{"id":8360,"date":"2026-03-22T18:45:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T18:45:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/8360\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T18:45:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T18:45:22","slug":"the-signs-were-there-for-a-unc-mens-basketball-collapse-against-vcu-it-finally-happened","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/8360\/","title":{"rendered":"The Signs Were There for a UNC Men’s Basketball Collapse. Against VCU, It Finally Happened."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

UNC\u2019s 2025-26 season came crashing down around it Thursday night in Greenville, as the Tar Heels blew a 19-point lead in the second half in an 82-78 overtime loss to No. 11 seed VCU.<\/a> The historical implications of the loss, and what it might mean for head coach Hubert Davis\u2019 future, are staggering:<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the second consecutive loss in the tournament\u2019s Round of 64 for UNC, something which has never happened before.
\nIt\u2019s just the fourth overall loss for the program in the Round of 64, though three of those have come in the last six seasons.
\nUNC has not reached the tournament\u2019s Round of 32 in three of the past four seasons \u2014 including one year where the Tar Heels missed the field entirely.<\/p>\n

Several factors contributed to Carolina\u2019s shocking collapse, many of which had been plainly evident throughout the season and Davis\u2019 five years in charge of the program.<\/p>\n

The most glaring issue, particularly in light of how Thursday\u2019s game ended, was UNC\u2019s mediocrity at the foul line. Carolina finished just 12-20 on free throws, including three critical misses from Seth Trimble and Henri Veesaar in the overtime period. Veesaar went to the line with less than 10 seconds left and UNC trailing 80-78, needing to make both to keep the Tar Heels alive. He missed the first, then intentionally missed the second in an attempt to get the rebound.<\/p>\n

Carolina has struggled at the line all season, with its 68.1 free throw percentage ranking 15th out of 18 teams in the ACC and in the 300s among all Division 1 schools. Thursday night, that glaring flaw ended UNC\u2019s season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t execute when it mattered the most. Gotta work on free throws,\u201d Veesaar said with a bitter laugh Thursday night. \u201cGotta work on executing. Just being man enough to do it in the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The free throw issue goes hand-in-hand with another disturbing trend which had revealed itself throughout the year, and which came home to roost in Greenville: the Tar Heels\u2019 tendency to let big leads slip away. Carolina did so and survived several times this season: against Louisville, UNC led by 16 and only won by three. Against Syracuse, it led by 32 and only won by 10. At Stanford, Carolina held a lead for nearly the entire game before the Cardinal came roaring back to steal a win in the final minutes.<\/p>\n

A similar script played out at the worst possible time against VCU, as Carolina missed its final nine shots of the game while the Rams shot better than 60 percent in the second half.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like we had the game in the bag. I felt like we could\u2019ve made a deep run in this tournament,\u201d said Jarin Stevenson. \u201cBut we let it slip away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of those offensive woes could be connected with UNC\u2019s unusually tight substitution pattern in the second half. Only six Tar Heels played in the period: the five starters, plus Jonathan Powell off the bench. Zayden High and Kyan Evans had appeared in the first half and played key minutes in helping UNC to establish a lead, but Evans did not play at all in the second half or overtime. High only re-entered in the final seconds of the extra session as an emergency rebounder.<\/p>\n

It was a surprising departure from the season-long trend for Davis, who had leaned on his bench this season more than in years past. The Tar Heels\u2019 lack of depth was a main contributing factor in their blown lead against Kansas in the 2022 national championship, when Armando Bacot twisted his ankle late in the game. Thursday\u2019s loss was an eerie callback to that night in New Orleans.<\/p>\n

Indeed, both of those losses were defined by injuries: Bacot\u2019s ankle against Kansas, and Caleb Wilson\u2019s previously fractured thumb against VCU. Carolina dropped its final three games of the season after learning of Wilson\u2019s second, season-ending injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get tired during the game, simple as that,\u201d said Trimble, who attended the Kansas game as a fan. \u201cYou get tired, but we\u2019ve been in that position many, many times this year. So it wasn\u2019t anything at first.\u201d<\/p>\n

For his part, Davis said he did not sense that his team was fatigued late in the game. When asked about why he tightened his substitutions, the head coach simply said, \u201cBecause that was my decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davis has long been protective of his players and his tactical decisions, but that answer was curt even by his standards. It\u2019s impossible to know exactly what Davis was thinking as his season collapsed around him, and given his private nature, we may never know the true answer to that question. Whatever that answer is, the facts bear this harsh reality out: much of Thursday night\u2019s collapse can be attributed to Davis\u2019 decision-making in the second half. His overworked players clearly tired as VCU furiously chipped away at the lead, which led to ragged offensive possessions, turnovers, missed shots and free throws.<\/p>\n

Late-game execution\u00a0has long been an issue for the Tar Heels under Davis\u2019 leadership. Many UNC fans can still see Jae\u2019Lyn Withers taking an ill-advised three-pointer early in the shot clock in the 2024 Sweet 16, which gave underdog Alabama the opening it needed to spring the upset over No. 1 Carolina. The next season, the Tar Heels had golden opportunities to win games against Michigan State and Florida, both of which ended up being high seeds in the NCAA Tournament. Each game ended in a loss.<\/p>\n

In Davis\u2019 five seasons, Carolina is just 26-43 in \u201cQuad 1\u201d games, as defined by the NCAA\u2019s NET metric. That UNC is well below .500 against the best of the best in college basketball is more than enough reason for concern. And it\u2019s one of a number of reasons the calls for change have grown louder. And after Thursday\u2019s historically bad loss, in which a number of underlying issues were laid bare for the world to see, those calls will only get louder.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Featured image via Associated Press\/Brynn Anderson<\/p>\n

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