The North Carolina Tar Heels are in the midst of a very up-and-down, very confusing basketball season. And that was before they lost to the 9-6 Miami Hurricanes at home last night.
So, for the record, the 10-5 Tar Heels own wins over No. 5 Michigan State (on the road), No. 12 Louisville (on the road) and No. 14 Kentucky and losses to Belmont, UAB, Texas, Wake Forest and now Miami.
And they lost uggggly.
...the Hurricanes on Wednesday night mostly did what they wanted, which was to control the pace and limit the Tar Heels’ transition opportunities. The Hurricanes, who rank near the bottom nationally in possessions per game, routinely work the shot clock, and make opposing teams defend for long stretches.
It wasn’t pretty, what Miami did on offense, but it didn’t have to be. The Tar Heels were uglier. They shot 30.8 percent – Miami shot 42 percent – and UNC often went long stretches without making a shot from the field against Miami’s zone defense. The Tar Heels scored just four fast break points.
Normally, I'd look at that and think we've got this in the bag. But you know what…we're highly-ranked. Don't know if you knew that. And this UNC team clearly seems to play to the level of its competition. So…should we be scared? Or should we assume they've lost their way and we're in the clear? Will they suddenly find their shooting touch because of course they will? Will we need Hakim Warrick to save us against a Roy Williams team once more?