Cyclones Upset Tar Heels in the Phil Knight Invitational

PORTLAND, OR – The top-ranked Tar Heels of North Carolina received an early-season wake-up call.

“When that situation, being up by seven with three minutes to go, you have to be sound on both ends on the floor,” Davis reflected on the Heels’ loss. He added, “For Iowa State to be able to come back to make plays and they did.”

Davis reflected on the Heels’ late-game collapse, “We turned the ball over a couple of times and you can’t do that in late-Game situations. You have to be sound and disciplined and you have to do it on both ends of the floor and we didn’t do it tonight.”

In the Semifinal Round of the Phil Knight Invitational, the Heels lost a 70-65 decision to the unranked Iowa State Cyclones, in front of 12,000 people at the Portland Memorial Coliseum, which once hosted the Trail Blazers from 1970-95.

Taylor Grill, a Senior Guard for the Cyclones led the way with 31 points, as he made some late jumpers to bury the Heels. Heels coach Hubert Davis commented, “Caleb Grill’s threes. He was hot that entire game, but he’s someone percentage-wise is shooting the ball well coming into the game, but it doesn’t really matter and he made some big shots.”

The Cyclones opened the game with a three-pointer from Grill at 19:46 in the 1st Half. Then, the Heels responded with a Caleb Love jumper assisted by Pete Nance, to get the Heels within one. The Cyclones responded when Senior Forward Robert Jones made a jumper with 18:04 remaining, only to see the Heels respond with a RJ Davis three-pointer.

The Heels led at the Half, 34-32.

During the second half, the Heels had a strong start, thanks to a free throw and a jumper from Caleb Love and a pair of free throws from Leaky Black. The Heels took a 39-34 lead, with 16:58 remaining.

The rest of the game was competitive as UNC’s Puff Johnson made two free throws and Jaren Holmes dunking. The Heels had their biggest lead at the Half, leading 57-49, with 5:48 remaining. However, the Cyclones wouldn’t be denied as Caleb Grill and Jaren Holmes made free throws to put the Heels away for a 70-65 victory.

The leading scorers for the Heels were RJ Davis with 15 points, Armando Bacot with 13 points and Caleb Love with 12.

The Heels will commence their visit at the Phil Knight Invitational on Sunday afternoon, as they face the 18th-ranked Crimson Tide of Alabama in the 3rd Place Game at the Phil Knight Invitational at 12:30 PM.