Amazingly enough, I was not furious with UNC’s 68-66 loss to Kentucky Saturday at Rupp Arena.
Normally, Carolina losses fester inside of me for an hour or so. During that hour, it’s best to just not talk to me.
This wasn’t the case Saturday.
There was plenty cause for frustration. Since I have had the good fortune of missing some very ugly moments of Carolina Basketball in recent years (I am looking right at you, 2008 Kansas game), the 26-2 run that put the Wildcats ahead for good early in the first half was easily the worst stretch of play I have seen in the Roy Williams era. The Tar Heel offense was characterized by panic, rushed shots, and silly turnovers that led to easy transition baskets for Kentucky. North Carolina only made 38.8% of its field goal attempts and turned the ball over 16 times on only 11 assists.
Despite all of this, I’m incredibly optimistic (enjoy it while it lasts, it doesn’t come often with me). After that spectacularly awful stretch of basketball, a very young team settled down and played darn good basketball in a hostile environment against a top-five team, only a Larry Drew II three-pointer away from tying the game with a minute or so remaining, in fact.
My roommate probably summed it up best: When last year’s UNC team lost, something was terribly wrong. That team, as everyone knows, was vastly superior than its competition in every sense of the word. This year’s UNC team is young. Good, but young. Losses will happen, but lots will be gained from them. This will be a very good team, and part of it will come from an effort like the one Saturday, erasing a massive deficit to scare the folks at Rupp.
Due credit to the Wildcats: they jumped out on us early and cranked up the pressure defensively when we were rattled. Patrick Patterson had a spectacular game, scoring 19 points on an 8-12 shooting performance while the media folks focused on uber-freshman John Wall, who also had a solid outing (16 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds). It is better to play tough teams like Kentucky for the first time in December than in March.
It’s hard to imagine that there will be a full week before the next game, a home contest against Presbyterian Saturday evening at the Smith Center, but that is the case for the Heels. Until then, we can be sure that this young team is learning from last Saturday’s game and will be much better for it.
