UNC men's basketball has no choice but to 'move forward' after blowout loss to Duke

DURHAM — A dejected Seth Trimble sagged into his seat. The junior guard released a heavy exhale. His eyes stared distantly ahead. 

Another loss. Another defeat to a ranked opponent. Another game that exposed UNC’s glaring weaknesses. An 87-70 slaughter by No. 2 Duke, who outmatched North Carolina in every way possible and led from start to finish on Saturday at Cameron Indoor Stadium. 

Still, after the game, Trimble kept his tone light and optimistic. 

“We know we can’t mope around and whine about it like the season’s over this early in the year,” he said. “We know we got to group back together and just keep uplifting, mentally. It doesn’t get easier.”

And it really won’t get easier. Not with UNC teetering on the bubble of making the NCAA tournament. ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi projected North Carolina to be one of the Last Four In prior to Saturday’s matchup. 

Not with another game against Pitt next Saturday, a team North Carolina fell apart against on Tuesday. 

Not with two more Quad 1 opportunities, in which the Tar Heels are 1-9, looming. They’ll go to Clemson and later have one more crack at Duke at the end of season.  

So now what? Where does UNC go from here? 

Junior forward Ven-Allen Lubin pointed to improving UNC’s ability to take care of the ball. In Quad 1 games this season, North Carolina is averaging 11.75 turnovers per game. Against the Blue Devils, the Tar Heels had 14, handing Duke 19 points. 

In the last two games, the Tar Heels have given up a combined 41 points off of turnovers, only scoring 11 for themselves. 

On Saturday, turnovers hurt North Carolina less than 10 minutes into the first half, allowing Duke to explode on a 16-0 run. The Blue Devils had a double-digit lead before the Tar Heels could blink. 

“They whooped us,” Trimble said. “They kicked us straight in the back, from the jump.” 

Then, UNC was plagued by defensive lapses. Outsized at every position — Duke’s average height is about 6-foot-7 and North Carolina started its small, four-guard lineup — the Tar Heels were beaten to the boards on key possessions. 

“We can’t just ask Washington, Withers to battle against them by themselves,” graduate guard RJ Davis said. “We’ve got to do a better job of rebounding, especially defensively, because they were getting a lot of second chance points with that.” 

Lubin said UNC has to do more talking on the defensive end. Individual matchups have to guard better one-on-one. They have to get more physical. 

Next there’s the issue of scoring droughts, which, at one point on Saturday, dug UNC into a 32-point deficit. But that’s not a new problem, either. 

Against Pitt on Tuesday, the Tar Heels didn’t score for the final 3:21 of the second half, allowing the Panthers to build up a 14-2 run to win it.

And in the loss to Wake Forest, a nearly six-minute drought allowed the Demon Deacons to recover the lead in the second half and build up a double-digit advantage. 

During the 16-0 run in the first half that dug North Carolina into an inescapable hole, the Tar Heels were held scoreless for nearly three minutes. Three minutes after they ended the drought, they were scoreless for another five and a half minutes to give Duke a 27 point lead.

They couldn’t get stops, so the Tar Heels couldn’t run out in transition. And without the transition game up to its usual standard, North Carolina couldn’t capitalize. That was the game plan, according to Trimble, and the Tar Heels couldn’t follow it. They can't win without it. 

“It’s really infuriating,” Trimble said. “It’s really frustrating, but we can’t do nothing but keep fighting.”

Head coach Hubert Davis admitted he feels frustration. North Carolina has lost four of its last five games and three consecutive road games, falling to 6-5 in the ACC. 

So what now? The players say it’s not too late. But opportunities are dwindling. The schedule isn’t getting any easier. March is on the horizon. 

“My expectation is for us to continue to move forward,” Hubert Davis said. “We don’t play for another week, so this is a great week for us to regroup.” 

And what other choice do they have? 

@carolinewills03

@dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com

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