In the midst of a brutal ACC schedule, the Tar Heels got the ball to bounce their way on a wild afternoon in the Smith Center. Down 13 points to No. 5 Louisville in the second half, things looked bleak, but UNC head coach Roy Williams says he never doubted his team would rally.
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It was only the third ACC game of the season for UNC, but it felt like a must-win situation for the Tar Heels, who could ill-afford to drop a second straight contest at home.
Theo Pinson plays defense vs. Louisville (Todd Melet)
Carolina, now 12-4 overall and 2-1 in the ACC, came out of halftime sluggish and fell behind in a hurry to Rick Pitino’s talented bunch of Cardinals. And with Marcus Paige forced to retreat into the locker room after an ankle injury, things certainly didn’t look good.
But Coach Williams, for one, always knew his team would have a chance in the end.
“We turned it over at least four or five times in the first five minutes of the second half. It didn’t look good at that time. I told the guys I was always confident we were going to come back, you just don’t know if it’s going to be enough. But I was always confident we’d have a chance to win at the end, and we made some baskets,” Coach Williams says.
But above all, the cleaner version of the Tar Heels showed up when it mattered most, taking care of the ball and cutting out the turnovers that had led to the Louisville scoring run.
“You just feel very fortunate. After my first timeout early in the second half, I think we had one turnover the rest of the way. I think that’s crucial,” Coach Williams says.
Kennedy Meeks hots the floor for a loose ball (Todd Melet)
Coach Williams, as always, says he’s proud of the ‘tough little sucker’ Paige, who re-entered the game after getting his ankle taped up and ultimately, made the gutsy game-winning shot for the Tar Heels.
A rousing win over Louisville could do a lot for UNC’s confidence, in particular, the freshmen. But Coach Williams says he’s never sensed any lack of belief in his players.
“Does it give you confidence? I think it does. I don’t think my team has not been confident. We went really small there for a while with three point guards. We were just trying to see something that would work,” Coach Williams says. “Defensively, their penetration and guards were really bothering us. I thought for the most part the big guys did okay guarding the screen on the ball. We went small and it worked. That should give those guys a little more confidence too.”
But the fickle nature of basketball is not lost on Coach Williams. The difference between jubilation and devastation is tiny.
After all, the Cardinals had two good looks at the basket in the waning seconds. But as fate would have it, neither found its mark.
“It would have been a killer if their shot had gone in, there’s no question about that. It would have broken our hearts. You always have a chance to bounce back, too. It was a great, great afternoon for about four seconds there at the end. But I can take that because those four seconds linger a lot longer,” Coach Williams says.
Tar Heel pregame intros (Todd Melet)
There’s a fine line between winning and losing, especially in a loaded ACC. Like a broken record, every coach has praised the depth of the league and explained how on any given night, anybody can beat anybody.
And with previously unbeaten and second-ranked Duke going down at N.C. State Sunday afternoon to a wild, celebratory court storming at PNC Arena, perhaps the coach’s mantra is true.
If nothing else, Sunday’s upset victory for the Wolfpack should perk the Tar Heels’ interest for Wednesday’s trip to Raleigh.
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