Lucas: Rapid Reactions

By Adam Lucas

1. Everyone doing OK? Blood pressure returning to normal? Carolina advances to the second round with a win over Iona.

2. The second half was tremendous. Iona couldn't sustain their perimeter marksmanship and Carolina's offense was significantly more crisp than it was in the first half. Bolstered by some energetic play from Nassir Little, the Tar Heels made as many field goals in the first ten minutes of the second half as they did in the entire first half. Little finished with 19 points.

3. The first half was atrocious. Iona got hot from three-point range and Carolina couldn't keep up offensively. The Gaels tossed in ten three-pointers, more than their season average for a game, in the first 20 minutes. An incredible 21 of the 30 shots Iona took in the first half were three-pointers. Iona finished with 15 made three-pointers, a season high for a UNC opponent.

4. Meanwhile, the Tar Heels' only reliable offense was rebounding their own misses. Carolina's 14 offensive rebounds generated 17 second chance points. The Tar Heels rebounded over half their misses in the first half, which is the only way they stayed in the game. UNC was 8 for 28 on the initial shot of a possession (28.6%) in the first half, and everyone other than Nassir Little was four for 22 in that scenario.

5. Credit Iona for doing a solid job of preventing Carolina from getting out in transition. The Tar Heels managed just two fast break points in the first half, which came on a trademark Coby White dash down the court. Otherwise, the Gaels were almost always set up in their zone defense before the Heels could beat them downcourt. Carolina eventually sped the 16 seed up in the second half and finished with nine fast break points.

6. Carolina looked a little tentative early. The Tar Heels quickly corrected that in the first five minutes of the second half. Three different Tar Heels dove on the floor chasing loose balls, and Cam Johnson ripped away a rebound from the Gaels. You never know how NCAA Tournament nerves might play out. It took about 20 minutes to eradicate Carolina's. Johnson's offense was especially important in the second half, when he had 16 points. Johnson finished with a team-high 21 total. Luke Maye added 16 points and nine rebounds.

7. The Tar Heels dominated play in the paint, partially because Iona had almost no interest in operating there. Carolina had a 46-10 edge on points in the paint.

8. Lost in all the first half struggles was the return of Leaky Black. The freshman had missed almost two months with an ankle injury suffered at Georgia Tech. It didn't take him long to remind everyone what they had missed. Black grabbed three rebounds in four minutes of first half action.

9. Tar Heels spotted in the stands: Tyler Hansbrough, Bobby Frasor and Stilman White.

10. Reminder: Top seed UNC trailed 16 seed Fairfield 35-28 at halftime in 1997. Carolina eventually won the game, 82-74, to give Dean Smith his 876th career victory, tying Adolph Rupp's career wins mark. That season ended with a Final Four trip.

11. Something that must improve if Carolina is to move forward: perimeter shooting. Including the ACC Tournament, the Tar Heels are now 18-68 on three-point shots in the postseason, and Luke Maye is three for his last 26 from the arc. Another area of concern after Friday night: Kenny Williams removed himself from the game with 2:14 left and had athletic trainer Doug Halverson check his right knee.

12. Carolina's five-point halftime deficit tied the largest they have overcome to win a game this season. The Tar Heels also trailed by five at half against UCLA in a game that feels like it took place three years ago.

13. UNC has only met Washington twice in program history. They're 2-0 in the series, with wins in December of 1972 in Honolulu, and an entertaining 86-83 win in the NCAA Tournament in Charlotte in 2011. Kendall Marshall had 13 points and 14 assists--a program record for the NCAA Tournament--in that 2011 game. They'll meet again on Sunday at approximately 2:40 p.m. UNC-Washington will be the second game in Columbus, with Tennessee-Iowa starting at 12:10.

14. Very nice for Sterling Manley to get two minutes of playing time less than a half hour from his hometown. Manley secured 15 tickets through trades with his teammates and had nearly three dozen friends and family in Nationwide Arena for the game. The big man got the next to last Tar Heel bucket of the evening.

Players Mentioned

Leaky Black

Nassir Little

Sterling Manley

Luke Maye

Coby White

Kenny Williams

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