The road in the ACC is cruel.
Everyone is probably tired of hearing it, just as everyone is probably tired of saying it. The road in the ACC is incredibly tough, and teams playing away from home can lose to any team on any given day. That’s exactly what happened to the Tar Heels on Saturday.
Coming off a seven-game win streak, Carolina traveled to Miami and everything went wrong. Literally everything. The Tar Heels were out-rebounded, which is an insanely rare occurrence this season. Joel Berry II and Kenny Williams combined for four points. Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks combined for 12 points. You’re not going to win many games like that.
The lone bright spot of the day was Justin Jackson, but he couldn’t do it alone. The Hurricanes got 30 points from Bruce Brown, a career-high. Because of course they did. It was one of those games for UNC.
The Tar Heels did make things more interesting at the end, going on a run and ultimately out-scoring Miami in the half. Unfortunately, the hole they’d dug for themselves in the first half was too much to overcome. They trailed 22-39 heading into the locker room after extended periods of no scoring in the half. They’d led the game 11-2 at one point. That’s how ugly things got.
Unfortunately, these games happen. They especially happen in this year’s ACC where every game on the road is dangerous. This doesn’t mean UNC is doomed or isn’t a good team. Florida State and Notre Dame both lost too, so it’s not as though the Tar Heels are alone. It’s frustrating because it was an opportunity to create distance in the standings and move up in the polls. It’s frustrating because it felt like a game UNC should win. It’s not a cause for panic, though.
It’s difficult to blame any one thing for what happened because it just seemed like nothing went right. Maybe it was the quick turnaround from Thursday night? Can’t let that be an excuse, though. It was a perfect storm of disaster. The only thing to do is re-group and go out there and take some frustration out on Pitt Tuesday night.
