Photo by Todd Melet
The Tar Heels proved their margin for error is still pretty thin.
Maybe Carolina got a little fat and happy with its six-game winning streak and assuming a double-bye at the ACC tournament next week in Brooklyn. Maybe after dominating the first 10 minutes against Miami, the Heels began thinking how sweet it would be to sweep Duke.
Granted, the unranked Hurricanes played perhaps their best game of the season on the road against heavily favored and ninth-ranked UNC. They won by hitting better than 90 percent of their free throws, coming in the worst in the ACC from the foul line and drilling a Kris Jenkins-like three-pointer at the buzzer. The only long shot of the game for Ja’Quan Newton, who made only four this season was shooting 17 percent from the arc.
It was a big Senior Night for Newton, not so big for Joel Berry and Theo Pinson, although both played their tails off to rally their team from constant double-digit deficits. Berry’s clutch three-pointer sent the game into overtime, so we thought, as the last of his 31 points; Pinson had a Theo-esque double-double of 12 points and 11 assists.
But Carolina’s 13 turnovers were mostly killers, especially three straight to start the second half that were all converted into buckets by Miami and extended its lead to 14 points. Plus, the little things kept the Tar Heels from completing a dramatic comeback and not lose its third home game this season. Berry and Cam Johnson, both near-90 percent foul shooters, missed 5 of their 12 attempts. The defense tried to go out and pressure, but the Canes found open driving lanes and wide-open shots.
So, now we know that this Carolina team is very good, but not good enough to be careless with the ball and miss too many free throws and defensive assignments. Maybe on another night it would have been good enough to beat Miami, but not this time.
Roy Williams was in tears after hearing the senior speeches and addressing the media, because he has always loved this game. In 15 years at UNC, he had lost only twice on Senior Night, both times to Duke. Now the Heels must sweep the Blue Devils on their Senior Night to avoid the real possibility in the jumbled-up ACC of having to play four games in New York, not three, to bring home their first championship of 2018.
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