The No. 12 UNC men’s basketball team (4-3) fell, 94-91, to Michigan State (6-2) on Wednesday night in overtime of the third place game of the Maui Invitational.
UNC kept up with its first half trend of trailing behind by double digits followed by impressive second half comebacks — culminating into forcing overtime — but the Tar Heels could not shut down Michigan State’s established scoring position. While North Carolina struggled to make and take shots, the Spartans led in scoring averages that couldn’t be matched until it was too late.
In the first half, Michigan State got an early lead on the Tar Heels, with a 10-2 lead by junior guard Tre Hollomon, who scored the first layup for MSU. It took over five minutes for North Carolina to score a field goal basket.
Despite the slow start to the first half, UNC picked up some speed within the last 13 minutes.
Michigan State landed an early 10-point lead against the Heels. Graduate forward Jae’Lyn Withers was the first UNC starter to score a field goal. With six minutes left in the first half, first-year guard Drake Powell led UNC in scoring with eight of the team's 20 points.
First-year guard Ian Jackson shot a 3-pointer that cut the Spartan’s lead to single digits at the end of the first half.
With early hope for more production on the interior, junior forward Jalen Washington scored a layup, putting the Tar Heels on the board first for the second half.
Graduate guard RJ Davis scored his second basket of the game in the second half, which opened up space for sophomore guard Elliot Cadeau to bring the Heels within five points by a fouled layup, which ended the 7-0 run for North Carolina.
The second half was filled with action in the paint for UNC. Junior guard Seth Trimble, who has been a star player for the prior two Maui Invitational rounds, brought the Tar Heels within one single point. Powell brought North Carolina its first lead of the night off the fast break.
