Fearless Woods Gives Carolina Huge Boost

DURHAM, NC – For a fleeting second Wednesday night, Seventh Woods was stricken with fear.

With the first half of North Carolina’s game at top-ranked Duke reaching halftime, or so Woods thought, the junior point guard ran off the court toward UNC’s locker room feeling pretty good about himself until he realized he hadn’t heard the horn sound.

Was it really halftime yet, or did Woods just run off the court with the game still going on, something that would surely draw some serious ire from his coach?

After all, Woods had just made a sensational play, registering a steal off a pass from Duke’s Cam Reddish and feeding Garrison Brooks for an emphatic slam seemingly as the horn sounded. Seemingly.

“First of all, I knew I wasn’t going to throw a lob because I kind of messed it up (earlier),” Woods said, describing the play while referencing and earlier mistake in the game. “I just saw the guy step up and bounce pass it, and I was a little scared, honestly, because I ran off the court and I didn’t hear the clock go off. It was just a basketball play.”

The horn did sound, so Woods was in the clear. But Duke wasn’t, as the Tar Heels had built a 10-point lead, which they made stand up in an 88-72 victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium. And for Woods, that wasn’t his only noteworthy moment of the night.

With freshman point guard Coby White struggling to a 3-for-14 shooting and six-turnover performance, the Tar Heels needed Woods to step in and manage the team while also taking advantage of whatever opportunities opened up.

He did just that, finishing with five points and three assists (three turnovers) in nearly 13 minutes of action. He also helped stabilize the Heels in both halves.

“Other than the turnovers, I thought Seventh was really, really good,” UNC Coach Roy Williams said.

A week ago, Duke overcame a 23-point deficit with less than 10 minutes remaining to win at Louisville, and Wednesday at around that point in the game the eighth-ranked Tar Heels were going through a so-so stretch with Duke on a short 6-2 spurt having cut the margin to 14 points.

But instead of pulling back and not being aggressive like what the Cardinals did, the Heels attacked. Actually, Woods attacked, reinvigorating his team with what he does best: Use his speed to get by people.

Woods drove past everyone on the court for a layup to make it 71-55 with 9:00 left, he hit a free throw after drawing a foul on another drive and then once again blew by everyone in the building for an impressive layup and a 74-55 UNC lead with 8:02 left to play.

It was one of the final pushes the Heels needed, and it was Woods at the top of his game doing what he does best.

“He was unbelievable,” Luke Maye said about Woods. “He came in and gave us great minutes. He had one terrible pass underhanded for a lob but, other than that, I thought he played great.

“He did some great things going to the basket and I’m just so proud of the way he’s continued to battle through adversity.”

That adversity has been Woods’ well-chronicled injury issues of the last two seasons and some inconsistency this year. His minutes have fluctuated, and in a couple of recent ACC games Woods didn’t get off the bench in the second half.

But he's maintained a strong mindset that has served him well.

“Just control the things you can control,” he said. “I can’t control how many minutes I play, can’t control what happens on the court. You’ve just got to be ready when your number is called like it was today.”

Woods was ready, Woods delivered, and when the final horn sounded Woods had no fear, he was all smiles.