Off the cuff: The season has gone South in a hurry for the Tar Heels after they dropped the fifth of their last seven games. North Carolina didn't look bad in losses to Pitt and Duke, and were impressive in a win over Georgia Tech. But this game makes one wonder how far this team can go. Perhaps a lot of it is attributed to NC State making the game ugly with a slow-down offense. Carolina couldn't get into the tempo it wanted except during the run in the second half that cut a 16-point deficit to two with plenty of time left. The Tar Heels were cookin' with gas as they scored on nine straight possessions. But a couple of unforced turnovers and a couple of bad shots and a couple of bad shot selections, and the window to take the lead was gone. As a result, the Tar Heels dropped their fourth loss at home this season. UNC coach Roy Williams had challenged the crowd after he criticized them for being lackadaisical all year. "I hate it for our crowd. God almighty, they were good," he said. The game was winnable as State could only hit 35 percent from the floor. But the deliberate play and the good defense against the Heels was good enough on this night. The Tar Heels can beat anybody - well, anybody who doesn't keep them from playing up tempo. But they are starting to look like a team that will go down early in the ACC tourney and early in the NCAA tourney. There is still time to turn things around as the Heels travel to Miami and Georgia Tech before hosting Duke in a revenge game in the regular season finale. |
|