Wednesday night’s shocking loss to Duke left a poor taste in the mouths of UNC basketball fans, players, and coaches alike.
All that can be said now is that game is old news.
Clearly playing with a chip on their shoulder Saturday afternoon at the Smith Center, the No. 5 Tar Heels blew out the No. 11 Miami Hurricanes 96-71 in a game between the top two teams in the ACC standings.
UNC led by as many as 38 points in the second half before finally calling off the dogs, dropping Miami to 21-5 this year with a 10-4 conference mark.
UNC head coach Roy Williams gave his players Thursday off to allow them time to mentally prepare for this game. (Todd Melet)
Head coach Roy Williams gave his Tar Heels—now 22-5 with an 11-3 ACC record–the day off after the Duke game, with the expectation that the players would get themselves ready for Miami.
In another shift from how Wednesday night played out, Williams’ plan worked.
“Friday when they came in, I showed them two plays of the Duke game,” Williams said. “I said, ‘Alright that’s all we’re gonna talk about it. It’s behind us now. Our focus with the scouting report and every possession when we’re out there on the court today will be on Miami.”
“We never mentioned the Duke game again,” he continued. “We had a pregame meal today, never mentioned anything except Miami—and the kids did a great job of focusing.”
Senior forward Brice Johnson picked up his ACC-leading 16th double-double of the season with 16 points and 15 rebounds—leading a balanced effort that saw six Tar Heels reach double figures.
UNC also made nine of its 20 three-pointers, showing a shooting prowess that simply was not there against Duke—when the team went just 1-of-13 from long range.
Miami head coach Jim Larranaga said afterwards, though, he doesn’t think the result had anything to do with what happened earlier in the week.
“Teams lose from time to time,” Larranaga said about the Tar Heels. “As good as they are, and as good as this league is, you’re playing against good teams most every night.
“[UNC] shot the ball great from the perimeter, they rebounded the ball well, and they dominated us,” he added. “That hasn’t happened all year long.”
While it’s true that Miami hadn’t been beaten that badly at any point this season, it’s even more important to recognize that UNC only led by nine points at halftime.
Much of the talk surrounding the team—both since the Duke loss and after last season—has focused on its ability to close out games.
Listening to sophomore wing Theo Pinson, who scored 10 points and provided a number of hustle plays off the bench, it’s clear that the players want nothing more than to change that narrative, and used this game to do it.
Theo Pinson says this team is more mature than last year’s–with Saturday against Miami being proof. (Todd Melet)
“People were saying that last year, we’re basically the same team [this year],” Pinson said. “We’re way more mature than we were last year. Last year we might have came out flat in this game.
“This year, as you see, we came out and punched them in the mouth,” he added.
Although the Tar Heels may have done more than just punch Miami in the mouth, it’s indisputable that the effort gave the Tar Heels their first win over a ranked ACC opponent in four tries this season.
Whether they can build on it heading into tournament play remains to be seen, but Williams said his main focus on Saturday was making sure his players had their minds in the right place—the same reason he went to check on them in the weight room on their day off from practice Thursday.
“I wanted to see if anybody was around so we could talk to make sure they weren’t giving me this ‘Woe is me’ stuff,” the coach said. “Because I’ve tried to make sure I’ve never felt sorry for myself in my whole life.
“So I don’t like that to happen to my team.”
Up Next:
A pair of tough road games await the Tar Heels, as they’ll head to Raleigh on Wednesday for a rivalry matchup with NC State, before heading to face Virginia on Saturday.
Game Notes:
- Williams started Isaiah Hicks over Kennedy Meeks in the forward spot next to Brice Johnson, the first time he’s done that while Meeks has been fully healthy.
- The coach also shot down a rumor started during the CBS pregame show by analyst Doug Gottlieb stating that Williams would retire after the end of the year and hand the team to assistant Hubert Davis. He called Gottlieb’s reporting “sinful.”
- The two plays Williams went over with his team from the Duke game were the final play, and one where Duke center Marshall Plumlee rolled to the basket unimpeded for an easy rebound and putback.
- It was the eighth time in 2015-16 that the Tar Heels scored 90 points. They still have yet to hit the magic 100 mark.
- UNC freshman guard Kenny Williams is OK after taking a nasty fall where his head made hard contact with the floor. He was down for a couple minutes receiving attention from trainers, but ultimately walked off under his own power and watched the rest of the game from the bench.
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