UNC turned in a sleepy effort for most of their first and only game of the ACC Tournament. The Tar Heels never recovered from a lackluster end of the first half that put them down eight points at halftime. Carolina woke up and attempted to rally in the closing minutes of the game, but the Tigers made their free throws and the comeback came up just short.
Henri Veesaar had 28 points and 17 rebounds to lead UNC, and he was a major factor in the Heels’ rally at the end. Unfortunately, he was also responsible for six of the team’s 10 turnovers. No one else on the roster had more than one. Derek Dixon was also a major reason Carolina was able to make it close with a barrage of three-pointers late in the game to finish the game with 16 points. Jarin Stevenson made two three-pointers on his way to 12 points and seven boards. Seth Trimble finished with 13 points and eight assists. The starters were responsible for nearly all of the Heels’ offensive production, as they got just five points from their bench. Clemson, on the other hand, got 29 from theirs.
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The late attempt at a comeback was simply a case of too little, too late. The defensive pressure they were putting on Clemson was effective at disrupting the Tigers’ offensively, but credit goes to Dillon Hunter for making his late free throws to shut the door on UNC. Carolina, with their free throw struggles all season, shot just 59% from the stripe. In a game that ended up being as close as this one, it would have been nice to have a couple of the seven points they left there.
What is frustrating is that the effort we saw in the final minutes was completely missing earlier in the game. The adjustment to putting pressure on Clemson came too late. Maybe no one could have predicted that the Tar Heels would suddenly be able to rain threes at will, but not digging themselves into such a deep hole would have meant that getting hot late could have been enough. Alas.
A win would have given UNC a rubber match against Duke in the semifinals. The loss sends them home to await their fate on Selection Sunday.
