CHAPEL HILL - Miami guard Divine Ugochukwu converted just one of his four field goal attempts in the Hurricanes’ 92-73 loss to North Carolina. Yet, it was perhaps the most important basket for the Tar Heels inside the Smith Center on Saturday.
Ugochukwu connected on a 3-point attempt from the corner with 7:16 remaining in the first half, cutting the UNC lead to four at 31-27 and forcing Hubert Davis to take a timeout.
Davis, who had just witnessed the Tar Heels’ advantage more than cut in half, used the self-imposed break in action to express his displeasure with his team’s performance. The fourth-year head coach was visibly frustrated in the huddle, yelling so frequently that he worked up a sweat, wiping it away akin to a boxer in a title fight.
“I just didn’t think the discipline and details, things that we talk about that have to be there consistently, was happening in that stretch in regards to taking care of the basketball, boxing out, rebounding, getting through screens, talking on defense, contesting shots, defending without fouling,” said Davis. “I wanted to take a timeout to communicate that to them.”
Davis has often used timeouts to send his team a message, but typically under different circumstances, with them in a hole and in danger of falling too far behind.
But, according to junior guard Seth Trimble, the animated message was not only necessary, but came at the right time.
“[It was] a lot of yelling, pretty much telling us to wake up. A harsh, but needed message,” said Trimble. “That was really it, telling us to wake up, do what we need to do, and just get to playing Carolina basketball… We needed it and I’m glad he did [it] and we responded right away.”
North Carolina closed out the final 7:15 of the first half on a 15-4 run, as its lead ballooned to 15 points at 46-31. It was the eighth time this season and fifth time in ACC play that it possessed a double digit lead at the break.
Its defense found a second gear, as Miami finished 2-for-11 following Ugochukwu’s 3-pointer and went scoreless over the final 2:10 of the first half. It helped hold Miami over three points below its first half scoring average (34.8).
The Tar Heels’ ‘foot on the gas’ stretch marked the final time the Hurricanes came within 14 points of UNC, and served as the unofficial end of their 19th win of the season.
“We were asleep a little bit. Got a noon game, playing a team that’s [at the] bottom of the conference, you may overlook it,” said Trimble. “That’s when things can go wrong. We came out of the gate kind of expecting them to hand it to us. Miami doesn’t want to lose these games, so we kind of had to understand that and then go take it.”
The Tar Heels entered Saturday’s contest nine games ahead of Miami in the ACC standings and as 18-point favorites.
The Hurricanes, who now sit at 2-16 in conference play, will finish last in the league and fail to qualify for the ACC Tournament.
Saturday’s contest served as the perfect trap game with UNC riding a four-game winning streak, which is why Davis also wanted to remind his team that it was even more important that they lock in and focus.
“We talked a lot about this week that the times where individually and as a team you experience some success that those are the times where you have to even dive in deeper to the discipline and details that have allowed you to get to where you are,” said Davis. “It’s not time to take a deep breath.”
It was a part of Davis’ message inside the huddle following his first half timeout, as his sweat-inducing, animated reminder to his team served as the catalyst for the Tar Heels’ 19-point win.
