It was a tale of two halves for Johnson as he dumped in 15 of his 17 in the second half and grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds. That was Johnson's fourth double-double in six games and he was perfect from the field, shooting 6 for 6 (Johnson is 21-26 over his last three games).
"We were a lot more aggressive," said Johnson after the game. "Me and Kennedy were moving a lot better in the middle and we were able to get in there and we stopped turning the ball over for one..that was the biggest thing for us."
After a sloppy half of 13 turnovers and an inability to convert in the paint, Coach Roy Williams felt his team was out-competed in the first half and would need a shot in the behind to turn the tide. And, boy, did the Heels respond...by making shots! UNC post players showed an aggressiveness that was needed to propel the team to victory. Carolina become more assertive on offense right out of the gate in the second half as the Heels found Johnson for six quick points in the span of 90 seconds, including a nasty alley-oop jam.
Britt came off the bench and erupted for his career-high 17, drilling four three pointers and forcing the stifling 2-3 zone of the Orange to extend a little further than it would like. Britt's contribution off the pine was the key difference in this one as he was able to help Paige on the perimeter (Paige hit four threes as well) and keep the Syracuse defenders from clogging the lane which opened up a large amount of shots for Johnson and Meeks inside.
"I felt like I kept getting open looks and my teammates kept looking for me," said Britt. "And when you have those guys telling you to shoot it, I felt like I kind of had no choice, and so I was able to knock a few down."
Coach Williams showed his pleasure by saying, "Nate was awesome. I feel so good for him. He's been battling, battling, battling."
And, battle was exactly what the Heels did in that second half. Carolina outscored Syracuse 25-0 in bench points as Syracuse's lack of depth continues to be a major concern. UNC just kept coming Monday night with an unrelenting toughness and grit that has surfaced throughout the Heels six-game winning streak. Along with Johnson's 15, both Meeks and Paige scored double-digits in the second half (Meeks-11, Paige-16). Once the Heels stopped turning the ball over, the offense ran much more smoothly and shots just started falling left and right.
"Everything looks better, guys, when the ball goes in the basket," Coach Williams remarked to the media.
With Carolina trailing with eight minutes to play, Britt splashed back-to-back 3's and Justin Jackson hit a free throw and Carolina never looked back. Strong free throw shooting down the stretch (9 of 12 in second half and 73.3% for the game) allowed Carolina to seal the deal in Chapel Hill. The work that Meeks, Johnson, and Joel James did on Christmas throughout the contest has to be applauded. In the first half, Carolina was able to push Christmas, who came into the game averaging over 18 points and eight rebounds a game, away from the basket and harassed his shot time and time again. Of course, Christmas would eventually stake his claim inside. But, by that time, Cooney had cooled down from the outside and North Carolina was answering every bucket by making one of its own on the other end. Coach Williams believed going into the game that the Orange would be one of the biggest challenges for his team due to Christmas' size and ability to score along with the 2-3 zone. Both of those challenges were met head-on and conquered by the Heels.
Another dominant night on the backboards as Carolina outrebounded the Orange 42-27 and led the points in the paint battle 36-24. The Heels have made it a habit to come up big on the glass and this stat remains a constant throughout the course of the first half of ACC play. Also, the Heels superb shooting from the field will always give UNC a chance to win. 55.4% from the field including a eye-popping 56.3% (9 of 16) from 3-point range are incredible stats. The 93 points scored and 55.4% field-goal percentage were the highest totals allowed by Syracuse all season long. And, even more importantly, the Heels have been stringing out this type of scoring accuracy on a very consistent basis. Ruling the glass and shooting with such efficiency has made Carolina even more of a force to be reckoned with inside the conference.
With the win tonight, Carolina now holds an all-time 5-4 advantage against the 'Cuse. Roy Williams moved into a tie with legendary Temple coach John Chaney as the 16th winningest coach in NCAA History with 741 victories.
Next Game: #13 North Carolina (17-4, 7-1 ACC)
vs
#10 Louisville Cardinals (16-3, 4-2 ACC)
Date/Time: Saturday, January 31, 2015 @ 4:00pm EST
Location: KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, KY
TV/Radio: ESPN or ESPN3 / Tar Heel Sports Radio
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