Lucas: Who They Are

By Adam Lucas

CORAL GABLES—Miami entered Tuesday night's game with a very clear blueprint.

In Atlantic Coast Conference games, the Hurricanes lead the league in percentage of points scored from two-point range. They take very few three-pointers and aren't particularly adept at making them. They hit the offensive glass hard and are very stingy about giving up offensive rebounds to the opposition. They get to the free throw line.

The Canes beat Carolina, 75-66, and the way they accomplished it wasn't surprising.

They made 26 two-point field goals (Carolina made 17). Nineteen of their 29 made field goals were layups or dunks. They attempted just 13 three-pointers and made only three. They grabbed 12 offensive rebounds. They went to the free throw line 23 times and converted 14, a number bigger than Carolina's number of attempts (10).

In other words, Miami was exactly who they always are and who they want to be.

"That's what they want to do," Hubert Davis said of Miami's 46-28 points in the paint advantage. "They have guys who can score in the post and guards who can get into the paint and they have lob threats. They have the personnel to do it. We do, too. They just did a better job of it tonight."

That's very much the story of the game. Miami did a better job of being who they are than Carolina did of being who the Tar Heels are.

And what are they, exactly? They have two very talented frontcourt players. Unfortunately, both Henri Veesaar and Caleb Wilson had an off night on the same night, and both spent time with athletic trainer Doug Halverson as they worked through some ailments. Jarin Stevenson's team-high 13 points marked just the third time this season that someone other than the post duo led the team in scoring (the Heels are 1-2 in those games).

Carolina usually complements Veesaar and Wilson with the slashing and transition play of Seth Trimble. But the senior was 0-for-5 and had just one rebound—his lowest total in any game this year.

It's true that the bench provided a boost, with the reserves contributing 24 points. But Carolina's cornerstone players didn't provide enough offense to supplement it, and the Heels shot only 26.5 percent in the second half while going 1-for-14 from three-point range.

The splits are startling: in the first half, the Heels went 7-for-13 on three-pointers and 9-for-16 on two-point attempts. In the second half, the figures plummeted to 1-for-14 on three-point shots and 8-for-20 on two-point shots.

All the while, Miami was methodically simply doing what they do. They didn't make a three-point shot in the second half, but it didn't seem to matter. The most damaging sequence came with under three minutes left and a 63-60 lead. Carolina forced a missed three-pointer…but Shelton Henderson grabbed the rebound. Tre Donaldson drove and missed, but Ernest Udeh snagged the rebound and was fouled.

Udeh made his first free throw but missed the second…only to snake into the lane, grab his own rebound, and convert a layup.

One possession that lasted 50 seconds and generated three Hurricane offensive rebounds and three points. In a narrow game, those types of possessions are decisive trips.

"The hard plays you have to make to win in this league on the road, we didn't do it," Davis said on the Tar Heel Sports Network. "We got outrebounded again. We had turnovers, and I count ill-advised shots as turnovers. We had too many of those. You can't do that in this league, can't do that on the road, and can't do that against a good team."

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Players Mentioned

Jarin Stevenson

Seth Trimble

Henri Veesaar

Caleb Wilson

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