University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Rapid Reactions
February 10, 2016 | Men's Basketball
By Adam Lucas
1. I've been at every game of the Roy Williams era in Chapel Hill. That was the strangest one in his 13 seasons. That's largely because Carolina spent the final 14:35 in an unusual situation, as Roy Williams was out discussing the lack of a call with official Michael Stephens as the teams went to break. The words they exchanged were actually not that heated. But after the Tar Heels went through the huddle, he was helped off the floor by trainer Doug Halverson and went to the UNC locker room. Carolina trailed 49-44 at that point.13 minutes without their head coach on the bench after he suffered a dizzy spell during a timeout after exchanging words--and not even words that were especially heated--with official Michael Stephens. Steve Robinson took over the head coaching duties for the rest of the game.
As you would expect when the head coach leaves the bench in the middle of the game, the Tar Heels looked rattled for the next couple of minutes. But then they got back in a rhythm late, enough to make the final minutes very tense against a BC club that entered the game winless in the league. Official word on Williams was that his absence was vertigo related. The head coach did come back out to the floor to greet his team after the win as the Tar Heels were leaving the court.
2. Great moves by Robinson calling things on the Carolina sideline. Robinson took a timeout with 7:40 left and the Tar Heels down seven; that eventually led to an 8-0 run. The former FSU head coach took another one with 2:01 left, and that turned into a Marcus Paige three-pointer that provided a 62-60 lead with 100 seconds remaining. Robinson called his last stoppage with 15.8 seconds remaining after Paige made one of two free throws to give the Tar Heels a 66-62 lead.
3. Carolina got just enough defense to make the one big stop they needed with under 30 seconds left. Kennedy Meeks did a great job anticipating the Eagles trying to get the ball to Eli Carter, who had been on fire, and intercepted a pass that prevented BC from having a potential game-tying shot. Meeks also did a good job picking up Carter with under ten seconds to play, which forced the hot-shooting guard to give up the ball (of course, it still turned into a BC three-pointer, but it was the right play).
4. The final minutes unexpectedly turned into a pretty good basketball game. Carter (26 points) made some ridiculous shots for the Eagles, and the Tar Heels got some big baskets from Justin Jackson and Marcus Paige and just enough free throw shooting to get the win. Paige, especially, made two giant free throws with 3.4 seconds left to provide the final 68-65 margin.
5. In what formerly seemed like a big move prior to all the late-game drama, Williams chose to remove Brice Johnson, Kennedy Meeks and Justin Jackson from the starting lineup, replacing them with Isaiah Hicks, Joel James and Theo Pinson. The new lineup (including Marcus Paige and Joel Berry) looked a little disjointed, as you might expect, and was down 6-2 before substitutions began at the 16:47 mark.
The second half starting lineup was also different, as Williams went with Pinson, Paige, Berry, Justin Jackson and Brice Johnson.
6. Carolina's inability to get to the free throw line continues to be troubling. In the first half against unheralded Boston College, the Eagles attempted nine free throws (making eight), while the Tar Heels took just one, a conversion by Nate Britt. Combining that half with the previous game against Notre Dame, Tar Heel opponents had taken more than twice the number of free throws (47) as the Tar Heels (22). That's not a complaint about the officiating. That's a sign that the Tar Heels aren't being very aggressive getting to the rim and drawing contact in the paint.
7. The Tar Heels did show some life offensively midway through the first half, when dribble penetration created four relatively easy baskets. Other teams are having success driving the ball to the rim. You'd like to see Carolina guards try to generate some offense, whether it's their own shots or feeding post players after drawing the defense.
8. Welcome back, Justin Jackson's offense. The sophomore had one of his most active games since the calendar turned to 2016 and finished with 20 points. Jackson had good energy both with the ball and on the offensive glass, and he also found his number called in some key offensive situations.
9. Credit to the Boston Carolina Club and all the northeast-area Tar Heels. The Conte Forum was overwhelmingly Carolina blue on Tuesday night, as best exhibited when the two teams took the floor at 7:55 p.m. for an 8:00 tipoff. Boston College ran out of the tunnel to a few claps. The Tar Heels entered a minute later to a virtual roar in the building that seats 8,606.
