Carolina Conquers Ohio State In Chi-Town

CHICAGO — Carolina won a must game on its non-conference schedule, but almost gave the dad-gum thing away to Ohio State for Christmas before holding on for 82-74 win Saturday at The House Jordan Built (United Center).

After their best first half of the season, leading 43-31 when it should have been a bigger spread, the Tar Heels were still up a dozen with seven minutes to play. Then two hallmarks of a legendary program that have failed the last couple of seasons returned – scary bad foul shooting and the lack of confidence to close out a game.

Over 45 seconds, Carolina missed seven of eight free throws (the usually deadly Marcus Paige three of them), but poor shooting by Ohio State or good defense by the Tar Heels (or both) kept the Big Ten Buckeyes scoreless for most of the last minute when they had cut the deficit to seven points and were in position to steal the win.

Roy Williams called it a “weird, weird game” and finished both halves mad at his team that for about 32 minutes played the kind of basketball Tar Heel fans have been hoping for since the season began.

Brice Johnson with the dunk (UNC Athletics)

They led by as many as 16 points in the first half with balanced scoring and an eight-rebound margin but let the lead slip to 12, giving up two baskets to the Buckeyes around what was supposed to be the last shot of the half.

“I was really ticked off at halftime,” Williams said. “If I want the last shot, you know what I want? The last shot. Not shoot with six seconds left and give them a layup on the other end.”

Making it worse was Carolina had two fouls to give but let the Buckeyes score at the buzzer on a pass by Shannon Scott, the son of former UNC All-American Charles Scott who is currently second in the nation in assists.

Ohio State stayed relatively close in the first half on six three-pointers, three by Marc Loving, the game’s high scorer with 19. The Buckeyes shot 50 percent from the arc but only 30 percent from closer where Carolina’s size inside bothered them and led to the rebounding mismatch.

For most of the game, the Heels handled Ohio State’s aggressive zone, staying patient and getting good looks. Brice Johnson had 18 points, making eight of his 10 shots,

Paige finished with 16, Justin Jackson with 11 and three other players had eight each. Joel James, Nate Britt and freshman Joel Berry came off the bench to contribute and, for certain segments, the Tar Heels resembled a top 10 team, outplaying the No. 12 Buckeyes, now 9-2.

Then the helter-skelter returned, free throws wouldn’t fall, panicky passes resulted in turnovers and the confidence disappeared.

“We missed some shots and made some turnovers, and those kinds of things are contagious,” said Paige, who continued to struggle from the field and be less than perfect from the foul line.

Paige did get started earlier than usual, drilling two three-pointers (one for a four-point play) in the first half but finished the game shooting 4 for 12.

The Tar Heels wore retro jerseys from Michael Jordan’s era and posed for a picture in front of Jordan’s statue after Friday’s practice. And for much of the game they looked like some of the fluid teams Jordan played on. They go home for Christmas with an 8-3 record and with home games left in 2014 against UAB and Williams & Mary, they should start ACC play in January with the 10 wins needed to position themselves for an NCAA Tournament run.

Clearly, it remains a work in progress for the frustrated Williams, but the first game of the first CBS Sports Classic doubleheader was much better than the second. Top-ranked Kentucky scored the first 24 points against UCLA and blew out the Bruins.

Carolina Conquers Ohio State In Chi-Town

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