UNC vs. Miami Player of the Game: You’re kidding, right?

I’ll say this about the Tar Heels this season, when they lose, you pretty much can tell in the first few minutes of the first half what sort of game you’re in for.

In a game where the Tar Heels only shot 33.8% overall, 20% from three, gave up fourteen turnovers, and ultimately lost by 28 points, you just can’t give kudos out to anyone. The team on the floor didn’t hit their shots after a couple of early makes, let the Hurricanes have their way, started to force things, and before you knew it the game was already over.

It’s a pattern we’ve seen enough that when Carolina got down by 20 in the first half, I decided it was time for my emotional well being to stop being battered and turn my attention to better things:

This actually isn’t completely fair. I turned off the game before the hockey Hurricanes had even scored a goal. Literally the moment the iPad thudded to the table in disgust and I gave 100% attention to the Carolina Hurricanes against the Boston Bruins, the hockey Hurricanes scored a goal and were off and running. I never went back to basketball, and I’m in a much better mood because of it.

Here’s the one level of kudos I will mention, though: Armando Bacot. He still managed to pull off a double double with 15/12 effort, although pretty much all of them game after the issue was well decided. Miami basically swarmed down low and stayed discipline to take away Bacot as an option, and Carolina couldn’t make them pay. Then they started to force the issue, and Miami...made them pay.

This is also the spot where we should give Bacot his praise for this:

The Tar Heels only played once last week, but that effort was enough for him to be the POW for the USBWA. The last UNC player to get that honor was Marcus Paige, so it’s been a minute since someone from the Tar Heels have been able to enjoy that honor.

Something tells me considering the fall he took at the end of the game, Bacot isn’t going to be celebrating the honor too much.

We’ll see if the Tar Heels can flush this loss quickly and recover against a resurgent Wake Forest team on Saturday night. It’ll be the first of a five game in eleven day stretch that’ll define the rest of the season.