Well, my prediction of an easy win by the Tar Heels was way off, but one thing is to be said: if you are going to have the lead only once in the game make sure you have it with 0:00.1 seconds to go. Cause that is exactly what happened in the game between #1 North Carolina and #9 Miami, with the final score being 61 to 59 and the Heels getting that lead with less than 1 tick left on the clock. I guess if I was a Hurricanes’ blog I would have to say that the saying “what goes around comes around” would be very fitting in this game. For the other 39 minutes and 59 seconds, it had been Miami going strong and Carolina turning it over (the Heels had 15 in the first half of the game and 20 overall). It was so bad that early in the first half head coach Roy Williams put in his blue team to replace the starters.
Yes, we can not deny that the first 32 minutes of this game was pretty bad (not to use a word like horrible), with Miami having the lead, for the most part being double digits, and making it look like they would be the team advancing. The one bright note for the Heels at the beginning of the game was Harrison Barnes that scored most of the points in the first 10 minutes of the game. But then, all of a sudden, the team that had been shooting threes all day long began to fall prey to UNC’s perimeter shooters and while the Heels had committed over 15 turnovers to that point began receiving gifts themselves from the `Canes. And the 15 point defecit went down quick with three trifectas by Leslie McDonald and Kendall Marshall (2), which by the way were the first points in the game for the floor general.
From there it just felt different and Miami knew it as well. Seven more points, with a three pointer by Harrison Barnes (18 pts and 5 rebs) and two buckets by Tyler Zeller (13 pts and 9 rebounds) inside and the lead had dwiddled down to one. After a made and missed free throw by Malcolm Grant (who is the best shooter from the charity stripe for the `Canes) it was Marshall driving the lane and dishing it off to Zeller, who with about 0.2 seconds left laid the ball of the glass and into the basket for North Carolina’s 25th win of the season.
By no means was this pretty, but it did prove one thing to me, this team isn’t going to fold against anyone or against anything. This we could never have said a year ago! It also proved to me that this squad needs to work on taking on the zone, because I have a feeling that many teams will try what Miami did today if they have to face the sixth team in the nation. Now, the Heels will wait for the winner of the BC/Clemson game.
Original Story:
http://www.the5thcorner.com/close-cal...
