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UNC's offense hits season low in loss to NC State
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- UNC's offense hits season low in loss to NC State
There was plenty to take away from North Carolina's 82-58 loss to NC State, its worst loss to the Wolfpack since 1982 .
If there was one takeaway that was impossible to miss, it was how poorly North Carolina played on offense. The Tar Heels made just 19 of 60 shots (31.7%) and only five of 32 attempts from 3-point range, both season lows. In the first half, they hit only eight of 32 shots (25%) and went 1-for-16 (6%) from beyond the arc.
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It also didn't help that UNC committed 12 turnovers to NC State's four, leading to 16 Wolfpack points.
"I want to give credit to State's defense," UNC coach Hubert Davis said after the game. "They do a really good job of getting in the passing lanes and swiping and getting steals and deflections. And so we knew that we needed to be sound with the basketball on the offensive end and make the easy play. We just couldn't — outside of Jaren and Zayden — we just couldn't generate any good shots consistently. Whether it was off dribble, drive, pick and roll, D.H.O isolations, we just couldn't generate consistent paint touches, putting two on the ball and being able to generate consistent, really good shots."
UNC's guards combined to shoot 11-for-47 from the field (23.4%) and 5-for-29 from 3-point range (17.2%). Derek Dixon and Seth Trimble were 3-for-21 overall and 1-for-12 from deep. It was a stunning night from a backcourt that had mostly been reliable over the past month, especially from the perimeter. Entering the game, the Tar Heels were shooting 35% from 3-point range as a team, which ranked fifth in the ACC.
"Of the 33 threes that we took, it was a good portion that were wide open, and we just didn't make them," Davis said. "And so going into this game, we knew that we needed the ability to be able to shoot from three and make, and we just didn't do it tonight."
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One factor in the offensive struggles was the absence of frontcourt duo Henri Veesaar and Caleb Wilson, who both sat out — Veesaar with a calf injury and Wilson with a broken hand .
It's difficult to replace your top two scorers and rebounders and expect to win, especially against a tournament-caliber team like NC State. Still, that doesn't excuse UNC's poor shotmaking, particularly from the perimeter.
North Carolina faces Syracuse at 1 p.m. Saturday. The schedule stiffens after that, with four straight tournament-caliber opponents: Louisville, Virginia Tech, Clemson and Duke. And Veesaar and Wilson aren't expected back anytime soon.
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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC basketball: Offense struggles in historic loss to NC State
