The top-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels fell to Northern Iowa in a Saturday road game
The North Carolina Tar Heels traveled to the McLeod Center on Saturday afternoon to take on the Northern Iowa Panthers. This game was largely scheduled for Tar Heels star point guard Marcus Paige to play in front of his home-state crowd. However, with Paige out of action, the Tar Heels were hoping to go on the road and pick up their fourth-straight non-conference win. Northern Iowa had other plans.
The Tar Heels jumped out to a lead in the first half, looking like the far superior team with the UNC big man leading the way on the interior. However, things changed in the second half as Northern Iowa stayed hungry and continued to get after the Heels on both ends of the floor. Moreover, no member of the No.1 Tar Heels seemed even remotely engaged other than sophomore Justin Jackson.
In the final minute of play, with the Panthers up by three points, the Tar Heels had the chance to tie things up with a good look from the perimeter from Joel Berry. However, that attempt clanked out, but North Carolina got the offensive rebound and kicked it back out to the perimeter to Berry. Berry then saw Justin Jackson in the far corner and tried to hit him with a skip-pass, but the Panthers intercepted it for the steal and got fouled. After hitting one free throw, the lead was at four and the game was iced with Northern Iowa pulling off the massive upset:
The top-ranked Tar Heels—though they wont’ be No.1 for much longer, now—severely missed Paige in this game and the talented Northern Iowa guards like Wes Washpun and Matt Bohannon took advantage of the UNC guard’s absence. Numerous Panthers made plays and hit big shots while it felt like Justin Jackson vs. The World for the Heels. It was the perfect mix of a great Northern Iowa performance and subpar North Carolina showing.
The Tar Heels will now look to recover from this loss as they’ll play the 3-0 Northwestern Wildcats in Kansas City, MO on Monday night. Meanwhile, the Panthers will hope to ride this momentum as they will be at home again on Wednesday to take on the Dubuque Spartans.