University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Defining Moments
February 25, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
By Adam Lucas
For the better part of our lifetimes, we've known exactly how to recognize a prototypical Carolina basketball comeback.
The signs were there on Tuesday night. There was the lethargic first half that resulted in a 29-18 NC State lead at halftime. There was the sudden surge from an unexpected source, as four quick Justin Jackson points brought Carolina back from 16 points down early in the second half. And then there was the signature play, the unforgettable play, that was going to start it all. That's when Jackson deflected a Trevor Lacey pass, tapped the ball towards midcourt, and then sprinted towards the basket as Marcus Paige threw himself on the ground to tip the ball ahead to Jackson.
It was an absolutely incredible play by Paige, and it simultaneously notified a Smith Center crowd that the Tar Heels had finally arrived while also setting fire to the a sellout throng that was already frenzied. The State lead was cut to six, then eventually to two, and Mark Gottfried burned through three timeouts in two minutes and 41 seconds, and then…
What?
Just as much of a hallmark of those great Carolina comebacks is the precise execution down the stretch and the ability to simply wait for the opponent to bury itself. That didn't happen on Tuesday. The Tar Heels committed three turnovers in a 150-second stretch with under four minutes to play.
More tellingly, they simply looked unfamiliar with each other on the court. That's not what you expect to see in late February, but there it was. The most glaring example came with two minutes remaining and Carolina down by a manageable five. Paige worked free for a corner three-pointer, and of course he was going to make it, because he always makes it against NC State.
But at the last second, he thought he saw J.P. Tokoto flash free under the rim. After elevating, Paige threw a pass to Tokoto, who had screened Cat Barber and was looking back up the court rather than at Paige. The Pack picked up the steal, and “That started the whole thing,” as Paige put it.
It turned into one of those three critical turnovers; another came when Joel Berry threw an entry pass that was speared by Trevor Lacey, and another as Meeks and Tokoto miscommunicated after Meeks was pinned in the paint.
It's an unfortunate fact of life that there are going to be times when NC State wins in Chapel Hill. A field has a certain number of four-leaf clovers. These things happen.
But if the Wolfpack simply must beat Carolina at home, you want it to be inexplicable, like C.C. Harrison shooting out of his mind from three-point range (1998) or some weird sorcery from Les Robinson enabling him to beat Carolina, and only Carolina (1992). The fact that the Wolfpack could somehow win at the Smith Center while shooting 35.1 percent from the field is surprising; the fact that Carolina could suffer some intensity and execution issues, unfortunately, is not.
Let's not act like NC State suddenly showed up on Tuesday night and learned how to defend. The Wolfpack has been consistently good in the paint defensively in ACC play. League opponents are shooting just 44.1 percent against them on two-point shots, the third-best such defensive mark in the conference.
So maybe it shouldn't have come as that big a surprise that Brice Johnson (1-for-6) and Kennedy Meeks (5-for-10) found the openings slim in the lane. But even with their struggles, even with that horrendous first half, Carolina was in position to win the game, the same way they've won so many how-did-they-do-that comebacks before.
So part of this is about NC State, about what they did right on a night you can be sure they will remember for a very long time.
But part of it, too, is about the Tar Heels once again being in position to close in the second half, but once again not making enough plays. After drawing within two points with 11:04 remaining, Carolina (hide your eyes) scored just 10 points over the remaining eleven minutes, committed six turnovers and shot a meager 4-for-15. It is not the first time this season the Tar Heels have suffered execution issues in key second-half moments.
Paige, as usual, understood the ramifications.
“This could end up defining their season,” he said of NC State, which you have a sneaking suspicion is true.
“But we can't let this deter us from what we want to do,” he continued about Carolina, which you just have to hope is similarly accurate.
