Junior forward Luke Maye scored nine of his 11 points in the second half for UNC–after receiving five stitches in the side of his nose. (Todd Melet)

Kudos to Carolina for a great motivational ploy against Clemson.

The Tar Heels were playing well and led the Tigers by 18 points early in the second half. Then the visitors went on a shooting spree, hitting 15 of their first 16 shots after halftime and, suddenly, had cut the deficit to three.

Carolina was still hanging on during a TV timeout with 3:22 left in the game. That’s when the video boards showed a snowy scene of the Old Well and flashed up the message “Classes Canceled Tomorrow.” The students in the risers behind the home basket and all over the arena went wild, as the pre-game Jump Around song came back on.

Awesome move by Michael Beale’s marketing staff, one that had to be planned for just the right time. With a 59th consecutive home win over Clemson slipping away, it was decidedly the right time. Luke Maye, who had returned from a gruesome gash on his nose, made a field goal and dropped two free throws; Theo Pinson hit six straight from the line, finally giving up hoisting three-pointers in playing an otherwise superb game; and Kenny Williams scored his last three points after leading the team at halftime with 12.

Indeed, the Heels put away Clemson, which will have a chance for revenge in the rematch at Littlejohn in two weeks, where they most certainly won’t get any help from the video boards or home crowd down in Death Valley. With nine of the ten starters scoring in double figures, these two teams looked evenly matched and worthy of their top twenty rankings.

Turns out Cameron Johnson can shoot in a Tar Heel uniform as well as Pitt togs, matching his career-best six three-pointers he had, ironically, at the Smith Center last year while playing for the Panthers; he also finished with a Carolina-high of 21 points. He and several other regulars had gotten a tongue-lashing from Roy Williams after escaping Notre Dame with a one-point victory.

Dean Smith used to say a poorly played one-point win is the best scenario for motivating his team, and that’s what obviously happened this time. The Tar Heels certainly shot the ball well and had 23 assists, but rebounding after a season-low of 29 and 14 points in the paint will be the subjects of ol’ Roy’s next rant. Better hope classes are back on Thursday, or the Heels might be practicing all day to get ready for Georgia Tech.