off the offensive glass, two ways that the Tar Heels can obliterate opponents. Tech’s zone also seemed to give North Carolina trouble, playing a role in eight turnovers and 41.4 percent shooting from the field.
North Carolina scored only 31 points, which tied for its lowest output in a half this season. It was a typically effective half of play for the Jackets, who rank in the top 15 nationally in defensive efficiency (KenPom). But the Tar Heels still led 31-24.
“We were right there,” Pastner said.
But then, the second half started. UNC forward Cameron Johnson hit two deep 3-pointers on the Tar Heels’ first two possessions and then raced in for a breathtaking dunk after Devoe made an ill-advised bounce pass to Banks that was stolen, triggering a fast break. It was part of a 14-5 run to open the half, a slew of transition baskets that built the lead to 45-29 less than four minutes into the second half. By the 10:18 mark, the lead reached 30 at 65-35, when North Carolina forward Nassir Little scored on a dunk in transition off yet another Tech turnover.
Pastner said that he felt the offensive meltdown “kind of sucked the life out of us. We couldn’t score and we let our guard down defensively.”
Pastner said that in the handshake line after the game, North Carolina coach Roy Williams told him that that was the best 10-minute stretch that his team had played all season. The Tar Heels made 17 of 32 field-goal attempts in the second half and were 8-for-15 from 3-point range.
“They were picking the defense apart, driving and kicking, just knocking down all the 3’s,” Devoe said.
No one should have been too surprised the game played out as it did. North Carolina is a national-championship contender. Tech is in the third year of Pastner calls a five-year plan to reach the NCAA tournament. His starting center was under the weather, Pastner chose to keep his third-leading scorer on the bench and his trio of young guards couldn’t buy a basket. (Alvarado also left the game late with a sprained right ankle.)
For good measure, the Tar Heels hadn’t played in more than a week and the sold-out crowd had plenty of fans clad in Carolina blue.
Tech will try again Saturday at Florida State.
Said Pastner, “We’ve just got a lot of work to do.”
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