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Reading the UNC forum after the game, I found little appreciation of UConn's performance. The consensus was that UNC played a poor game and UConn just happened to be on the court. As for the chance of meeting UConn again in March, the consensus was, "Bring 'em on."
On the other hand, I found this set of "Rapd Reactions" from columnist Adam Lucas at goheels.com:
<excerpts>
.
1. Connecticut is one of the best teams in the country, and Carolina simply didn't play at that level in an 87-76 UConn win.
2. It's very difficult to make a comeback against a team as good as UConn, and it's almost impossible when you're not combining defensive stops with offensive scores. During the decisive part of the game--the 11:00 mark through the 4:00 mark--Carolina did not have a single stop and score. It's essentially mathematically impossible to come back from a deficit in that fashion.
3. It's not necessarily that Carolina was poor defensively. It's that Connecticut is very talented offensively and presents multiple problems for a defense. The Huskies put a lot of stress on numerous parts of a defense. In the first half, they were dominant inside the three-point line, as they hit 13-for-19 on two-point shots (68 percent). And although they weren't particularly good on three-point shots (4-16) in that half, they rebounded five of those misses.
4. Then, as you were afraid might happen, the Huskies coupled that efficiency with success from the perimeter in the second half. They warmed up and hit 6-for-15 from three (while still hitting 11-for-16 from two), and that was simply too much offense to overcome. For the game, they were 24-for-35 on two-point shots, nearly 70 percent. Carolina, if you're wondering, was 21-for-43 on two-point shots.
5. The Tar Heels would've had to play an almost flawless offensive game to compete, and they simply didn't. ...
6. Bacot's rebounds were the best individual effort on a night when UConn dominated the backboards. The Huskies, one of the best rebounding teams in the country, had a 41-31 overall edge and 11-9 on the offensive glass, even while missing more shots than the Tar Heels.
7. Carolina wasn't great at capitalizing on those offensive boards (just six points), but an even more frustrating stat was points off turnovers. UConn made just eight miscues (Carolina had only seven), but the Tar Heels turned them into only seven points. The Huskies, meanwhile, got 14 points off those UNC errors.
....
9. There's no question that UConn coach Dan Hurley is a Hurley. He stayed in constant contact with the officiating crew, and perhaps not coincidentally, the very dubious first half technical foul on Armando Bacot was whistled immediately after Hurley spent the majority of a timeout berating an official.
10. The Tar Heels broke out a halfcourt zone defense for the first time this season during a first half stretch when UConn was having significant success offensively. The Tar Heels tried a 1-3-1 to give them a different look; it resulted in a Cam Spencer three-pointer and was quickly shelved.
....
13. The Jimmy V Classic is a great event, and it feels right to have the Tar Heels back in it again. They played the famous ESPYs speech at halftime of the Illinois-Florida Atlantic game on the in-venue jumbotron, and it was remarkable how quiet it got inside Madison Square Garden as the speech played. ...
On the other hand, I found this set of "Rapd Reactions" from columnist Adam Lucas at goheels.com:
<excerpts>
.
1. Connecticut is one of the best teams in the country, and Carolina simply didn't play at that level in an 87-76 UConn win.
2. It's very difficult to make a comeback against a team as good as UConn, and it's almost impossible when you're not combining defensive stops with offensive scores. During the decisive part of the game--the 11:00 mark through the 4:00 mark--Carolina did not have a single stop and score. It's essentially mathematically impossible to come back from a deficit in that fashion.
3. It's not necessarily that Carolina was poor defensively. It's that Connecticut is very talented offensively and presents multiple problems for a defense. The Huskies put a lot of stress on numerous parts of a defense. In the first half, they were dominant inside the three-point line, as they hit 13-for-19 on two-point shots (68 percent). And although they weren't particularly good on three-point shots (4-16) in that half, they rebounded five of those misses.
4. Then, as you were afraid might happen, the Huskies coupled that efficiency with success from the perimeter in the second half. They warmed up and hit 6-for-15 from three (while still hitting 11-for-16 from two), and that was simply too much offense to overcome. For the game, they were 24-for-35 on two-point shots, nearly 70 percent. Carolina, if you're wondering, was 21-for-43 on two-point shots.
5. The Tar Heels would've had to play an almost flawless offensive game to compete, and they simply didn't. ...
6. Bacot's rebounds were the best individual effort on a night when UConn dominated the backboards. The Huskies, one of the best rebounding teams in the country, had a 41-31 overall edge and 11-9 on the offensive glass, even while missing more shots than the Tar Heels.
7. Carolina wasn't great at capitalizing on those offensive boards (just six points), but an even more frustrating stat was points off turnovers. UConn made just eight miscues (Carolina had only seven), but the Tar Heels turned them into only seven points. The Huskies, meanwhile, got 14 points off those UNC errors.
....
9. There's no question that UConn coach Dan Hurley is a Hurley. He stayed in constant contact with the officiating crew, and perhaps not coincidentally, the very dubious first half technical foul on Armando Bacot was whistled immediately after Hurley spent the majority of a timeout berating an official.
10. The Tar Heels broke out a halfcourt zone defense for the first time this season during a first half stretch when UConn was having significant success offensively. The Tar Heels tried a 1-3-1 to give them a different look; it resulted in a Cam Spencer three-pointer and was quickly shelved.
....
13. The Jimmy V Classic is a great event, and it feels right to have the Tar Heels back in it again. They played the famous ESPYs speech at halftime of the Illinois-Florida Atlantic game on the in-venue jumbotron, and it was remarkable how quiet it got inside Madison Square Garden as the speech played. ...