University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Tough Outing For the Tar Heels
February 3, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 3, 2002
By Adam Lucas
TarHeelBlue.com
Carolina fans are used to seeing this. The problem is that the uniforms are usually reversed.
Here's the script: visiting team comes in and gets hot from the perimeter in the first half. They hit, let's say, 7-of-15 three-pointers and eke out a small lead at halftime. During the break, home crowd mutters, "They can't keep that up, can they?"
Second half begins. Home crowd was right. The outside shots don't fall, and while the visitors miss on their first five three-pointers of the half, the home team rolls out to a 10-point lead that they never relinquish.
That scenario has played out often at the Smith Center, as Carolina takes advantage of a perimeter-reliant team and eventually pounds them into submission. Saturday at the Thrillerdome, it was Tech that out-toughed the Heels, with the infamous Ed Nelson holding Kris Lang to four points while Carolina made more three-point baskets than two-point baskets.
"They got sharp and we weren't sharp in the second half," Matt Doherty said. "They started performing better."
Truthfully, Carolina didn't perform all that differently in the second half than they did in the first half. The difference was that shots that found the net in the first half just didn't go in during the second half. While the Heels were starting the second half 0-for-5 from the arc, the Yellow Jackets played solidly but not spectacularly, moving out to a ten-point lead that almost didn't seem possible.
For years, UNC fans have been able to smugly remain confident that teams that count on perimeter scoring will eventually flame out. It's hard to be smug when that's the key to this team. After Saturday's 31-trifecta effort, they've now lost five of the six games this season in which they've attempted the most three-pointers.
A series during the early second half seemed to typify the game. After cutting the lead to five, Brian Morrison called a play near center court and then proceeded to jack up a 22-footer without the ball ever leaving his hands. On the next possession, Jackie Manuel tried to take his man one-on-one and missed a 17-footer. Finally, having remembered that Kris Lang was still on the roster, the Tar Heels tried an entry pass to their senior center, only to throw it poorly and have it knocked away.
While those struggles were going on, Tech went on a 13-2 run and quietly extended their lead to 13 points.
Nelson, a rugged freshman, held Lang to eight shots in their last matchup and limited him to only six this time. Eventually, with time winding down, Doherty pulled Lang and went with a quicker lineup to try and get back into the game.
This is a dangerous time for this team. After a crushing loss to Duke and a disappointing outcome against Tech that resulted in a 6-13 overall record, they're getting perilously close to the point of the year when they'll have to decide if they want to phone in the rest of the season or if they'll continue to compete.
Fortunately, the freshmen don't seem to be getting used to the losses, which is what matters as the Heels try to build for 2002-03.
After the game, the quick 36-hour turnaround after the Duke game was cited as a contributing factor. Carolina flew out immediately after the loss to the Devils and practiced in Atlanta on Friday afternoon. In years past, the 9 p.m. Duke start coupled with the 1 p.m. Tech game might have been seen as a good NCAA Tournament warmup.
Unfortunately, that's not necessary this year. And that's not the only thing that should seem backward to Tar Heel fans.
Adam Lucas is the co-publisher of Basketball America. He is a lifelong observer of UNC sports and can be reached at JAdamLucas@aol.com.
