After an ugly start to a quarterfinals matchup with Miami, North Carolina pulled away and defeated the Hurricanes 82-65 and will play Duke in the semifinals.
North Carolina and Miami just saw each other nine days before this meeting. The Hurricanes ended up spoiling senior night for the Tar Heels. You knew the players still remembered. Theo Pinson even said so in his post-game interview after the game Thursday night.
Because of that game and a few other bizarre tie-breakers, UNC got pushed down to the No. 6 seed in the ACC Tournament. They missed out on the double-bye and played Syracuse in round two Wednesday night. The Tar Heels ended the Orange run at an NCAA Tournament with a pretty nice beating.
Both teams combined for almost 200 points in the matchup at the end of last month. The game on Thursday night started out pretty ugly. Neither team scored in the first three minutes of action. Finally, Miami scored and then quickly went up 13-0. It took a big Hurricane run and Roy Williams pulling all five starters for North Carolina to get on the board.
Coach Williams had enough when the Tar Heels hadn’t done anything for the first 7 minutes and did a complete line change. Seventh Woods actually got the first basket for UNC which came with just under 13 minutes left in the first half.
UNC certainly has a deep bench and Roy tries to get everyone in during each game, but to pull everyone all at once was a sign of frustration.
The two teams continued to shoot the ball very poorly. No player in the first half scored in double-figures. North Carolina shot 31% from the field and 13% from deep. Miami shot a little better at 35% from the field and 22% from downtown.
More from Busting Brackets
- NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing top 5 teams for top-100 SG Larry Johnson
- Oregon Basketball: Projected starting lineup and depth chart for 2023-24
- Big East Basketball: Ranking all head coaches going into 2023-24 season
- Florida State Basketball: Is Seminoles roster good enough to win in 2023-24?
- SEC Basketball: 10 potential additions for the league if they ever expanded
This was not the matchup we were all expecting. Especially after both teams lit it up a couple of weeks ago. The biggest storyline from the opening half was Lonnie Walker IV of Miami fouled Cam Johnson trying a 3/4 court shot. Johnson connected on all three from the line and gave UNC a 32-31 lead going into the break. Jim Larranaga was not happy during his halftime interview.
Joel Berry continued to struggle in this game. He finally eclipsed double-digits with 11 points, but only shot 4 for 14 from the field and 1 for 6 from distance. Luke Maye was as off as off can be. He had great looks and many opportunities to put the ball in the basket but kept leaving everything short. He scored only two points while shooting 1 for 15 from the field and 0 for 5 from three.
North Carolina needed production elsewhere if those two weren’t going to be able to produce. The man who has been on an absolute tear lately got it done again. Theo Pinson started doing just about everything for the Tar Heels. He led everyone in scoring with 25. Pinson recorded another double-double as he grabbed 11 boards.
Pinson also found his outside shot again which came at a great time during the game. Garrison Brooks hauled in one of UNC’s 17 offensive boards with just over 8 minutes to play and found Pinson for a basket. Ja’Quan Newton made a layup on the other end to make a three-point game. The senior forward Pinson came back down and knocked down a triple to make it six.
Fast-forward to five minutes to play and Newton makes it a three-point game again with a shot from downtown. Pinson comes back with the answer and kicks it back out to six. A minute later in the game, Pinson slams it home and Miami calls a timeout.
Theo doesn’t have any quit in him. He knew that Berry and Maye were struggling so he played savior once again.
The Tar Heels found their rhythm and then that opened up shots in transition. Kenny Williams did it once again, getting back-to-back layups when UNC pushed. Williams connected off of a turnover with an assist from Pinson and then again off a defensive rebound which was thrown up the court.
North Carolina is starting to see production from other places than Berry and Maye. They kind of has to when both guys struggled to put the ball in the basket in consecutive ACC Tournament games.
Another player who has been just waiting to breakout finally showed some promise Thursday night. Brooks had that key offensive rebound, but he also looked a lot tougher against Miami. UNC certainly out-hustled Miami all game, but Brooks especially. He looked the part of a bench big man for North Carolina with five points, three boards, and a block.
Next: North Carolina basketball won’t be the same without Woody Durham
So now here we go with round three of North Carolina vs. Duke in 2018. For the second consecutive season, the Tar Heels will play the Blue Devils in the ACC Tournament semifinals. Anytime the two teams match up, expect big things. The stakes are even higher in postseason play. North Carolina took the first matchup in Chapel Hill a month ago. Duke won a week ago in Durham. The stage is set for the season series in Brooklyn.
One final thing that’s worth noting. I touched on it in my ACC Tournament Preview. Even though I pull for the Tar Heels, this reminds me of last season, but in reverse roles.
Last year, UNC finished very strong and defeated Duke in the regular season finale. The Blue Devils then defeated them in the ACC Tournament and won it. North Carolina though caught fire in the Big Dance and won that. Look out for something similar this season.