Carolina used a 15-4 run at the end of the first half to break open Saturday’s game against Miami at the Smith Center and cruise past the Hurricanes, 92-73. UNC has now won five straight games, its longest streak of the season.

The run came after head coach Hubert Davis called a rare early timeout with 7:15 remaining in the first half. The Hurricanes – mired in last place in the ACC and with only six wins to their name all season – had cut a 10-point UNC lead down to four points at 31-27. A fiery Davis chastised his team in the huddle, so much so that the head coach had to dry his face off with a towel.

“A lot of yelling,” Seth Trimble said of Davis’ demeanor the huddle. “Pretty much telling us to wake up… we needed it.”

“I just didn’t think the discipline and details, things that we talk about that have to be there consistently, was happening in that stretch,” Davis said. “And I wanted to take a timeout to communicate that to them.”

UNC ratcheted up its defensive intensity following the stoppage, limiting the Hurricanes to 2-11 shooting in the final minutes of the first half. After the Tar Heels’ surge increased the lead to 46-31 at halftime, Miami never got closer than 14 points in the second half. UNC led by as many as 21 points.

“We’re all playing together,” said R.J. Davis, who finished with 13 points. “We’re buying in. I think that’s what winning basketball is all about.”

Ven-Allen Lubin led the Tar Heels with a season-high 19 points and tied a career high with nine made field goals. The UNC big man finished 9-10 from the field to pace an efficient offensive attack: Carolina shot 33-56 (58.9 percent) from the floor and reached the 90-point mark for the third time in the last four games.

Jae’Lyn Withers continued a late-season resurgence by posting a double-double: 11 points and 10 rebounds. It was Withers’ third double-double of the season and the second in his last three games. Six Tar Heels scored in double figures: Lubin, Withers, Davis, Ian Jackson (11), Drake Powell (16) and Seth Trimble (10). Matthew Cleveland scored 25 points for Miami.

Saturday’s win improves UNC to 19-11 overall and 12-6 in ACC play this season. The Tar Heels will be back in action when they visit Virginia Tech Tuesday night in Blacksburg at 7 p.m.

 

Featured image via Todd Melet. For a full photo gallery of the game, click here.

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