No. 9 UNC men's basketball falls short of a comeback against No. 1 Kansas, 92-89, at Allen Fieldhouse

LAWRENCE, Kan. — The No. 9 UNC men's basketball team (1-1) fell, 92-89, to the No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks (2-0) on Friday night at Allen Fieldhouse.

A dismal first half performance, in which the Tar Heels gave up 53 points, was completely flipped upside down in the second half. North Carolina stormed back from 15 down at halftime to take a late lead, but was ultimately unable to hang on in the closing minutes. 

North Carolina jumped out to a quick five point lead with graduate guard RJ Davis scoring five of UNC's first seven points. An alley-oop from a driving sophomore guard Elliot Cadeau to junior forward Jalen Washington gave UNC a 7-2 lead.

However, a Cadeau turnover led to an easy bucket for Kansas. On the next defensive possession, the Tar Heels defense collapsed and Rylan Griffen knocked down a three.

Junior guard Seth Trimble converted an and-1 after a tough finish over Kansas center Hunter Dickinson to put the Tar Heels up 10-7 early. Dickinson got his own and-1 right after, posting up over junior foward Ven-Allen Lubin.

"He [Dickinson] plays off of leverage," graduate forward Jae'Lyn Withers said. "He was trying to get to his left hand."

After falling behind 17-12, a free throw by Davis and a 3-pointer from the corner by first-year guard Ian Jackson  cut the lead to one. Kansas responded, going on a 6-0 run to go up 25-18 with just under 12 minutes remaining in the first half.  

In transition, Kansas' Zeke Mayo knocked down a triple to put Kansas up 33-22.  

Head coach Hubert Davis was trying multiple lineup combinations to ignite the Tar Heels, including stints from graduate forward Ty Claude and first-year forward James Brown. But nothing worked and UNC found itself down 53-36 at the half. 

"They were running their offense like they did in shoot around," Hubert Davis said. "They were getting threes. They were getting layups. They were getting dunks."

North Carolina got off to a quick start in the second half, with a jumper from Davis and three-point play from Trimble. Meanwhile, UNC upped its defensive intensity, getting key stops and forcing Kansas into tough shots to cut the Kansas lead to nine. 

A 3-pointer from Withers from the corner followed by a Washington put-back slam brought the Tar Heels within six. Both North Carolina and Kansas continued to trade buckets early in the second half, but Kansas maintained a steady 10 point lead. Hubert Davis consistently rotated players in order to create favorable matchups for UNC as it tried to cut the deficit.

Following back-to-back fouls that put Jackson and Trimble on the free throw line, the Tar Heels cut the Jayhawk lead to 77-72 with nine minutes remaining. Then, Withers drilled a three from the corner, cutting the Kansas lead to just two. 

North Carolina took its first lead of the game since it was up 7-2 following back-to-back buckets from Withers. Kansas and UNC continued to trade the lead with just under six minutes remaining in the half. A Lubin layup forced the Jayhawks to call a timeout down 84-81.

Up by two and with the ball, Withers passed it out of bounds. On the ensuing possession, Kansas had a triple roll in and out. However, a foul on Cadeau gave Kansas two shots from the charity stripe and to tie the game. 

Kansas took the lead on a Dickinson layup with just over a minute remaining, and Hubert Davis took a timeout. Washington missed a triple from the corner right in front of UNC's bench, and then Dickinson was sent to the line after a foul on Trimble with 12 seconds remaining. 

"We showed that we can climb back and it took all 15 guys in that locker room," RJ Davis said.

The Tar Heels return to action on November 15 against American at the Dean E. Smith Center. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m.

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