North Carolina Basketball: Tar Heels Stunned at Home by Belmont Bruins

North Carolina and Belmont took the court Sunday afternoon as part of the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament. The Bruins walked out of Chapel Hill with a win, stunning the previously unbeaten Tar Heels 83-80. Once again, the Heels were without Leslie McDonald and P.J. Hairston.

Belmont led the game 41-34 at the intermission, though UNC was able to battle back. With the game tied late, Belmont's J.J. Mann hit one of his five three-pointers with 13 seconds to go, which ended up being the game-winning hoop.

Before analyzing Roy Williams' team's effort, let's take a look at UNC's opponents. With the win, Belmont is now 3-1 on the season. Its other two victories came by a combined five points over Lipscomb and Indiana State. 

Belmont did fall short against Richmond on Nov. 11, though it still has tough non-conference matchups against VCU, Kentucky and Indiana State. In fact, the Sycamores upset Notre Dame in South Bend Sunday afternoon, giving Belmont two quality wins early into the season.

The most glaring statistic for North Carolina is its free-throw shooting—or lack thereof. The Heels connected on only 22 of 48 attempts from the charity stripe, helping the Bruins hang around late instead of icing the game away at the line.

James Michael McAdoo was 11-of-19 there, while J.P. Tokoto missed 12 of his 16 attempts. Without McDonald and Hairston, Williams' continued his trend of playing a short bench. Only eight Heels' saw double-digit minutes, while McAdoo and Marcus Paige led the way playing 36 of the allotted 40 minutes.

McAdoo, Paige and Brice Johnson were the lone double-digit scorers, as the trio scored 27, 17 and 14 points, respectively. McAdoo also pulled in 13 rebounds, while Johnson nearly had a double-double with his nine-rebound effort.

Without Hairston and McDonald, UNC has utilized big lineups, despite playing a pair of point guards in Paige and Nate Britt in the starting lineup. The loss of Hairston greatly hurts its outside shooting, as UNC only attempted seven shots from behind the arc, making two.

Defensively, North Carolina only blocked one shot, though it did swipe 11 steals.

Paige did commit five of the team's 13 turnovers, while also dishing out five of the 11 assists, a poor assist-turnover ratio as a team. The Heels owned the boards and were the aggressors, drawing 12 more fouls than Belmont.

However, the Bruins proved to be the much more efficient team shooting the basketball. Though they attempted 26 less free throws, Belmont made only two less than UNC, as it shot 20-of-22 from the foul line. Belmont also hit from downtown, making 15 of 37 long-range bombs, a 41-percent mark.

Another noticeable player in Sunday's boxscore was Luke Davis. In 25 minutes of play, Davis attempted one three-point shot (which he missed) and committed one foul, but that was it.

Starting forward Joel James' four points and three rebounds in 11 minutes were also unimpressive at a glance.

North Carolina next plays Saturday, Nov. 23 against Richmond, before taking on either Louisville or Fairfield. Should North Carolina overlook the Spiders in favor of the Cardinals, it could be in for a rude awakening and a second straight defeat. Still, expect to see the Heels bounce back next weekend.