UNC Chapel Hill Men’s Basketball gave an intriguing show against Louisville last night at the Dean E. Smith Center. Despite blowing a 16-point lead with 13 minutes left in the second half, the Tar Heels managed to close out the game at the last second with a final score of 77-74.
In the first half of the game Louisville started very consistently on offense, taking a 10-point lead (23-10) at the 13-minute mark. Senior guard Seth Trimble, who had a career-high 30 points, got the Tar Heels back into the game early enough to catch up by halftime, with the Tar Heels leading by one (39-38). Junior forward Jarin Stevenson led the team with seven rebounds, which Coach Hubert mentioned how much rebounding can impact the outcome of a game.
In the second half Louisville started shaky, missing 10 shots and allowing the Tar Heels to go on a 17-1 run around the 13-minute mark (56-40). This put them at a 16-point lead advantage. Throughout the half Louisville suffered 10 turnovers, which allowed the Tar Heels to gain control of the game. Despite the score gap Louisville tightened up its defense and made it a three point game with 51 seconds remaining with the aid of a few missed Tar Heel free throws.
In the post game press conference coach Hubert Davis mentioned how the team played very well, despite having a couple of setbacks this season. Seth Trimble said, “I have been playing with some inconsistency. I was just in that streak where I wasn’t playing my best basketball.” Trimble’s last 3-point shot before last night’s game was a buzzer-beater against Duke. He says his coaches encouraged him to keep putting in work, which motivated him to drop 30 points in last night’s game.
The next game for UNC is Saturday at the Dean E. Smith Center against Virginia Tech at 8:30 pm
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