University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: DALTON WAINSCOTT
November 13, 2026 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Quick takeaways from the matchup with the Bulldogs.
By Adam Lucas
1. 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 three-pointer to make it a six-point lead that they missed. From that point, they finished 3-for-11 from the field while Georgia either scored or grabbed the offensive rebound on almost every trip.
3. Carolina's rebounding woes were a problem in the final three minutes. Georgia got a key field goal and two free throws on second-chance opportunities. The visitors had 15 second chance points on their 18 offensive boards and they won the overall rebounding battle, 52-43. The Dawgs had 13 second chance points in the second half.
4. The Heels have to figure out a way to score when the three-pointers aren't falling. They shot a school-record 38 of them on Friday. Granted, part of that is because they were trailing and needed to take some late, but a healthy portion came when the game was still in the balance. To complicate matters further, they only made nine of them. That's not to say that they were shooting effectively in other areas of the court, as they also hit only 15-for-35 from two-point range. For the game, they made 32.9 percent overall and 23.7 percent from three.
5. Really the only reliable offense was getting to the free throw line, where they were 13-for-19 but just 5-for-7 in the second half. Sayon Keita, Alex Samodurov and Jarin Stevenson combined to take one free throw.
6. Terrence Brown helped keep UNC in the game in the second half. He's shown a variety of ways he can score in his young UNC career, 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 draw contact. He finished with a team-high 21 points and drew a team-high five fouls. Unfortunately, he did not take a shot in the final 5:17.
7. Michael Malone juggled his lineup for the closing minutes and used freshman Maximo Adams in place of Stevenson. The Chapel Hill native has struggled in the first four games of the season (he was 2-for-7 and 0-for-3 against Georgia but did grab seven rebounds) but Carolina will need him if they're going to get where they want to go this year. Adams continues to be Carolina's best rebounder, as he had 11 even while shooting 1-for-8.
8. Malone is going to be frustrated with Carolina's conversions around the rim. The Heels missed several finishing opportunities.
9. The 9-0 Georgia run to close the first half capped a frustrating 20 minutes. The Tar Heels shot 9-for-36 from the field, including 5-for-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 very good care of the basketball when starting the season 3-0. But the Heels forced miscues on the first three Bulldog possessions of the game and that turned out to be some of Carolina's best method of generating offense in the first half. The Heels got seven points off eight Georgia turnovers in the first stanza and finished with 12 points on 12 Georgia turnovers, and some of those transition chances helped build a nine-point lead with 10:35 to go. However, the Heels were unable to get a turnover in the final 9:38 of the game.
11. Somewhat surprisingly, this was Carolina's first meeting with Georgia since November of 1998. You won't have to wait as long for the rematch, as the two teams are scheduled to meet in Athens in November or December of 2028.
12. The loss snapped a 21-game Smith Center win streak. The Heels have a week off until they return to the Smith Center next Friday night against Marshall, at which point they'll 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).
1. 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 three-pointer to make it a six-point lead that they missed. From that point, they finished 3-for-11 from the field while Georgia either scored or grabbed the offensive rebound on almost every trip.
3. Carolina's rebounding woes were a problem in the final three minutes. Georgia got a key field goal and two free throws on second-chance opportunities. The visitors had 15 second chance points on their 18 offensive boards and they won the overall rebounding battle, 52-43. The Dawgs had 13 second chance points in the second half.
4. The Heels have to figure out a way to score when the three-pointers aren't falling. They shot a school-record 38 of them on Friday. Granted, part of that is because they were trailing and needed to take some late, but a healthy portion came when the game was still in the balance. To complicate matters further, they only made nine of them. That's not to say that they were shooting effectively in other areas of the court, as they also hit only 15-for-35 from two-point range. For the game, they made 32.9 percent overall and 23.7 percent from three.
5. Really the only reliable offense was getting to the free throw line, where they were 13-for-19 but just 5-for-7 in the second half. Sayon Keita, Alex Samodurov and Jarin Stevenson combined to take one free throw.
6. Terrence Brown helped keep UNC in the game in the second half. He's shown a variety of ways he can score in his young UNC career, 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 draw contact. He finished with a team-high 21 points and drew a team-high five fouls. Unfortunately, he did not take a shot in the final 5:17.
7. Michael Malone juggled his lineup for the closing minutes and used freshman Maximo Adams in place of Stevenson. The Chapel Hill native has struggled in the first four games of the season (he was 2-for-7 and 0-for-3 against Georgia but did grab seven rebounds) but Carolina will need him if they're going to get where they want to go this year. Adams continues to be Carolina's best rebounder, as he had 11 even while shooting 1-for-8.
8. Malone is going to be frustrated with Carolina's conversions around the rim. The Heels missed several finishing opportunities.
9. The 9-0 Georgia run to close the first half capped a frustrating 20 minutes. The Tar Heels shot 9-for-36 from the field, including 5-for-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 very good care of the basketball when starting the season 3-0. But the Heels forced miscues on the first three Bulldog possessions of the game and that turned out to be some of Carolina's best method of generating offense in the first half. The Heels got seven points off eight Georgia turnovers in the first stanza and finished with 12 points on 12 Georgia turnovers, and some of those transition chances helped build a nine-point lead with 10:35 to go. However, the Heels were unable to get a turnover in the final 9:38 of the game.
11. Somewhat surprisingly, this was Carolina's first meeting with Georgia since November of 1998. You won't have to wait as long for the rematch, as the two teams are scheduled to meet in Athens in November or December of 2028.
12. The loss snapped a 21-game Smith Center win streak. The Heels have a week off until they return to the Smith Center next Friday night against Marshall, at which point they'll 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).
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