University of North Carolina Athletics
Luke Maye
GoHeels Exclusive: Down To The Wire
February 10, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers
By Pat James, GoHeels.com
Before Coby White's heroics or his crucial shot, Luke Maye was speaking with Roy Williams on Friday, when the senior made an observation about North Carolina's season to that point.
Through 22 games, Maye said the Tar Heels hadn't truly been in one that came down to the wire. In fact, all of their 18 victories had been decided by six points or more. No UNC squad had gone as many games without winning at least one by five points or fewer since the 2006-07 team.
So naturally, just a day after Maye's conversation with Williams, Carolina found itself in a tight game, one never separated by more than seven points, on Saturday at the Smith Center. And to survive unranked Miami's upset bid, the eight-ranked Tar Heels needed to show some mettle.
It took a 33-point effort from White. It also required overtime. But ultimately, UNC came back from a four-point deficit with 48 seconds left in regulation to beat the Hurricanes 88-85 and extend its winning streak to seven games.
"I feel fortunate to say the least," Williams said. "I questioned our kids' toughness throughout the whole game, and was still doing it at the end. But I think they answered it pretty well down the stretch. They made plays, they made shots."
They showed composure, too.
Miami, which entered Saturday tied for last in the ACC at 2-8, trailed 31-30 at halftime. But after missing their first two shots of the second half, the Hurricanes made 11 of their next 15, turning a seven-point deficit into a seven-point lead with 7:34 left in regulation.
Then came White.
The point guard scored 15 of his 33 points – tying the 33 he scored against Texas on Nov. 22 for the third most by a Tar Heel freshman – in the final 7:03 of regulation. He went 5-for-5 on 3-pointers in that span. The last of those came with 41 seconds left, cutting Miami's lead to 75-74.
"I'm pretty confident," said White when asked about what it was like being "the guy" for UNC. "We've got plenty of guys who can be the guy. … Today was just my day. I got into a rhythm, a good rhythm, and I just kept playing."
So good was the rhythm White was in that with Carolina trailing 77-74 coming out of a timeout with 16.5 seconds left, both Chris Lykes and Anthony Lawrence of the Hurricanes gravitated toward White as he dribbled off a ball screen by Maye.
Maye then popped out behind the 3-point line. White found him, and the senior drilled the open shot, tying the game with 12 seconds left, before Miami's defense could recover.
"I was very confident," Maye said. "We run it a lot in practice and yesterday we worked on last-second shots, and kind of went through that. I just wanted to do it like I do in practice. That's how I've always been taught.Â
"Coach had confidence in me and I had confidence in myself. My teammates got me in the right spot and Coby made a great pass."
In overtime, Kenny Williams put Carolina ahead for good on a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer with 2:08 left. He'd previously been 0-for-3 from behind the arc. Later, after Miami pulled within one point, Cameron Johnson, who went 3-for-11 from the floor, made two free throws with 12.3 seconds remaining to effectively seal the win.
It was a victory that easily could've eluded the Tar Heels. The Hurricanes controlled the boards, outrebounding UNC by seven despite ranking last in the ACC in rebounding margin. Lykes was also brilliant, scoring 27 points.
But Roy Williams' players answered his questions about their toughness. And because of that, Carolina enters Monday's showdown against Virginia at 9-1 in ACC play for the first time since the 2000-01 season.
"We learned a lot about ourselves today," Kenny Williams said. "We know that when the time comes, when we need to we can lock down and get stops. But we also know we've got a bunch of guys who can make the big shots and make the bigs play that we need them to make."
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Before Coby White's heroics or his crucial shot, Luke Maye was speaking with Roy Williams on Friday, when the senior made an observation about North Carolina's season to that point.
Through 22 games, Maye said the Tar Heels hadn't truly been in one that came down to the wire. In fact, all of their 18 victories had been decided by six points or more. No UNC squad had gone as many games without winning at least one by five points or fewer since the 2006-07 team.
So naturally, just a day after Maye's conversation with Williams, Carolina found itself in a tight game, one never separated by more than seven points, on Saturday at the Smith Center. And to survive unranked Miami's upset bid, the eight-ranked Tar Heels needed to show some mettle.
It took a 33-point effort from White. It also required overtime. But ultimately, UNC came back from a four-point deficit with 48 seconds left in regulation to beat the Hurricanes 88-85 and extend its winning streak to seven games.
"I feel fortunate to say the least," Williams said. "I questioned our kids' toughness throughout the whole game, and was still doing it at the end. But I think they answered it pretty well down the stretch. They made plays, they made shots."
They showed composure, too.
Miami, which entered Saturday tied for last in the ACC at 2-8, trailed 31-30 at halftime. But after missing their first two shots of the second half, the Hurricanes made 11 of their next 15, turning a seven-point deficit into a seven-point lead with 7:34 left in regulation.
Then came White.
The point guard scored 15 of his 33 points – tying the 33 he scored against Texas on Nov. 22 for the third most by a Tar Heel freshman – in the final 7:03 of regulation. He went 5-for-5 on 3-pointers in that span. The last of those came with 41 seconds left, cutting Miami's lead to 75-74.
"I'm pretty confident," said White when asked about what it was like being "the guy" for UNC. "We've got plenty of guys who can be the guy. … Today was just my day. I got into a rhythm, a good rhythm, and I just kept playing."
So good was the rhythm White was in that with Carolina trailing 77-74 coming out of a timeout with 16.5 seconds left, both Chris Lykes and Anthony Lawrence of the Hurricanes gravitated toward White as he dribbled off a ball screen by Maye.
Maye then popped out behind the 3-point line. White found him, and the senior drilled the open shot, tying the game with 12 seconds left, before Miami's defense could recover.
"I was very confident," Maye said. "We run it a lot in practice and yesterday we worked on last-second shots, and kind of went through that. I just wanted to do it like I do in practice. That's how I've always been taught.Â
"Coach had confidence in me and I had confidence in myself. My teammates got me in the right spot and Coby made a great pass."
In overtime, Kenny Williams put Carolina ahead for good on a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer with 2:08 left. He'd previously been 0-for-3 from behind the arc. Later, after Miami pulled within one point, Cameron Johnson, who went 3-for-11 from the floor, made two free throws with 12.3 seconds remaining to effectively seal the win.
It was a victory that easily could've eluded the Tar Heels. The Hurricanes controlled the boards, outrebounding UNC by seven despite ranking last in the ACC in rebounding margin. Lykes was also brilliant, scoring 27 points.
But Roy Williams' players answered his questions about their toughness. And because of that, Carolina enters Monday's showdown against Virginia at 9-1 in ACC play for the first time since the 2000-01 season.
"We learned a lot about ourselves today," Kenny Williams said. "We know that when the time comes, when we need to we can lock down and get stops. But we also know we've got a bunch of guys who can make the big shots and make the bigs play that we need them to make."
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