University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Rapid Reactions
December 14, 2013 | Men's Basketball
1. The 82-77 win over Kentucky immediately goes on the list of all-time greatest days at the Smith Center, for more reasons than we have time for here (but will expound on much more later). From the way the Tar Heels played, to the halftime ceremony honoring Dean Smith, to the win over a fellow elite program, it doesn't get much better than that. Video of the halftime ceremony is here:
2. The end of the first half continues to be very important for the Tar Heels. Carolina had a chance to go two-for-one when they got the ball with over 50 seconds left. They didn't, failed to score, but then Kentucky tried to be sneaky and go before the Tar Heels were set, scoring with 12 seconds left to tie the score. It looked like a great play...until the extra time left on the clock allowed John Calipari to draw a technical foul, ignite the crowd, and hand Carolina three free throws to take a 33-30 halftime lead.
3. The Wildcats are a very, very tough team to score against because of their length and athleticism. The Carolina team that played the first couple weeks of this year--the one that needed Marcus Paige to bail them out on half the possessions--would've had no chance against this particular Kentucky team. Because the Tar Heels were able to distribute the scoring load, including 20 points from James Michael McAdoo and 15 from J.P. Tokoto, they were able to shoot 48.2 percent from the floor.
4. Come March, it's going to be hard to find a team with better credentials than a neutral win over Louisville, a road win over Michigan State, and a home win over Kentucky. There's still a lot of fun basketball to be played between now and then, but the Tar Heels have somehow played their way through a very difficult schedule. The task now becomes continuing to get better over a three-week stay at home that will not have the same electricity as Saturday night.
5. If you're making a Marcus Paige time capsule, his steal near midcourt and layup when he basically outsmarted a UK team trying to kill time belongs in there, as does his impossible teardrop over Willie Cauley-Stein (which was reminiscent of Paige's similar shot over Alex Len last year in the ACC Tournament).
6. This play happened:
Adam Lucas is the editor of CAROLINA.
