Lucas: Rapid Reactions

By Adam Lucas

1. What can you say? You've seen it before.

2. Notre Dame went cold from the three-point line early and midway through the second half--which is the majority of their offense--but they caught fire again late in the half. The Irish finished 11-34 from the arc and seven of 18 in the second half. Far more than half their field goal attempts were three-point shots.

3. Interesting use of timeouts by Roy Williams in that game. Carolina typically saves all stoppages for the final couple minutes, but Carolina called one with 6:26 left to get Garrison Brooks back in the game and then called another with 2:20 left in a 73-70 game to set the offense and settle things down.

4. Garrison Brooks was terrific when he was able to get the ball with good position in the paint. The junior had 22 points and seven rebounds and was Carolina's most consistent offensive player. A problem: Carolina only got Brooks one shot in the final 8:38 and did not score during that time period.

5. The final minute of the first half temporarily changed the momentum for the Tar Heels. Notre Dame had taken a nine-point lead with 3:28 left and still led by seven with a minute remaining. But Garrison Brooks scored in the paint, Leaky Black challenged an Irish drive to the basket and forced a miss, and Christian Keeling hit a pair of free throws after being fouled on a jumper to cut the deficit to just three at the break. After a half in which the Heels shot just 35.1 percent from the court, that felt like a positive development, and it set the stage for a 13-0 run early in the second half to take control of the game.

6. Mike Brey's team tried to play some zone against the Tar Heels but couldn't rebound out of it and had to go back to man to man. Even in the man defense, Carolina dominated the glass and the offensive glass, rebounding 11 of their 26 misses in the first 20 minutes. That's how they were able to keep it close in a bad shooting half. They were even more productive off their second chances in the second half, but couldn't convert it into a win.

6. Leaky Black didn't have huge numbers in the box score, but his length and athleticism were a big part of Carolina's defensive effort. Black's first half defense late in the period thwarted what looked like a wide open Irish basket, and he was everywhere in the second half, getting multiple deflections. The sophomore was also an integral part of that rebounding effort and had a career high with ten boards.

7. Carolina's execution in the final four minutes was not good. There was too much one-on-one play, and the Tar Heels then made the issues worse by failing to capture a defensive rebound on a late miss by John Mooney that cracked the door for the game-winning three-pointer.

8. Brandon Robinson returned to the Tar Heel lineup after missing four straight games due to an ankle injury. Seven Tar Heels have now missed a combined 81 games due to injury. Robinson was the third Tar Heel in double figures with 11 (Cole Anthony led Carolina with 23).

9. Carolina controlled the rebounding, 47-31, and had 18 offensive rebounds on 38 missed shots. Give Notre Dame credit, though--the Irish did not allow an offensive rebound in the final 5:30, and that might have decided the game.

10. Prentiss Hubb helped save the Irish when their offense was struggling midway through the second half. Hubb scored 12 of Notre Dame's 15 points in one stretch.

11. That's now two straight games when Carolina has played fairly well offensively--the Tar Heels shot over 50 percent in the second half--but still lost. A consistent theme this season has been that the Tar Heels can't get stops when they need them.

University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Cole Anthony

Leaky Black

Garrison Brooks

Christian Keeling

Brandon Robinson

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