If this was the swan song for Sidney as the head coach of the Wolfpack he sure made it pretty interesting. In the end, thanks to yet again another end of the game run by freshman Harrison Barnes, it was North Carolina taking this one by a dozen, with the final score being 75 to 63. While the score seems a bit close for two teams headed in the opposite direction, N.C. State 15 and 13 overall but with a losing record in the ACC (5-9) and Carolina being 21 and 6 in second place in the conference with a 11-2 record, this game was close up to the last 90 seconds.
And it might not have been a victory at all if in the first half Dexter Strickland and Leslie McDonald do not step it up for head coach Roy Williams with a combined 14 points as the bigs (Tyler Zeller, John Henson and Justin Knox) were double teamed for the first 20 minutes and Zeller was sitting for a while with three fouls in the first part of the game. Barnes was struggling as well, starting the game off with six misses in a row, while no one was really working as hard as they could have been while playing D. But just to show you how bad the Wolfies are, all of this mounted to the Heels having a two point lead on the road. I know this is getting old, but this type of game last season would have meant being down by 10+, so I see a lot of maturing and improving on this squad.
The second twenty minutes of play went somewhat better for most, if not all, the Heels, but still it was a game until the last minutes when Harrison Barnes took two offensive rebounds and made them into dunks and then buried a shot from beyond the arc as coach Lowe was T’ed up for arguing a call with the refs. There is also good and bad news for those of us that are always thinking ahead. With each game Henson seems to be looking somewhat better and better, but that also means that with each game he might be drawing closer and closer to heading to the next level. On the night the sophomore big man took down 15 boards and blocked six shots. I have to believe that with another 20 pounds on his body and he could definitely be a monster next season!
After a not-so great game it was nice to see Kendall Marshall bounce back in this one, as he ended up with 14 points to go along with 5 assists (good news) and 5 TOs (bad news). With the exception of Justin Watts all the Heels played at least a dozen minutes, with Strickland (34), Henson and Marshall (each 33) leading the way. Both Zeller 11 points and 9 rebounds and Barnes 16 and 8 came close to a double double. The good news in this is that the Wolf Pack tried to double the bigs and was very physical with the three, but was still outrebounded 52 to 37.
Other good news is that the team shot 77.8% from the free throws, something that has to be done if you want to be playing late into the post season. Even the 31.6% (5 for 16) from beyond the arc isn’t so bad. I might be saying that cause this was a win, or I might be saying it because it is a reality, we all can choose to believe which version is the one I pick!
Now, with Duke losing last night to Virginia Tech, the Heels still have a shot at winning the Atlantic Coast Conference and being the top team in conference’s post season tourney. This means that a win tonight at the Dean Dome by coach Williams’ team would put them to 12 and 2 and in a tie with our arch rivals from eight miles away. In order to do that North Carolina will have to beat a Maryland team that has definitely not been on top of their game this season. Of course, like most rules there is an exception, and on the Terps’ squad that person would be Jordan Williams, who has had a great year and is leading his team in both scoring and rebounding.
While Williams is someone that needs to be watched and watched well, he is not a guard, which seems to always be the type of player that lights up UNC for big time games. I highly doubt that Williams is going to be the scoring machine against the Heels, especially when he has to contend with the likes of Henson and Zeller on defense and has been getting way too many fouls of late. So, while I do see the Terp being able to get yet again another double double I do not see him being that huge threat that he has been against other ACC squads. Of course all of this is null and void if the big men do not work well at keeping the Terps off the boards.
But to me the key in this game is going to be whether or not the Tar Heels can keep having a decent, if not nice, game from outside, to help the bigs finding more spaces and less double teams. I like to see Marshall have a turnover free game while Strickland and McDonald keep their shooting as they did during their last game. And most of all I like to see Barnes get going from the start of the game. A dagger at the beginning of the game means more time off and not less.
If you asked the Vegas insiders they would tell you that while UNC is playing in the friendly confine of the Dean Dome it’s still going to be a hard game overall, with the Heels only being a six point favorite in this one. I believe that number to be a bit off, thinking that Carolina will easily be a 10+ point winner against Maryland, using their bigs to power themselves atop of the ACC and looking great for the final week of the regular season.
In the end I am thinking I was pretty right about this season when I said “fasten your seat belt it should be a heck of a ride!” Yes, the Tar Heels have a couple of more losses than we all expected, especially from the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, but on the other hand those might have been what has made this group more compact and more “wanting to win”, and that could be a great thing this time of the year!
Original Story:
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