"Needless to say, we played a heck of a lot better than we did Wednesday night," Coach Roy Williams opened with in his post-game news conference. "We invested a lot more in the last couple of days. Mentally, we were more in the game."
After a couple of sub-par performances versus Florida and Iowa, Johnson took matters into his own hands against ECU (4-5, 0-0 AAC), attacking the glass for boards, diving on the floor for loose balls, and throwing down "Jam"-burgers left and right. His energy permeated throughout the roster and, on-the-court, the Heels beat down the Pirates in every aspect of the game. But, the honey hole for the Heels Sunday afternoon was feeding the ball downlow. Carolina scored a massive 72 points in the paint, converting on 36 of its 49 shots in the lane. Johnson and the Heels were much more aggressive, dominating the backboards 51-30 over the Pirates. By halftime, Johnson had already posted a double-double of 13 points and 11 boards (first time a Heel has done that in a half since John Henson did it versus Elon on Dec. 29, 2011).
Johnson spoke, after the game, about what Coach Williams had been asking him to do. "Before shoot around he told me I needed to find my brain, so apparently I found it. I told him I found it in a corner somewhere, dusty," Johnson said. "I mean its been hiding from me. He's been telling me to keep going, play a little bit harder, stay a little more attentive to detail, just go out there and play the way that he knows I can play."
It's amazing what a team can do with brains!
The rest of Carolina fed off Brice's passion and attacked the opposition in an explosive manner which really weighed heavy on the Pirates, forcing them to heave up quick and awkward outside shots. The Pirates missed all 11 of its 3-point attempts in the first half and finished a measly 4 of 25 from downtown. Carolina would turn those missed shots into fast breaks and transition buckets with quite of few of those finishes being of the spectacular variety.
Tokoto has swiftly become the Carolina player that just knows how to get it done in all aspects of the game. His passing has been remarkable so far this season as he has totaled 38 assists already (4.3/game). "Toke" has led the Heels in assists six of its first eight games. Also, after last year's dismal percentage from the free-throw line, Tokoto has started to turn things around. Against the Pirates, Tokoto was 5-5 from the line which makes him 17-20 from the charity stripe the last four games. This star is on the rise and the sky is the limit for J.P.
I mentioned that the Carolina bench would need to rise to the occasion if the Heels were going to outperform the Pirates on Sunday. Looks like the team must be reading Clary's Carolina Corner! Because, step up and perform is what they did. The Heels' bench produced 44 points on 14-19 shooting, paced by Nate Britt's 10 points along with both Isaiah Hicks and Joel Berry II scoring eight apiece. When Carolina was down early in the first half, the Heels went to Hicks for a 7-point flurry that put them up 16-10 and led to the avalanche of points to follow. Britt's jumpshot has been right on the mark (remember he switched from a left-handed jumpshot to a right-handed one in the offseason) and Berry exhibited a nice touch, as well, along with a smooth driving ability to take it to the hole.
Carolina's superstar Marcus Paige really didn't need to score in this one, as the Heels were flexing its muscle in the paint all day long. However, he used his minutes to hand out a season-high six assists and also get into the action by driving to the basket for a couple of hoops. Carolina only shot 1-7 from the 3 point line in this game, with the lone three-pointer being made by freshman Theo Pinson. That broke Paige's streak of 20 games straight with at least one made 3-pointer.
The Pirates were just simply overwhelmed Sunday. Junior Florida State-transfer Terry Whisnant led ECU with 15 points. B.J. Tyson netted 13 points and Caleb White added 11. As I mentioned in my earlier blog, Tyson shoots extremely well from the foul line, as he did on Sunday (9-10). However, the rest of the Pirates only shot nine free throws and the Pirates were outscored at the foul line 17-13 by the Heels.
Carolina welcomed home a former Tar Heel great and now-ECU coach, Jeff Lebo. He received a rousing ovation during pre-game introductions but there was nothing to clap about for the Pirates on-the-court. In post-game comments, Lebo told it like it was. "Just their size and athleticism inside took its toll on us. Their class inside was off the chain."
"Off the chain" is such a cool phrase to use, wonder if Coach Williams could ever get by with using that. If so, it would probably go something like this, "Doggone it! That was so dadgum off the chain!"
Either way, Lebo's analysis of the Heels' post play descriptively summarized how overpowering it was on Sunday afternoon. Post play smothered the Pirates into submission and by the time Carolina had rolled off 60 points in the 2nd half (highest since game versus UAB in 2012) and the buzzer sounded, ECU was done in the water. Another impressive bounce back win after a defeat for the Heels. Now, Carolina must prove itself against a mighty group of non-conference giants in Kentucky and Ohio State. But, behind the confidence of a blow-out victory and a heaping of enthusiastic, aggressive play, Carolina can push onward with the overall confidence it needs to compete at the highest of levels against the nation's best.
East Carolina vs North Carolina Official Box Score
Next Game: #12 North Carolina (6-2, 0-0 ACC) vs #1 Kentucky Wildcats (9-0, 0-0 SEC)
Date/Time: Saturday, December 13, 2014 @ 12:00pm EST
Location: Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY
TV/Radio: CBS / Tar Heel Sports Network
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