Almost eight years to the day of their last NCAA tournament exit at the hands of North Carolina, Washington fell 81 to 59 to the Tar Heels on Sunday ending a season that exceeded the expectations of many.
North Carolina is one of the favorites to win the NCAA tournament and they showed why with a complete performance on both ends of the court. While the Huskies were able to slow the Tar Heels at times, Roy Williams team was able to overcome the Huskies zone with precision passing and hot shooting.
Freshman point guard Colby White made four of five 3-point attempts in the first-half helping the Tar-Heels build a 41-33 lead at the break..
Washington cut the deficit to five when David Crisp hit a three-pointer for the first points of the second-half but UNC answered with a decisive 13-0 run. Washington tried to battle back in the game but went cold from the field where they shot just 38% for the game.
Jaylen Nowell led the Huskies with 12 points but just two other players were in double figures.
Keys to the Game
Washington’s lack of a creator
It should be noted that Nowell played a really solid game hitting 6 of his first 8 shots but he had to create everything for himself. What he was unable to do was create for others as he and Crisp had a combined two assist and Washington had just nine as a team.
The next time you see this team they will have a true point guard, most likely Quade Green, the transfer from Kentucky. David Crisp had an excellent senior year, hit many big shots and played with a ferocity not seen from a Washington guard since Venoy Overton. But as the season went on Washington’s half-court offense began to regress.
North Carolina might win this whole thing
While the Huskies could have played better they ran into a buzz saw. North Carolina is a well-balanced team with plenty of smart players. Luke Maye finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds, Nick Little added 20 points and 7 points off the bench. The Tar Heels best player Cameron Johnson only scored 14 points but got his team involved with 7 assist. The Tar Heels shot 51% from the field and 43% from beyond the arc. They had 10 turnovers in the first-half but cut that in half in the second.
Inability to Rebound
North Carolina doubled up Iona 56 to 28 on the boards and did the same to the Huskies winning the rebounding battle 48 to 24. The Tar Heels missed their first two shots on their first possession but grabbed offensive rebounds before making their third. It was a sign of things to come as they finished with 14 offensive rebounds.
Outlook: The Huskies have nothing to hang their head over. They won the Pac-12 when they were picked to finish fourth in pre-season and won an NCAA Tournament game when most figured they would be one and done. This loss shows they have a way to go, a higher level of basketball IQ is needed as well as better rebounders.
Dominic Green, Mattise Thybulle, David Crisp and Noah Dickerson should be remembered for helping turn the program around. It will be a travesty if Thybulle doesn’t win the National Defensive Player of the Year. The Huskies have a lot to build on namely Naz Carter who scored in double-figures again and an increasingly confident Hameir Wright and Jamal Bey. The big question is whether Jaylen Nowell will be apart of that group or leave early for the NBA draft. One final edition of player grades…
Wright – 5 – Wright struggled going just 1 of 5 from the field finishing with 3 points and 3 rebounds. He’s a good defensive player but I’m not sure the middle of the 2-3 zone is where he’s best suited considering he’s an average rebounder.
Dickerson – 6 – Dickerson battled with all he had scoring 10 points and grabbing 6 rebounds but he will need to be a little quicker to attack the basket wherever he plays next. Often times he invites double-teams by waiting for them to come. Dickerson also missed three free-throws in a row in the first half which hurt the Huskies at a time the game was still in question. I can’t say enough about his defense with him adding a steal and two more blocks. He has some big shoes to fill.
Nowell – 7 – Valiant effort by Nowell before he missed his last three shots. He was able to beat UNC defenders off the dribble all night, you hope it’s not his last game because I don’t think the country got to see how much quality he actually has.
Thybulle – 4 – Thybulle had another dominant defensive performance with four steals, two blocks and numerous deflections. What he’s going to have to overcome at the next level is doubts about his outside shooting. He was 1 for 8 from the field including 0 for 5 from beyond the arc for just 2 points.
Crisp – 4 – A rough day for Crisp who went just 2 of 9 from the field. He had 3 turnovers against just one assist and had 8 points. A lot of Husky fans will only remember the bad decisions but he was productive even if not efficient.
Timmins – 5 – Timmins had two points and a rebound. The Huskies put him in to try to bring some size but his lack of an offensive game made him a liability. Missed his only two free-throw attempts.
Carter – 6- Carter scored in double-figures for the second consecutive game with 10 points and made two 3-pointers. He was just 2 for 7 from inside the arc though and didn’t finish at the rim as well as he normally does.
Green – 4 – Green was 1 of 4 from beyond the arc. The Huskies tried to go small at times but Green wasn’t able to help out on the boards, darned if you do, darned if you don’t.
Bey – 6 – After scoring 14 points the first 27 games of the year. Bey has scored 15 points in the last 3 including two 3-pointers against the Tar Heels.
Hardy, Q. Banard, J. Crandall, T. Rice – NR – Hardy hit a 3-pointer in garbage time as Hopkins emptied his bench with a minute to go so the crowd could cheer for his seniors. Play by play announcer Chris Webber made a great point that their contributions in practice won’t be seen but they pushed the rest of the team to their limits.
