University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: An Unlikely Afternoon
March 1, 2008 | Men's Basketball
March 1, 2008
By Adam Lucas
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass.--In 98 years of North Carolina basketball, no one had ever been hotter than Boston College's Tyrese Rice. So allow him a moment to revel in it.
When he hit his fourth three-pointer of the game, which came just 3:20 into the contest, he looked into the crowd and pumped his fist. 8,606 joyful fans raised their arms in a salute.
When he scored his 20th point of the first half, which came with 14:20 remaining, he shook his head and held out his hands, palms up, mimicking the gesture made by Michael Jordan when he nailed six three-pointers against the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1992 NBA Finals. 8,606 stunned fans smiled back at him.
When he scored his 27th point, with 4:42 remaining--yes, we're still in the first half--he fanned himself with both hands. Then he looked into the corner of the stands opposite the Boston College bench and pointed. 8,606 roaring fans pointed back at him.
"I have never seen someone get that hot in a game since I've been here," said Quentin Thomas, who had the misfortune of being on the defensive end of several of Rice's eight first-half three-pointers.
By the end of the first half, it became apparent that Rice had realized something: if the Tar Heels played him tight, he could get into the lane whenever he wanted. And if they backed off, he could drain a three-pointer whenever he wanted.
This is a bad combination for a defense.
One half, 34 points. That's a career high for a player with an already stellar career. He'd scored more points against Carolina than any player this season.
In one half.
As the day opened, this game had been the undercard on the Boston sports scene. The Saturday game preview story was buried on page seven of The Boston Globe, behind the following news: four stories from spring training, two stories on the Patriots, two stories on the Celtics, the obligatory Bruins update, and just below the game story from the previous night's Boston College-Providence hockey game (you know you're curious--Providence won 3-2).
But now, with Rice sitting at 34 points, Eagle fans believed. After nine losses in ten games, this was the day their young team put it all together.
As the Tar Heels huddled just outside their locker room before the second half, Thomas stuck his head into the middle of the group. "We know what we have to do," he said. "We just have to do it."
"Get some stops," Danny Green echoed.
Get some stops? That would be a bonus. Right now, the Tar Heels just needed any stops.
You'll never guess who provided them. All these games, all these weeks, we've been waiting for Ty Lawson to return because of his offense. He ignites the transition game, he creates easy baskets, and he's good for at least a couple of fast-break layups every game.
And, it turns out, he also plays a little defense.
Lawson and Marcus Ginyard spent most of the second half switching off on Rice, with Ginyard's length and Lawson's quickness--even on a still tender ankle--a formidable combination.
Rice still finished with 46 points, one of the greatest performances ever against Carolina. But he missed all three of his three-pointers in the second half, and he shot just 4-of-10 in the final 20 minutes.
"I was able to put some pressure on him in the halfcourt," Lawson said. "That made it harder for him to get open shots than it was in the first half."
Thus began a Carolina basketball clinic. After falling behind 61-44 2:30 into the second half--at which point Rice had 38--Roy Williams yanked his starters and replaced them with Alex Stepheson, Mike Copeland, Danny Green, Ty Lawson, and Will Graves.
"I was talking to them about our defense," the head coach said of the five he removed. "For us to make a run we had to make a defensive stand."
Led by...Lawson? The sophomore wasn't as quick as he is at full strength, but he was quick enough. In less than a dozen minutes, and behind Lawson's defense plus big baskets from Green and Wayne Ellington, the Tar Heels had ripped off a 32-8 run.
The most amazing part of those 32 points, however, was that just two of those points were scored by Tyler Hansbrough.
A defensive stand led by Lawson and a mammoth offensive surge that doesn't include Hansbrough? What's next, all the Dunkin Donuts in Boston being replaced with Krispy Kremes? (I'm begging.)
"Everybody was out there playing for other people," Ginyard said. "Everybody was getting everyone else open. It snowballed, and everybody got into a groove."
Soon, the Boston College spark was gone. Ellington was fouled and went to the free-throw line with 31.1 seconds remaining, the game no longer in question.
Rice stood off to the side. He did not look like a man who had scored 46 points. He looked forlorn, beaten. Then he looked up into the stands, where an hour earlier he'd glanced and seen thousands of adoring supporters merrily beaming back at him.
Now, as they streamed for the exits, he saw a different side of them: their backs.
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly. He is also the author or co-author of four books on Carolina basketball.
