Dean Smith used to say he’ll be happy with a one-point win.

The legendary UNC basketball coach struggled spiritually between playing well according to his teachings, regardless of outcome, and winning no matter how poorly you play. Since his job was to win and he was so competitive, he chose the latter.

If he was watching the Tar Heels’ touch-and-go victory over Stanford, he would have forgiven the freshman mistakes and 13 turnovers in the second half and loved that a selfless role player and defensive ace like Leaky Black scored the last three points and has now totaled 17 rebounds in his last two games.

Carolina was lucky to be trailing at the half by just four points after Caleb Love kept shooting and missed 9 of his 11 attempts, including 0-3 from the arc. Aside from the talented freshman scoring point guard, the rest of the team went 11 for 19 and 1-3 from downtown.

Whatever words of wisdom Roy Williams had at halftime, Love came out and hit two 3-pointers and a driving layup to put the Heels ahead. The rest of the way, it was Smith’s conflict between committing 24 total turnovers off which Stanford scored 22 points and missing nine free throws, but grabbing 15 offensive rebounds for 18 second-chance points.

And how about Leaky’s last two possessions, scoring on a hard drive from the left side and, after getting fouled on a rebound at the other end, sinking the free throw that gave Carolina a four-point winning margin of 67-63. Smith had 36 years of counting on players like Black, who suffered from injuries and inconsistencies but came on as upperclassmen to demonstrate why they deserved to be on the court at go time.

“Leaky was sensational,” Williams gushed.

The Asheville/Maui Classic is a perfect tournament for the young Heels, with opponents getting tougher each day. Today, it is 17th-ranked Texas, which has an 8-3 record against Carolina.

Smith’s recipe for a third straight victory is playing well enough to beat the tall, tough and talented Longhorns for Roy’s fourth Maui title at Carolina, after which his 2005, 2009 and 2017 teams each won the national championship.

 

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