The North Carolina Tar Heels had every chance to win Wednesday night’s ACC basketball battle with Louisville.
The host Cardinals kept missing the front ends of one-and-ones, allowing UNC golden transition opportunities. North Carolina couldn’t make perimeter shots once again, but neither could Louisville. The Tar Heels continued getting to the rim against a taller Cardinals team, but struggled finishing
Despite its numerous opportunities to win, UNC left the KFC Yum! Center with an 83-70 loss, its first in ACC play.
Perhaps the greatest reason North Carolina (8-6, 1-1 ACC) lost on New Year’s Day? Facing a 70-69 deficit after Ian Jackson‘s free throw with five minutes remaining, the Tar Heels only scored ONE more point. Louisville (9-5, 2-1 ACC), on the contrary, scored 13 additional points.
UNC fought back from nine points down in the second half, tying the game at 61-all, on Jackson’s 3-pointer with 8:37 remaining in the second half. North Carolina tightened up on the ensuing Cardinals possession, with Drake Powell grabbing a clutch rebound and giving his team a rare chance to take the lead.
RJ Davis pulled up for a mid-range, transition jumper that he missed just four seconds later. Louisville sharpshooter Reyne Smith then drained a 3-pointer with 7:57 left in the game, giving Louisville a lead it never relinquished.
The Tar Heels didn’t have the same luck Smith did from deep, making just 4-of-16 perimeter shots in what proved to be a small factor. Jackson made two of UNC’s four 3-pointers, while RJ Davis and Cade Tyson drained one apiece.
I watched numerous occasions on which the Cardinals’ post players reached over the heads – without fouling – of their smaller, North Carolina counterparts. Louisville enjoyed a field day feeding alley-oops to James Scott, who ended his night with 11 points (mostly dunks) on 5-of-6 shooting.
It’s back to the drawing board for our Tar Heels. Based on what we watched tonight, let us give you five reactions from UNC’s disappointing loss in Kentucky.
With RJ Davis struggling, UNC doesn’t have a go-to guy in closing situations
We hoped that entering the Louisville game, RJ Davis cured his early-season shooting struggles. Davis shot a minimum 40 percent in UNC’s loss to Florida, win over UCLA and victory against Campbell, including 50 percent in the Florida and Campbell games.
When the final buzzer in the KFC Yum! Center sounded, one thing was clear: Davis is still mired in his slump.
Despite making all three of his free throw attempts, Davis shot just 4-of-14 from the field and finished with 12 points. This didn’t help North Carolina in its comeback attempt, with only one point over the final five minutes.
The Tar Heels have talented scorers on their roster, but no one with RJ Davis’ experience. No one on UNC stepped up to lead them down the stretch, a concerning factor that we’ve witnessed in other losses.
Height continues to be a major issue
More often than not, I watched Louisville loft passes into the paint over smaller Tar Heels. As mentioned previously, seemingly every time the Cardinals had transition opportunities, they found 6’11” big man James Scott for easy dunks.
North Carolina, a team that historically plays through its big men, doesn’t have that luxury this year. UNC swung and missed on plenty of experienced post talent in the transfer portal, a concern I had that is coming back to haunt them.
The Tar Heels have the speed to make up for their lack of height, but it was the latter that hurt the Tar Heels in their first ACC loss.
Ian Jackson is a talent UNC is extremely lucky to have
Without Ian Jackson this season, I don’t know if UNC would be playing above-.500 basketball. Jackson is emerging as the best offensive player in Chapel Hill, scoring 20 points in three consecutive games.
Jackson’s third-consecutive, 20-point outing came against Louisville on Wednesday, as he scored 23 points on seven made shots and seven free throws.
If RJ Davis continues to struggle and the Tar Heels can’t make 3-pointers, Jackson will be counted on even more for offensive production. North Carolina should be extremely lucky to have Jackson, who will go pro if he keeps producing at his recent level.
UNC gets virtually zero production from its big men
Jalen Washington was the closest semblance of post production UNC got from its roster on Wednesday night, as Washington scored seven points (3-of 5 field goals, 1-of-1 free throw) and grabbed six rebounds, in 17 minutes of action.
Outside of Washington, North Carolina’s forwards and centers shot a combined 2-of-7 in 24 minutes of action. Ven-Allen Lubin pulled down nine rebounds and blocked two shots, but made just 1-of-5 shot attempts.
The Tar Heels don’t have the luxury of Armando Bacot or Harrison Ingram down low, so they’re having to count extra on guard production. With guards outside of Ian Jackson struggling to contribute, UNC has to get more from its underperforming big men.
UNC had no answer for Louisville’s guards
What UNC had in Ian Jackson on Wednesday night, Louisville had in Chucky Hepburn and Reyne Smith.
Hepburn, the Wisconsin transfer, torched North Carolina for 26 points. Hepburn drained five of his eight shot attempts and, on a Cardinals’ squad which struggled to make free throws, made 16 of his 20 attempts.
Reyne Smith, the Charleston transfer who played 27 minutes off the bench, scored 17 points and drained four of Louisville’s six 3-pointers.
The Tar Heels couldn’t slow either Cardinals guard down – and it cost them a victory.
This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire : Instant reactions to UNC basketball’s 2025-opening loss at Louisville
