Roy Williams’ mentor had a favorite expression for this.
Dean Smith used to preach, “How you start is how you finish.” And despite exciting comebacks in the last five minutes of each half at an empty gym, with no fans howling, the Tar Heels lost a game in Raleigh for the first time in eight years.
Carolina rallied from double-figure deficits by holding N.C. State without a field goal in the final minutes of both halves. But the energy the Heels expended cost them the game, and basically how they finished was how they started with a third loss for the No. 17 team in the country.
The pattern of falling behind early continued, thanks to poor shooting and worse defense. Plus, UNC had seven turnovers in the first 10 minutes before ending up with 18 — off which State scored 19 points.
At the under-8:00 timeout, Williams called for a double-teaming and trapping defense that cooled off the 5-1 Wolfpack, and the bench sparked the comeback.
Freshman center Walker Kessler typified the effort. Without taking a shot, Kessler dove on the floor for the ball, saved another possession at the baseline, grabbed four rebounds, blocked two shots and committed no fouls to help turn the game around.
Fellow reserve Andrew Platek took two charges and made a big 3-pointer, as Carolina went from 17 behind to a workable 7 at the break.
The second half was almost a carbon copy. The Heels had several chances to tie the game or take the lead, but they missed three hurried shots right around the rim and State made enough free throws to hang on for the 79-76 win.
“We’ve been hammering them pretty good in recent years and they were probably tired of that,” said Williams, whose record at PNC Arena against the Pack fell to 15-3. “Sure, the young guys didn’t shoot the ball well (freshman guards Caleb Love and R.J. Davis went 8-for-28), but Garrison (Brooks) was also 5-14.”
Carolina shot 44 percent overall but went 2-for-12 from the 3-point line, making both in the first half.
During certain stretches of the game, the now 5-3 Tar Heels played fabulous basketball on both ends of the court and dominated the paint, looking very much like the team they want to become.
But, this night, they couldn’t finish what they started.
