Off the cuff: That loss to Miami was just painful. The Tar Heels can't shoot. They miss from outside, they miss from inside. They miss open shots and contested shots. When they are fouled, they are likely to miss the free throw shot.
The 30.8 percent was the second worst shooting exhibition by a Roy Williams-coached Tar Heel team.
It really was similar to the Wake Forest loss in that the two "shooters" on the team were hapless. Leslie McDonald was a mere three of 12 while
Marcus Paige was an even-worse two of 15. That's a combined five of 27. That's less than 20 percent.
The highlight of the night was a play where James Michael McAdoo stole the ball and got it to JP Tokoto, who drove left of the lane and threw down a left-handed dunk over a defender. That cut the lead to 35-31 and seemingly gave Carolina some momentum. But after an immediate timeout, Miami outscored the Heels 11-2.
UNC's Joel James, back after being out nearly three weeks with a leg injury, was ejected for a flagrant foul early in the second half. His elbow, though it didn't look intentional, did draw blood on the defender. It didn't look flagrant enough to eject somebody. He had four points in his return but his bulk could have been important against Miami, that did a good job driving to the hoop.
Coach Williams emotionally refuted a CNN.com article that quoted a former learning specialist at UNC who claims a Tar Heel basketball player she worked with couldn’t read or write.
"I'm really proud of the kids I've brought in here," Williams said. "We haven't brought in anybody like that. We brought in one senior who didn't graduate. Anybody can say anything."
Maimi 63, Tar Heels 57 Heels simply can't shoot in Miami loss
This isn't the tough Miami team that North Carolina had lost to three times in a row. But it might as well as been as the Tar Heels shot less than 31 percent in a stunningly bad 63-57 home loss to Miami.
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The Tar Heels fall to 0-2 in the conference with a Saturday game at No. 1 Syracuse looming.
Critics can't say the Tar Heels didn't come out aggressively as they raced out to an 8-0 lead in just over two minutes. Unfortunately for the Heels, the Hurricanes scored 10 points over the next five minutes while Carolina failed to score.
"Our running game stopped and it got harder to score," said UNC coach Roy Williams, who added that it was hard to say but that he isn't doing a good job coaching this team.
The lead went back and forth, albeit slowly, for the next eight minutes. But after the score was tied at 17, Miami outscored Carolina 9-2 and settled for a 29-23 halftime lead.
In the second half, Carolina cut the margin to two at 35-33 following a turn-around jumper by Brice Johnson. A patient Hurricanes team then outscored a mistake-prone, poor-shooting Tar Heels team 11-0 over the next five minutes to take a commanding 46-33 lead midway through the second half.
The Tar Heels, while still not playing well, fought back twice. Once cutting the lead to four at the 49-45 with 4:30 to go. A driving floater and dunk by JP Tokoto highlighted the run.
Miami broke the Carolina press and scramble defense and worked the lead back up to 11 with just 1:26 left. The Tar Heels cut it to five with less than a minute to play and had a chance to cut into the lead more but couldn't score.
"I feel as bad mentally as I've ever felt," Coach Williams said. "At Carolina, you're not supposed to lose... Our kids are feeling the stress."
James Michael McAdoo led the 10-5 Tar Heels with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
