University of North Carolina Athletics
Steve Robinson and Coby White
Photo by: Dawson Powers
Lucas: Rapid Reactions
March 2, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Quick takeaways from Carolina's visit to Clemson.
By Adam Lucas
1. Road wins. You take all of them, no matter what they look like. And something to remember--with a lot of things going against them, Carolina doesn't win that game without the luxury of having three productive seniors.
2. Very scary moment with 55 seconds left in the first half, when Roy Williams went down on the Carolina sideline and was immediately attended to by athletic trainer Doug Halverson and Littlejohn Coliseum personnel. As an unsteady Williams was being helped off by Halverson and Eric Hoots, he was given a nice hand by the Clemson crowd, and responded with a wave of his right hand. The Tar Heel head coach had whipped his head around quickly to call for a substitute after Coby White sank a shot and suffered one of the vertigo attacks that has periodically troubled him.
3. Williams is fond of saying he has the best staff in the country, and no one really pays much attention to him. It shows on days like Saturday, when Robinson immediately stepped in. And how nice is it to have seniors? While the assistants were tending to Roy Williams on the sideline, it was Kenny Williams who gathered his teammates around him a few steps away from the Carolina bench and kept the team together in what was a two-point game at that time.
4. Not a pretty game offensively, but Carolina got offense when it was needed. After enduring a bad seven-minute stretch early in the first half, the Tar Heels suddenly heated up and got points on 10 of the next 13 possessions while they were seizing control of the game. As usual, White was instrumental in that stretch, and Luke Maye also provided key baskets.
5. Maye's three-pointer in the second half made him just the 29th Tar Heel with 100 career three-point field goals.
6. Speaking of three-pointers, Carolina is now 13-0 when Cameron Johnson makes at least three three-pointers. The graduate student went for 19 points and made six of his eight three-point tries. The biggest was an impossible three from the top of the key with the shot clock at two seconds and two minutes remaining that pushed the UNC lead to seven.
7. Unexpected wrinkle from Carolina in the backcourt, as the Tar Heels put Coby White and Seventh Woods on the floor together for a couple of minutes each in the first and second halves. That particular rotation wasn't especially effective on this particular night (not much worked offensively) but it's an interesting option to perhaps run a few more sets for White off the ball.
8. Brandon Huffman gave the Tar Heels a couple good minutes at the end of the first half, keeping the ball alive for what was eventually a Nassir Little three-point play, and defending Elijah Thomas on the defensive end on one possession. And for the first time in 16 games, we saw the full Carolina big man rotation, as Sterling Manley played the final 55 seconds after being out since the Davidson game with a left knee injury. Manley made one of two free throw attempts after a Thomas foul.
9. How good is Coby White that we get down this far before we really talk about the fact that the freshman scored 28 points on 9-of-15 shooting? White was sensational early, pumping in 14 early points, and also made some big baskets late. Roy Williams will doubtless mention White's four turnovers as an area for improvement, and he made some iffy decisions in the second half, but White was essential in establishing the tempo and in putting the ball in the hoop on a day when the Tar Heels struggled in that area. White also sank a key front end of a one-and-one with 1:02 remaining and the Tar Heels holding a five-point lead.
10. Carolina is now an incredible 95-31 in March and April under Roy Williams, and is 8-0 on the road in the ACC this year. Both are marks we probably take for granted as Tar Heels but are very difficult to achieve in a league as tough as the ACC.
11. Clemson came into the game second in the ACC and ninth in the country in two-point field goal percentage defense. They showed why on Saturday, as Carolina--which has been formidable at close range lately--made just 13 of 27 two-point field goal attempts and finished with only 18 points in the paint, easily a season low (the previous low had been 22). Â
12. Maye had yet another double-double, with 13 points and 10 rebounds.Â
13. Kenny Williams was quiet much of the day, just having his usual steady Williams-type game. But then he drained both ends of a one-and-one with 12.7 seconds left in a one-point game, and made one of two with 9.1 seconds left, again in a one-point game. It was also Williams who had the presence of mind to chuck the ball to the other end of the court as the final seconds elapsed to preserve the 81-79 win. Williams finished with nine points and also had six rebounds.
