Tar Heels struggle with ball control

ATLANTA — With the North Carolina men’s basketball team trailing its Sunday evening contest at Georgia Tech 61-49, Kendall Marshall brought the ball upcourt looking to get the ball into the paint and his Tar Heels back into the game.

But Marshall’s pass into the post was stolen by Georgia Tech’s Glen Rice Jr., who sprinted down the floor to feed teammate Iman Shumpert a dagger of an alley-oop that gave the Yellow Jackets a 14-point lead and boosted the Alexander Memorial Coliseum decibel level to a fever pitch.

It was only fitting that one of UNC’s 18 turnovers was the final nail in the coffin that snapped UNC’s five-game winning streak.

“One of the biggest problems we had was passing and catching,” UNC coach Roy Williams said. “I mean, that’s pretty damn elementary. You’ve got to look the ball into the hands. I need to become a better coach really quickly.”

On paper, UNC came into the game the better team, in large part because of talented forwards John Henson and Tyler Zeller.

In order to neutralize this threat, the Yellow Jackets made sure to step into UNC’s passing lanes to prevent the Tar Heel forwards from getting the ball. Zeller, UNC’s leading scorer this season, took just six shots Sunday night.

When the Tar Heel big men did manage to get their hands on the ball, it often wasn’t where they wanted it. The Yellow Jackets outmuscled the Tar Heels in the paint, forcing UNC’s forwards to take lower-percentage shots farther away from the basket.

Though Henson and Zeller were a combined 10-for-14 from the free-throw line, they shot 33 percent from the floor.

“They just pushed us out of the box,” Zeller said. “They focused on us more so than normal.”

The Ga. Tech forwards didn’t act alone. The Yellow Jackets also received help from guards Moe Miller, Rice and Shumpert, who converged on the ball anytime UNC’s forwards got it in the paint.

With UNC trailing by three a minute into the second half, Tar Heel point guard Larry Drew II fed the ball to Zeller in the post, only for Shumpert to strip it from him immediately. Shumpert quickly fed Rice for a 3-pointer on the other end to extend the lead to six. It was one of nine steals for Ga. Tech’s three starting guards.

“They’re very scrappy,” Marshall said. “They got into the passing lanes a lot and just swiping the ball when we get it down low and we’re driving. They just did a great job getting hands on the ball.”

Though Drew gave credit to Ga. Tech for being active and imposing its will, he said the Tar Heels will have to act more quickly in order to avoid repeating their mistakes against future opponents.

“We just needed to be stronger with the ball and make better entry passes,” Drew said. “When the guys get the ball in there, they just need to be stronger with it. Expect the double-team, expect to be swiped at.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.