Once it finally came, Rick Pitino’s first victory over UNC would be memorable simply because it was the Tar Heels. He didn’t know that the nature of the win itself would make it sweeter than Louisville whiskey.
The Cardinals, trailing 43-25 with 17:53 remaining, rallied to beat the Tar Heels 78-68 in overtime at the KFC Yum! Center on Saturday, ending UNC’s 6-game winning streak. Montrezl Harrell keyed the comeback with 22 points, including 14 in the second half, and 15 rebounds. Marcus Paige led UNC with 15 points, but he went scoreless in the final 13 minutes.
UNC coughed up the lead by going without a field goal in the final 7:31 of regulation. Paige was injured midway through the second half. Following the game, Roy Williams said Paige sprained his ankle, an eerie conicidence. Paige also sprained his ankle against the Cardinals in the first meeting between the two teams on Jan. 10.
There’s no word on the severity of Paige’s injury.
The Yum Center was left quiet after UNC bolted to an 18-point lead, but Harrell sent the crowd roaring with consecutive dunks, the latter of which off an ally-oop feed from Chris Jones will dominate the weekend highlight reels.
As was the case against Syracuse on Monday, turnovers plagued the Tar Heels in the 2nd half. The Cardinals mounted a comeback by forcing eight turnovers in a six-minute stretch. UNC had only four turnovers in the first half.
With Paige hobbled, the Cardinals had a chance to win the game in the final minutes of regulation, but poor shooting and execution led to overtime. Both tams went scoreless in the final 3:13 of regulation. UNC went without a field goal in the final 7:31.
In overtime, Terry Rozier took over, scoring the Cardinals first six points. His layup with 4:17 remaining in OT gave the Cardinals its first lead since it was 10-7 with 15:15 remaining in the first half.
UNC built a 36-25 halftime lead on the strength of stellar defense and strong offensive rebounding. Louisville was 7-of-27 from the field in the first half, going without a field goal for 9:07 at one stretch. UNC outrebounded Louisville 27-16 in the opening 20 minutes, and rebounded 11 of its 18 misses from the field.
More promising for UNC was the Tar Heels’ balance. Joel James and Nate Britt combined for 14 first-half points, the same as Paige, Kennedy Meeks, Brice Johnson and J.P. Tokoto combined.
The dominance continued in the seocnd half, where UNC opened on a 7-0 run that started with a Paige 3-pointer and layups by Meeks and Tokoto. By the time Louisville’s Chris Jones ended the drought with a 3-pointer with 17:25 remaining, Pitino had already used two time outs.
UNC also committed 33 fouls, the most under Roy Williams and tied for 4th most in school history. Brice Johnson (who finished with two points), Isaiah Hicks (3 points) and Nate Britt all fouled out.
Things won’t get easier for the Tar Heels. They face Virginia on Monday night at the Smith Center at 7:00. Coverage on WCHL will begin with the UNC Healthcare Countdown to Tipoff, presented by Stanley Martin Homes, at 5:30 p.m.
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