Lucas: Rapid Reactions

By Adam Lucas

1. What a heartbreaking night in the Smith Center. There's no other way to put it.

2. Roy Williams said it after the game during the speeches: even when Carolina fell down by 16 points, it still felt like the Tar Heels were going to win. And when Joel Berry sank the improbable three-pointer to tie the game at 88 (giving him 31 points), it felt that way even more strongly. But in a scenario we've all seen before, unfortunately, there was just enough time on the clock for Miami to come back and sink a game-winner.

3. Miami coach Jim Larranaga strongly emphasized the importance of the glass to his team, which has been the second-best team in the league this year at keeping opponents off the offensive boards. Larranaga calls it "gang rebounding," and his squad actually outscored Carolina on second chance points, 6-5, in the first half. The Heels had just an 11-9 advantage on the offensive glass for the game, and Miami actually had the edge in second chance points, 13-11.

4. Miami put together a solid second 10 minutes of the first half. The Canes made 15 of the team's final 22 shots in the period after the Tar Heels went to sleep a little defensively, beginning with two players running away from a shooter holding the ball wide open on the wing. Sam Waardenburg promptly knocked down a three-pointer, and the Miami run was underway. Basically, Miami played so much better in the middle 20 minutes of the game, the deficit was too big for Carolina to overcome.

5. Don't try to figure out basketball. Ja'Quan Newton is a 60 percent free throw shooter who made four clutch charity tosses in the final minutes, including a pair of one-and-ones. He's also a 16.7 percent three-point shooter who had made four three-point shots all season, and he made Miami's biggest shot of the year as time expired. Meanwhile, Carolina's best free throw shooters, Joel Berry and Cam Johnson, combined to go 7-12 from the line.

6. It seemingly comes up every year--especially on the years the Tar Heels finish the home schedule with Duke--when people ask if Carolina will, as per custom, start the seniors. The answer is pretty simple: of course. That's what has been done since the Dean Smith era, and that's what was done again on Tuesday night, as Kane Ma and Aaron Rohlman joined Joel Berry and Theo Pinson in the starting lineup. The senior quartet amassed a 4-0 edge in their two minutes of action together before Ma and Rohlman left the game.

7. Miami shot 54.8 percent from the floor in the game and 50.0 percent from the three-point line. Carolina just couldn't get enough stops when they were needed, and the Tar Heels probably fell a little too in love with the three-point shot against an opponent that has had real trouble defending the paint (the 'Canes came into the game giving up the second-worst defensive field goal percentage on two-point shots of any team in the ACC).

8. The immediate concern is that the loss fundamentally alters the end of Carolina's season. Playing on Wednesday in New York is now a very real concern, as the Tar Heels have cracked the door for both Clemson and NC State. Winning at Duke would solve those problems, of course, but there's a lot to do between now and Saturday. Working into the Charlotte pod in the NCAA Tournament will also require some (entirely possible) work.

9. It's hard to know how anyone could have watched the senior speeches and not gotten emotional. Roy Williams was misty-eyed as soon as Joel Berry began speaking, and Theo Pinson (who set a career-high in assists with 11 in his final performance at the Smith Center while playing 39 minutes) was in tears before he ever said a word at midcourt. It seems like we say this every year, which means we're very lucky--it's hard to imagine Carolina basketball without those two. The prevailing theory all week was that it was Berry who would be more emotional in his speech, but it was actually Pinson who struggled to get through it.

10. You have to be around Carolina basketball every day to understand how much Angie Bitting does for the program. The final touch of presenting her with a jersey and flowers upon her retirement after 30 years in the Smith Center was emotional for everyone involved. As Roy Williams said, "Carolina basketball is about family. And Angie will always be family."

Players Mentioned

Kane Ma

Theo Pinson

Aaron Rohlman

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