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ASHEVILLE, NC – Matt Coleman III knocked down a 15-foot jumper in the right elbow with 0.1 seconds left to hoist 17th Texas to a 69-67 victory over 14th in North Carolina in the Championship game Maui Invitational Wednesday.
In a game that remained a one-possession affair throughout the final seven minutes of play, Garrison Brooks gave UNC (3-1) their first lead after half-time on a turnaround jumper with 2:35 to play. That advantage lasted every 16 seconds as the Tar Heels connected on just one of their last seven field goal attempts.
Leaky Black tied the game at 67-67 with a pair of free throws 25.6 seconds left to set up Coleman’s buzzer-beating heroism.
UNC built a 15-10 lead early on as Texas missed 13 of its first 16 field goals. Once the Longhorns warmed up, the game quickly turned in Shaka Smart’s favor. Texas ran a 26-5 run on a seven-minute streak to take a 36-20 lead with 3:50 remaining before halftime.
The Tar Heels opened the second half on a 12-2 run to reduce their deficit to 42-40 with 16 minutes left, only for Texas to counter with a 14-6 surge over the next 5:22 for regain its double digit lead. The back-and-forth trend continued as UNC responded with a 9-0 run to shoot a run with 6:48 left.
Brooks led UNC with 18 points on 7 of 12 shots while Armando Bacot notched the 12th double-double of his career with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
UNC shot 41.4% from the ground (24 of 58), 11.1% from 3 points (1 of 9) and 56.3% from the free throw line (18 of 32) in its first loss of the season. Texas shot 41.7 percent and scored 15 points on 14 UNC turnovers.
The Tar Heels passed the Longhorns, 50-32, and beat their opponent on second chance points, 25-13.
UNC fell to 4-3 in the Maui Invitational championship game in eight tournament appearances.
Contravention of powers of front court
While the backcourt has scoring potential and is efficient in transition, UNC is at its best in the halfcourt when executing the attack from the low post. This was evident in the second half as the Tar Heels moved through the interior to eliminate their 16-point deficit.
Brooks, Bacot, Day’Ron Sharpe and Walker Kessler combined to score 40 points on 15 of 24 shots.
Sloppy offensive execution early
There is something to be said about the fact that UNC shot 39.3% from the ground, 38.5% from the free throw line, paired a pass with 10 turnovers and yet only trailed by 12 points to the half-time.
The main reason for these difficulties can be found in the UNC backcourt, where freshmen Caleb Love and RJ Davis combined for eight runs on 2 of 12 shots with one assist and four turnovers in the first half.
Love finished with five points on 2 of 13 shots, while Davis scored 11 points on 3 of 11 shots.
Freshman five
As Texas leads 56-50 at 9:07 am to go, Williams replaced Puff Johnson for Leaky Black, which was remarkable considering he put in five real freshmen – Sharpe, Kessler, Kerwin Walton, Davis and Johnson – on the pitch together for the first time this season.
The training lasted 82 seconds, but beat his opponent, 2-0.
next
UNC will take a break this weekend before heading to Iowa for a clash with the third-ranked Hawkeyes on Tuesday in the ACC-Big Ten challenge.
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