North Carolina wins ugly but tough

When it was all said and done fourth ranked North Carolina came out a winner against #15 Ohio State by the final of 77 to 73 in the semis of the Coaches vs Cancer Tournament. If we just looked at the Madison Square Garden scoreboard I would almost have to say I was pretty close with my prediction, since I said that the Heels would win by 6, with the final being 71 to 65. And I could go on and on and on, but the reality is that most of the time looking at the final score tells you nothing of what really happened in the game. This game is one of those examples, where only by watching it can you truly see what really went on.

With about 10 minutes left in the game Carolina (4-0) was up by 19 points, playing decently well (even if the turnovers are still an issue), and most people were beginning to either pack up their stuff or thinking about it, since the game was all but over. Then something happened, Ohio State (2-1), who had been missing shots for most of the night (1 for 9 from 3 pt range in the first half), began to hit one, then another, combined with a bit of press that the Tar Heels weren’t handling well, some sloppy passes and missed free throws and the margin was within single digits. Then it was five, then it was two, and yet, even with a young team, even with the knowledge they give up 20 TOs per game, I truly never thought this game was going to be OSU’s.

So while I am sure that the UNC web boards are screaming how sloopy this team still is, I have to say that in the midst of it all they also had some toughness to them. Larry Drew II missed three free throws in a row that allowed the Buckeyes to get within 2, but he then also hit four of the next five to help the Heelsseal the win. Yes, the sophomore guard gave the ball away four times in this game, but he also had eight assists on the night. And with a head coach like Roy Williams you know that as the season progresses the numbers are going to get better, not worst.

Deon Thompson had a good night as well, getting yet again another double double, with 15 points and 12 rebounds. He also had three blocks, but he too committed five TOs on the night. Again, good things on one side, mixed in with things that need to be fixed, Good thing is that they are certainly fixable. Marcus Ginyard had a UNC type of game with 13 points, three steals, two assists, a rebound and just one turnover. You have to believe that the talking to (by coach Williams) after the Valparaiso helped him out a lot. Will Graves had a good game, scoring 14 points, while Ed Davis had foul problems and was not of much help to his team mates in this one. Going to agree with Dick Vitale when he says that Davis needs to learn how to go from playing 15-18 minutes to being someone that has to play in the 30′s. It’s a different type of mind set being a role player to being one that needs to contribute. This, of all the things I have seen might be the hardest one to fix for coach Williams.

I also want to point out that Carolina had turned over the ball about 10 times with plenty of time in the first half, but ended up with 19 for the night. I have to believe the coaching staff talked about that first and foremost at halftime. The other thing that I think needs to be talked about it that this team knows (and likes) to play defense. As I said Ginyard in my preview of the game, Ginyard loves matching against the best perimeter player the opponents have. Last night it was Turner, tonight it is going to be Wes Johnson. But it’s not just the fifth year senior that likes to play defense, I truly believe everyone on the team gets on the floor wanting to play on both sides of the ball. Last night it showed, as OSU didn’t have a good shooting night, and that was in great part due to the Heels’ D.

I think a great quote from after the game was this one:

“We still want to get better at doing the things Coach asks us to do,” said forward Deon Thompson, who led UNC with 15 points. “But when you play a good team and win the way we won, you’ll take it.”

Like it or not, sloppy or not, with a lot more bumps in the road than needed, UNC has a win against a Top 15 team on the season. This was a hard fought win and those can only make teams stronger, and I truly believe that in this instant that is exactly what happened to Carolina last night. Tonight North Carolina will face Syracuse in the championship game, game beginning about 7:00 p.m. EST (televised on ESPN2).

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