Notre Dame (15-1, 3-0 ACC) lit up the Heels from the outside, splashing 10 3's and causing UNC Coach Roy Williams to change his defensive philosophy midway through the second half. Behind its outside shooting and free throw line touch, Notre Dame built a 55-44 advantage in the second half and it seemed as if the Irish could do no wrong. But, Carolina (11-4, 1-1 ACC) went small (with Kennedy Meeks saddled with four fouls and Brice Johnson getting torched by the savvy shooting of Connaughton) and that change turned the game around. Theo Pinson ignited the Heels offense scoring seven points and grabbing eight rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench, serving as the main source of energy and excitement during the second half that helped propel the Heels into the lead at 70-69. Theo rallied the Heels by first hitting a wide-open three, then hawking the Irish on defense and causing their star Grant to turn the ball over. It didn't stop there as freshman Theo was all over the court battling hard. When J.P. Tokoto's shot glanced off the rim during this period of action, the crowd and the team seemed like it needed a severe shot in the arm. That's when Theo flew in with a spectacular follow jam over, seemingly, the whole Notre Dame roster.
Theo's highlight reel jam got the crowd on its feet and the tide was turning in the Heels' favor. Carolina continued to cut the deficit and by the time Paige drained one of his two three pointers Carolina was within a score trailing 69-66. Both teams would then go cold from the floor, as neither team could find the basket. Carolina was able to get to the free throw line and eventually take the lead, 70-69, behind two free throws from Meeks. With UNC now on top, it seemed like the hard part was accomplished...Carolina had fought back, taken the lead, and, assuringly, would seal the deal in the Dean Dome.
But, Notre Dame had other ideas. All night, Carolina dominated the backboards, completely manhandling the Irish on the boards (43-26 Heels advantage) and held a 21-8 points off offensive rebounds advantage. However, it would be an Irish offensive rebound that would snatch the victory from UNC. Auguste pulled down the most important rebound of the game with 1:07 left in the game and was able to sneak a reverse layup basket among the Carolina trees downlow to give Notre Dame a 71-70 lead that would never be relinquished.
"They didn't make any mistakes early, and it seemed like to me almost every shot went in," stated Coach Williams. "It was just an uphill battle. We kept fighting, kept fighting. It's amazing with the offensive rebounds, we got 21 and they got six, yet the biggest play of the game was their offensive rebound and put-back."
Notre Dame, the best field goal shooting team in the country coming into the game at 55.3%, had missed its previous eight shots from the floor before Auguste's superb offensive put-back. After all that work inside for Carolina, a domineering performance throughout the game, it would be that one Irish board that finished off Carolina in its ACC home opener.
Carolina would get multiple opportunities to win the game, though. Paige's driving layup with under a minute to go would not drop and the Heels were forced to foul Notre Dame's Steve Vasturia. Vasturia promptly missed those two free throws setting up the crazy finish in the last four seconds. Carolina used two timeouts to get the ball to halfcourt with 1.6 seconds left and Notre Dame knew who the ball would be going to next. Tokoto inbounded the ball to Paige who was curling left around the 3-point arc. By the time Paige received the pass, two tall defenders were surrounding Paige forcing the junior from Marion, Iowa to throw up an off-balanced three point shot that sailed over the rim and gave Notre Dame its biggest win of the season.
"The hoop had a lid on it at the end," remarked Paige after the game. "I missed a right-handed layup, two left-handed layups...You have to make some of those and those didn't go in." Paige continued to describe the frustration by saying, "It's tough when you're clawing back and it's a one possession game, every stop is so hard to get that you have to convert a couple of those when you do get a stop and we couldn't get a basket to go in. That was the toughest thing is that we were getting the stops against (Notre Dame), which is really hard to do, we just couldn't get that basket and get over the hump."
The game was there for the taking, but Carolina could never gain a firm grasp due to not being able to put the ball in the basket. Yes, the Heels dictated the glass as expected, but it was Notre Dame making six more three-pointers than Carolina that was the telling reason for an Irish victory Monday night. UNC shot way below its season field-goal percentage and Paige, once again, could not find his shooting touch late. Even though the Preseason ACC Player of the Year had a tremendous first half with 10 points, he still finished 6-17 from the field and 2-8 from three. Carolina desperately needs someone to step up and make the big shot in close games such as this one. Justin Jackson was quiet all game and finished with just six points. Everyone knows there are more barn-burners to come during ACC play. If the Heels can get Paige going at his maximum output or have another shooter step up consistently, that would be a defining moment in its season.
Right now, this season, the Heels are still searching for a deadly weapon to surface in late-game situations. Only time will tell if the Heels can find that magic touch. With the loss to Notre Dame, it somewhat feels as if the road win over Clemson is nullified. So, Saturday's home game versus #5 Louisville looms large as a big, defining game for the Heels that would keep Carolina from dropping to 1-2 to start ACC play and also give the Heels a victory over a Top 5 team. It is early in the conference season, but when the Cardinals come to town Saturday, I expect the Heels to be ready to go as this game could go a long way in shaping Carolina's season.
Next Game: #18 North Carolina (11-4, 1-1 ACC)
vs
#5 Louisville Cardinals (13-1, 1-0 ACC)
Date/Time: Saturday, January 10, 2015 @ 2:00pm EST
Location: Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, NC
TV/Radio: ESPN or ESPN3 / Tar Heel Sports Network
No comments:
Post a Comment