University of North Carolina Athletics
THB Spotlight: Playing With A Sense Of Urgency
January 19, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 19, 2011
by Kevin Chandler, UNC Athletic Communications
CHAPEL HILL - Clemson came to town having never won in Chapel Hill, with an overall record of 0-54. This record that North Carolina has over Clemson marks the longest winning streak in NCAA history for one team over another on its home court. It is known by many as, "The Streak." There have been many times in the past that Clemson has rolled into Chapel Hill believing the time had finally come for this historic streak to end, believing they could actually win. Each time they left disappointed, and North Carolina prevailed.
Something that may have given this year's edition of the Tigers hope to win this game and finally beat North Carolina in Chapel Hill is that they had nothing to do with the streak. With Clemson not playing in Chapel Hill last season, the most anyone on Clemson's roster had played North Carolina in Chapel Hill before Tuesday night is twice. That would mean they were only a part of two of those 54 games in which Clemson lost. With this being his first year as head coach, Brad Brownell also had nothing to do with any of the previous games Clemson played in Chapel Hill. This gave him a clean slate. He had not beaten North Carolina in Chapel Hill, nor had he lost.
North Carolina had won 10 out of the last 11 meetings against Clemson. However, that one loss came last season in Clemson, where Carolina played poorly, losing by a score of 83-64. This also gave Clemson hope because they knew they would see familiar faces on the court, and they proved last year they could beat North Carolina.
After Sunday night's poor performance from Carolina at Georgia Tech, some were concerned about the direction the team would take. Sunday night's performance by the Tar Heels was the worst shooting performance by a North Carolina team since 1956. If there's one thing about sports when you're in the middle of a season, there's always tomorrow. There's always another game and another chance to prove you can do better. For North Carolina, that chance came Tuesday night against the Clemson Tigers.
Carolina proved it could do better, much better, in fact. North Carolina shot just 27.6 percent from the field on Sunday night. On Tuesday night, they shot 46.6 percent. There also seemed to be more intensity throughout the entire game, especially compared to the past three. In all three games against Virginia, Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech, the Tar Heels trailed early in the game and at halftime.
It seemed like they needed to get down early in order to play to their potential. Not Tuesday night. The Tar Heels controlled the game from the very beginning, showing a sense of urgency and a more consistent attitude of intensity.
On the play of his team's defense, head coach Roy Williams said, "I thought we were much more intense to say the least. We didn't get back and get picked up as cleanly as I would've liked but we had so much more emotion, so much more enthusiasm, so much more want to. You know, you've got to play the game of basketball with a sense of urgency and I didn't feel like we played the game of basketball really the last three games with a sense of urgency, except perhaps the last part of the Virginia game and definitely the last five or six minutes of the Virginia Tech game.... I thought that our defensive intensity in the first half set the tone for the whole game."
The play of Reggie Bullock in the first half was key. Many had been waiting for a game like this from Bullock, and most felt it was only a matter of time for him to have a breakout game. That breakout game came Tuesday night. He finished with a career-high 18 points, with 16 of those coming in the first half, and his confidence continued to grow as the game progressed. On his confidence in the first half, Bullock said, "Yeah, my confidence was rising, but my teammates were finding me and I give thanks to all of them finding me tonight for open shots."
The play of both point guards was also an important factor to Tuesday night's victory over Clemson. Kendall Marshall got his first career start, replacing Larry Drew II. He displayed a lot of confidence on the court, as he has done all season. The impact that Marshall had on the game was apparent. Even though his five assists and 3 turnovers stat line isn't as staggering as some of his other games, Carolina had its highest point total and highest field goal percentage thus far in ACC play.
Drew came up big as well. Williams said, "I thought Larry was sensational. Defensively he was by far the best player on the court for us. I thought Larry handled himself extremely well."
There were also times during the game when both point guards were seen on the floor together, something that hasn't happened all season. By putting both on the court at the same time, this gave Williams the opportunity to see how they played together, and if Marshall's confidence at the point and Drew II's defense would mesh.
Fellow freshman teammate Reggie Bullock said of the lineup change, "Tonight, it worked out perfect. Kendall got out and started, got us going, and Larry came off the bench with his defensive intensity and played well all-around tonight."
After Sunday night's disappointing performance, Carolina responded like many had hoped and thought they would. They played with intensity and everyone could tell from the very beginning they had something to prove. They showed they could put together two halves of inspiring basketball, and it all started with greater intensity from the opening tip. If this team is going to continue to have success, look for the Tar Heels to have games similar to this one, where greater intensity and more emotion is evident in most of the game.
It was also unmistakable that this Tar Heel team did not want to be the team to end the ever so present 54 game winning streak against Clemson in Chapel Hill. Similar to many Clemson teams that have come into Chapel Hill aspiring to win, this one left Chapel Hill like all the others did, in defeat.
As the game clock winded down, and it was apparent the Tar Heels had secured the victory, the student section started chanting, "You can't win here." I'm sure there are many people that feel this way. I'm also certain there are those who feel all records and streaks are made to be broken. But, for now, this one lives on and "The Streak" continues for at least another year.
