UNC men's basketball faces disappointment following historic loss to No. 23 Clemson

CLEMSON, S.C. — Hubert Davis' message has been clear over the last week. 

The head coach emphasized the importance of having urgency. He stressed that every game should be now or never, especially heading into one of UNC's last resume-building opportunities ahead of the NCAA tournament, where North Carolina holds a 1-10 record in Quad 1 games. 

But the postgame scene was the same following the two hour bludgeoning. Davis' drawn out pauses. A despondent Elliot Cadeau. And a sunken Seth Trimble saying he wants to continue to put this jersey on and fight for this team. 

Davis' message didn't take root. There was no sense of urgency. There was no fight. It didn't come down to the last possession. Clemson rolled right past North Carolina. 

“It's a sense of emergency, and that's the type of mindset you have to have in your preparation, practice and play every day,” Davis said. “It doesn't guarantee you that things will work out your way, but without it you have no chance. And from that standpoint, I'm just sad.”

The UNC men's basketball team fell to No. 23 Clemson, 85-65, on Monday evening in Littlejohn Coliseum. Clemson's 20-point victory ties its largest since the two schools began playing in 1926. The Tar Heels squandered one of their last Quad 1 opportunities of the season, allowing the Tigers to shoot 50.8 percent from the field and 48 percent from three. Clemson out-rebounded UNC 41-28. The Tigers did everything they needed to hand North Carolina its fourth straight road loss. 

Trimble recognizes how bad it looks. The outcome was the opposite of what the Tar Heels wanted. Sitting on the bubble with NCAA tournament hopes on knife's edge, UNC put up one of its worst performances against Clemson in program history. In what should have been a fight to the finish line, North Carolina chose the path of no resistance. 

“We know the stakes,” Trimble said. “We know the position we're in. And just for us to come out and give that performance ...”

Trimble didn't finish his sentence. The junior guard looked down and shook his head. 

Sure, the Tar Heels have struggled with falling into big deficits, but Saturday's performance was a stark contrast to the ones that dominated early ranked matchups. The type of fire that turned a 20-point deficit against Kansas into a one-possession game. Or the same ones that led to a historic comeback win against Dayton. 

But that was nowhere to be found. And it's been gone for some time. The Tar Heels have lost five of their last seven games. 

Cadeau committed four turnovers in just over 16 minutes from the start of the game, marking the sixth time in the last 10 games he's had four turnovers or more. The Tar Heels totaled 13.

Clemson center Viktor Lakhin recorded 20 points in 14 minutes.

Although UNC shot 50 percent from the field in the first half, the team still trailed by 16. 

And unless the Tar Heels find a way to beat No. 3 Duke in the rival's last game of the season or make a deep run in the ACC tournament, their season might be done by mid-March.

So, with that in mind, Davis' messaging of now or never compared to the actual performance left the postgame scene like this: 

Down a cinderblock hallway in the bottom of Littlejohn Coliseum, Cadeau stood alone. 

Clemson memorabilia lined the long corridor, and so did different Tiger players who smiled and clapped without reserve. Cadeau was quiet. He stuttered. 

Where did the effort go? 

“I'm not sure,” Cadeau said. 

The sophomore guard didn't know why the energy tapered in what Davis branded as an emergency situation. He just knew that it did. Cadeau understood the defense was never there, but he didn't exactly know why. 

UNC players left one by one, slowly making their way to the bus. It was quiet. Only two players exited side by side to face the loss together. It was the last thing Trimble wanted to see. 

“I thought guys understood what this game meant for us,” Trimble said. “I thought guys understood how good this Clemson team was. But I guess not. I thought so, but I ended up being wrong.”

@_emmahmoon

@dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com

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