Chansky's Notebook: One For The Tums

Photo via Todd Melet

Somehow, Carolina won the losable game at Clemson.

There were scoring droughts and drama, a football pass and a three-pointer that were straight out of yesteryear. And a victory snatched from the jaws of defeat against a team that was hungrier than Carolina was confident. All those who watched must have muttered, “What a game.”

Roy Williams has had these vertigo episodes before, including one that kept him out of the second half at Boston College, where the Tar Heels will try complete their undefeated ACC regular season on the road Tuesday night. But this was the scariest of them all for a couple of reasons.

The game stopped only after Clemson coach Brad Brownell yelled at the officials while pointing toward the UNC bench. Carolina fans may have first thought vertigo, but my heart pounded when Williams was helped up from the floor looking a lot worse than just a dizzy spell. “Oh, no,” I said.

Gladly, which is a relative term, it was only vertigo again, but Ol’ Roy was woozy and wobbly when guided off the court. You knew he wasn’t coming back in the second half and somehow the Heels would have to survive a crowd far more vocal than the one at BC in order to keep pace with Virginia for first place in the ACC.

The Tigers fans, though, showed their class with a loud ovation for Williams, who managed a wave of acknowledgement, which in itself looked like a struggle. So the game was in the hands of Steve Robinson from that point on. And it was a game that seemed eminently losable for Carolina, which had less at stake than the post-season Clemson was trying to secure.

Long stretches of bad basketball by both teams alternated with great runs. If you watched at a bar, you were ordering another round midway through the second half, especially when the Tar Heels had the lead under control one minute and then were squandering it away the next.

Coby White was finally contained by Clemson and the day was saved by a long “down-and-out” football pass from Luke Maye, imitating his All-ACCdad 30 years ago, to Kenny Williams, who made such a circus catch that he traveled while gathering the ball – uncalled, thankfully – and a clutch 3-pointer by Cam Johnson running off a screen at the top of the key.

The kid with the quickest square-up and release in college ball made one akin to the monster trey Rick Fox hit in the 1990 NCAA tournament against No. 1 Oklahoma before laying up the buzzer-beater in Austin.

There was so much more to this game, but I’m out of time and breath. And I’m finally off the Tums.