ASHEVILLE, N.C. — No. 14 North Carolina couldn't overcome a first half to forget and lost to No. 17 Texas 69-67 in the Maui Invitational championship on Wednesday.
The Tar Heels (3-1) trailed 40-28 partly because they were sloppy with the ball and had 10 turnovers to just one assist. Their backcourt players drove aimlessly to the goal without purpose or a plan. And the frontcourt players were not getting enough touches inside.
It led to one of those halftime speeches from coach Roy Williams. The kind that kept them off the floor for warmups until 1:52 remained before the second half began. The Heels clearly got the message.
Carolina focused on getting the ball inside. Out of its initial 10 shots to start the half, nine of them were inside the paint. The Heels finished outscoring the Horns 36-22 in points in the paint and it helped them rally from down by as many as 16 in the first half.
Garrison Brooks, who scored a team-high 18 points for Carolina, gave the Heels a short-lived 65-63 lead with 2:34 left. It was their first lead since 15-13 midway through the first half.
With the game tied at 67 with 25 seconds left, the Longhorns (4-0) had the ball for a final shot. Henry Coleman III was isolated on UNC's R.J. Davis. He dove right then drilled a step back jumper over Davis' hand with 0.1 seconds left to give the Longhorns the win.
