UNC suffers loss to Marquette in third quarter

CHAPEL HILL, NC – North Carolina streaked its best win of the season four days ago with its worst loss of the season on Wednesday night. The Tar Heels suffered an 83-70 loss to Marquette in a non-conference home game.

It was the 18th non-conference loss for UNC in the Smith Center’s 35-year history. The 13-point margin also ties in the team’s biggest loss of the season.

That game was officially announced on Saturday, hours before the UNC (14-8, 8-5 ACC) demolished Louisville, 99-54. While the Tar Heels outperformed the Cardinals in terms of efficiency and energy, the opposite was true against the Golden Eagles (11-12, 6-10 Big East). Steve Wojciechowski’s team struck first and kept their cool late when the UNC attempted to run.

Marquette took a 45-27 lead with 1:04 left in the first period and took a 45-29 lead at halftime. That 18-point, 16-point halftime margin represented the biggest such deficits the UNC has faced this season.

The Tar Heels shot RJ Davis’ 3-point pointer 65-58 with 7:51 left, but trailed in double digits for the final four minutes of play.

UNC shot 41.7%, while allowing Marquette to shoot 51.8%. Garrison Brooks led the Tar Heels with 18 points on 8 of 10 shots, while Day’Ron Sharpe added nine points and 11 rebounds.

Turnover Return issues
UNC’s 19 turnovers were the highest in 11 games and the third of the entire season. Marquette scored 19 points out of those 19 errors. Nine Tar Heels made turnovers, led by Davis (4), Love (3) and Black (3).

Drive and Kick
Marquette is not a 3-point sniper team – they shoot 33.3% over the season, good for the 195th nationally – but their ability to repeatedly beat UNC defenders out of the dribbling forced defenders to collapse and therefore created a lot of open stares. of the perimeter. The Golden Eagles shot 37.5% over the arc and their nine 3-pointers were two more than their season average.

In eight losses this season, opponents UNC have averaged 9.9 points to 3 points while shooting 42.5% out of three.

Fullcourt Press fuels the second half
The UNC used their traps in the half court to thwart the opposing faults and put their competitors in difficulty throughout the season. Against Marquette, Roy Williams went one step further by implementing a full press on made baskets and this coaching decision yielded several easy dunks while also helping to change momentum in favor of UNC.

The Tar Heels scored 12 points from 13 turnovers in the second half and 21 points from 19 total turnovers.

Slowly restart
It might only be five days before March, but the Tar Heels offered a flashback to December to open the game against Marquette. UNC basketball was synonymous with slow starts early in the season, and it took the Golden Eagles about seven minutes to build up a 14-4 lead as the Tar Heels missed 12 of their first 14 field goal attempts.

The first wave of substitutions sparked a 9-0 UNC run, which was then answered with an 8-0 Marquette run. An 11-2 push later in the half extended the visitors’ lead to 39-23 with 2:43 to go.

Marquette shot 50% in the first half and averaged 1.25 points per possession, while UNC managed 36.7% shots and 0.81 points per possession.

following
UNC will stay home for the fourth straight game when it hosts Florida State on Saturday (4 p.m. / ESPN). Leonard Hamilton’s team sits atop the ACC standings with a 13-3 record (9-2 ACC). The Seminoles won the first meeting in Tallahassee, 82-75.