Lucas: Rapid Reactions

By Adam Lucas

1. You know how Roy Williams says sometimes it just helps to see the ball go in the basket? Sometimes it just helps to see the big number on the correct side of the scoreboard. That's what the Tar Heels got out of Saturday's 96-65 win over Pitt.

2. Luke Maye continued his run of following up single-digit performances with huge offensive explosions. The junior struggled at Clemson, but responded against Pitt with 26 points and eight rebounds. All four times this year that he has scored in single digits, he has followed it the next time out with at least 17 points.

3. The best sign for the Tar Heels in Saturday night's game might be in the minutes played column. Only Maye (31) played more than 30 minutes, and Joel Berry--who has had a huge workload lately--was able to play just 29. With a three games in five days stretch coming up starting Thursday, the starters need to soak up all the rest they can get.

4. Great to see the return of the Kenny Williams jumper. The junior hit six of his nine shots and an encouraging three of five from three-point range. Williams has been adamant his confidence hasn't waned during his recent shooting struggles. Saturday, he played like it. It was also nice to see Cam Johnson have a solid performance (14 points and four assists) against his former coach.

5. Kendall Marshall is probably the best pure passer of the Williams era. But the degree of difficulty and the anticipation on some of Theo Pinson's assists Saturday night were Marshall-esque. His long hit-ahead to Andrew Platek in the first half for a layup was millimeters ahead of the Pitt defense, and his quick tip of a rebound to Johnson was the kind of assist you have to watch on replay to fully appreciate. Pinson finished with eight assists, 13 rebounds, and one very loud follow dunk in the second half.

6. Before the season even started, it was Garrison Brooks who got a stern lecture from Roy Williams after not diving on the floor for a loose ball in an exhibition game. The lesson stuck. Brooks got on the floor in the Pitt backcourt late in the first half to force a Panther turnover, then fed Johnson for a key basket that ignited the Tar Heels and the sellout Smith Center crowd.

7. Both Brooks (10 points and two rebounds) and Sterling Manley (ten points and one rebound) gave the Tar Heels some good minutes off the bench.

8. For just the second time in ACC play, Carolina won the points off turnovers battle, holding a commanding 17-4 edge. The Tar Heels haven't been doing a good job of both forcing opposing turnovers and then capitalizing on those miscues; they did a better job in both areas on Saturday, as Pitt committed 16 turnovers.

9. Mandatory three-point defense update: after a miserable start in which it looked like Pitt might just make it as ridiculous as possible and score all the team's points on three-pointers, the Tar Heels eventually limited them to 10-of-30 from beyond the arc, a much better performance. The Panther scouting report very clearly said to look for the corner after dribble penetration, and although they hurt Carolina on that shot a couple times early, the shots eventually--mercifully--stopped falling.

10. The win over Pitt sets the stage for one of the toughest closing stretches of the Roy Williams era. The Tar Heels have a pair of games remaining against Duke, road trips to NC State, Louisville and Syracuse, and home dates with Notre Dame and Miami. What does that mean? It means that despite all the concern and stress so far, the overwhelming majority of the storyline of this season will be written in the next four weeks. It also means you don't need to put a lot of stock in the ACC standings right now, because many of those teams jumbled together right now will play each other and sort out the confusion.

11. If you need someone to understand the Carolina family, point them towards the UNC tunnel right after the game, when Antawn Jamison (last played for Carolina in 1998) greeted Lennie Rosenbluth (last played for Carolina in 1957) with, "What's going on, big time? Great to see you again!" The two then had a conversation as if they were longtime teammates. That's the Carolina family.

Players Mentioned

Garrison Brooks

Sterling Manley

Luke Maye

Theo Pinson

Andrew Platek

Kenny Williams

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