1. Road wins. You take all of them, no matter what they look like. And something to remember--with a lot of things going against them, Carolina doesn't win that game without the luxury of having three productive seniors.
2. Very scary moment with 55 seconds left in the first half, when Roy Williams went down on the Carolina sideline and was immediately attended to by athletic trainer Doug Halverson and Littlejohn Coliseum personnel. As an unsteady Williams was being helped off by Halverson and Eric Hoots, he was given a nice hand by the Clemson crowd, and responded with a wave of his right hand. The Tar Heel head coach had whipped his head around quickly to call for a substitute after Coby White sank a shot and suffered one of the vertigo attacks that has periodically troubled him.
3. Williams is fond of saying he has the best staff in the country, and no one really pays much attention to him. It shows on days like Saturday, when Robinson immediately stepped in. And how nice is it to have seniors? While the assistants were tending to Roy Williams on the sideline, it was Kenny Williams who gathered his teammates around him a few steps away from the Carolina bench and kept the team together in what was a two-point game at that time.
4. Not a pretty game offensively, but Carolina got offense when it was needed. After enduring a bad seven-minute stretch early in the first half, the Tar Heels suddenly heated up and got points on 10 of the next 13 possessions while they were seizing control of the game. As usual, White was instrumental in that stretch, and Luke Maye also provided key baskets.
5. Maye's three-pointer in the second half made him just the 29th Tar Heel with 100 career three-point field goals.
6. Speaking of three-pointers, Carolina is now 13-0 when Cameron Johnson makes at least three three-pointers. The graduate student went for 19 points and made six of his eight three-point tries. The biggest was an impossible three from the top of the key with the shot clock at two seconds and two minutes remaining that pushed the UNC lead to seven.
7. Unexpected wrinkle from Carolina in the backcourt, as the Tar Heels put Coby White and Seventh Woods on the floor together for a couple of minutes each in the first and second halves. That particular rotation wasn't especially effective on this particular night (not much worked offensively) but it's an interesting option to perhaps run a few more sets for White off the ball.
8. Brandon Huffman gave the Tar Heels a couple good minutes at the end of the first half, keeping the ball alive for what was eventually a Nassir Little three-point play, and defending Elijah Thomas on the defensive end on one possession. And for the first time in 16 games, we saw the full Carolina big man rotation, as Sterling Manley played the final 55 seconds after being out since the Davidson game with a left knee injury. Manley made one of two free throw attempts after a Thomas foul.
9. How good is Coby White that we get down this far before we really talk about the fact that the freshman scored 28 points on 9-of-15 shooting? White was sensational early, pumping in 14 early points, and also made some big baskets late. Roy Williams will doubtless mention White's four turnovers as an area for improvement, and he made some iffy decisions in the second half, but White was essential in establishing the tempo and in putting the ball in the hoop on a day when the Tar Heels struggled in that area. White also sank a key front end of a one-and-one with 1:02 remaining and the Tar Heels holding a five-point lead.
10. Carolina is now an incredible 95-31 in March and April under Roy Williams, and is 8-0 on the road in the ACC this year. Both are marks we probably take for granted as Tar Heels but are very difficult to achieve in a league as tough as the ACC.
11. Clemson came into the game second in the ACC and ninth in the country in two-point field goal percentage defense. They showed why on Saturday, as Carolina--which has been formidable at close range lately--made just 13 of 27 two-point field goal attempts and finished with only 18 points in the paint, easily a season low (the previous low had been 22). Â
12. Maye had yet another double-double, with 13 points and 10 rebounds.Â
13. Kenny Williams was quiet much of the day, just having his usual steady Williams-type game. But then he drained both ends of a one-and-one with 12.7 seconds left in a one-point game, and made one of two with 9.1 seconds left, again in a one-point game. It was also Williams who had the presence of mind to chuck the ball to the other end of the court as the final seconds elapsed to preserve the 81-79 win. Williams finished with nine points and also had six rebounds.
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