North Carolina continued its run in Hawaii on Tuesday night with a matchup against No. 4 seed Auburn in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational presented by Novavax.

And a day after the Tar Heels came back from a 21-point deficit to Dayton, they found themselves behind again. But this time they couldn’t come back and lost to the Tigers 85-72.

Auburn jumped out to a big lead early, while North Carolina fought back to less than 10 points at halftime. However, in the second half, Auburn came back out and increased the lead again, consistently holding it between 12 and 15. The Tar Heels really couldn’t get much closer than nine points in the second half as the Tigers went full throttle in the impressive win.

Here are things we can take from this loss and apply against Michigan State.

Ball security

Yesterday, against Dayton, North Carolina turned the ball over 12 times in the first half, which contributed to the deficit they faced. They again had double-digit turnovers in this game, some of them at crucial times when the team needed a big play.

They also allowed Auburn to score 15 points off their turnovers.

Free throw shooting

I never thought this would be a downfall for North Carolina. They are considered one of the most renowned free throw shooting teams in the country.

The Tar Heels shot 12 of 19 in this game, just 63%. Key players like Elliot Cadeau, Jalen Washington and Seth Trimble missed several key free throws that marred crucial moments.

Struggles in the first half

Last night on Inside Carolina, RJ Davis said this about the first half of UNC’s games this season.

“Obviously we lost a lot in the first half. That wasn’t the first half we like to play. Me and Seth just told them: We have to stop shooting ourselves in the foot. “We always put ourselves in that position” and we had to find our way back into games.

Well, it happened again. The first half was BRUTAL for the Tar Heels against great teams this season. Unless that changes, North Carolina will have to fight its way out of trouble every game.

Rebounding

North Carolina has a lot of trouble against teams whose best player is a forward or a center. The game against Auburn’s Johni Broom would be a tough battle for the team. However, they had no answer to the question of whether it was a 1.80 meter tall senior.

Broome finished the game with 23 points and 19 rebounds, shooting 9 of 18 from the field and 2 of 4 from behind the arc. Additionally, North Carolina as a team was outrebounded by Auburn 42-36

Powell Power

Drake Powell is quickly becoming one of the most important key pieces for Hubert Davis and the Tar Heels. He came into the game last night shooting perfectly from the floor with six points and four rebounds. Equally important, however, are his non-statistical contributions.

Tonight I didn’t feel like the team got the same energy from the freshman. As one of those rotating bigs, Powell’s success could be directly related to North Carolina’s success in the near future.

This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: Immediate reactions to North Carolina’s loss to Auburn