By Adam Lucas1. Disappointing home loss for Carolina, as the Heels fall, 78-70, to Georgia.2. Georgia has been an NCAA Tournament team the last two years, but the Heels had a three-point lead with five minutes left and had an open 3-pointer for a six-point lead that they missed. From that point on, they ended up making 3 of 11 field goals, while Georgia scored or grabbed the offensive rebound on almost every trip. 3. Carolina’s rebounding issues were a problem in the final three minutes. Georgia made a key field goal and two free throws on second-chance opportunities. The visitors had 15 second-chance points on their 18 offensive rebounds and won the overall rebounding battle, 52-43. The Dawgs had 13 second-chance points in the second half.4. The Heels have to find a way to score when threes aren’t falling. On Friday, they shot 38 of them, a school record. Of course, part of that was because they were behind and needed to take advantage late, but a good part of it came when the game was still on the line. To make matters even more complicated, they only made nine. That’s not to say they were shooting effectively in other areas of the court, as they were also just 15-of-35 from two-point range. For the match they won 32.9 percent overall and 23.7 percent of 3.5. Really the only reliable offense was getting to the free throw line, where they were 13 of 19 but only 5 of 7 in the second half. Sayon Keita, Alex Samodurov and Jarin Stevenson combined to take a free kick. 6. Terrence Brown helped keep UNC in the game in the second half. He has shown a variety of ways he can score in his young career at UNC, and a big part of his offense on Friday came from the three-point line, where he made four of them. No matter what he’s doing from the perimeter, he’s always a threat to get to the basket and generate contact. He finished with a team-high 21 points and committed a team-high five fouls. Unfortunately, he didn’t shoot in the final 5:17.7. Michael Malone juggled his lineup for the final minutes, using freshman Maximo Adams in place of Stevenson. The Chapel Hill native has struggled in the first four games of the season (he went 2 for 7 and 0 for 3 against Georgia, but grabbed seven rebounds), but Carolina will need him if they want to get where they want this year. Adams remains Carolina’s best rebounder, scoring 11 and shooting 1-for-8.8. Malone will be frustrated with Carolina’s conversions around the rim. The Heels missed several opportunities to finish.9. Georgia’s 9-0 run to close the first half capped a frustrating 20 minutes. The Tar Heels shot 9 of 36 from the field, including 5 of 20 from three. The 25 percent mark from the field tied the third-worst mark for a half in Smith Center history, which now spans 601 games.10. Georgia came into the game having taken great care of basketball by starting the season 3-0. But the Heels forced errors on the Bulldogs’ first three possessions of the game and that turned out to be one of Carolina’s best methods of generating offense in the first half. The Heels got seven points off eight Georgia turnovers in the first quarter and finished with 12 points off 12 Georgia turnovers, and some of those transition opportunities helped build a nine-point lead with 10:35 left. However, the Heels were unable to get the ball back in the final 9:38 of the game.11. Surprisingly, this was Carolina’s first meeting with Georgia since November 1998. You won’t have to wait that long for the rematch, as the two teams are scheduled to meet in Athens in November or December 2028.12. The loss snapped a 21-game winning streak at the Smith Center. The Heels have a week off until they return to the Smith Center next Friday night against Marshall, at which time they will play two home games in four days (Nov. 20 against the Herd and a quick turnaround to face King Rice and Monmouth on Nov. 23).
