Heels Step Up In The Nick Of Time
CHAPEL HILL - For the first 37 minutes of North Carolina’s 88-85 overtime win over Miami on Saturday, head coach Roy Williams questioned how much his team really wanted to win.
“The last three minutes of regulation today and the overtime I’d say yes,” Williams said, noting the period of the contest in which he was pleased with his team’s toughness. “We’re down six or seven inside the seven-minute mark, so I thought they were really tough today.”
As it turned out, the Tar Heels needed to be tough in order to beat an undermanned Miami team that has the worst record in the ACC.
UNC trailed the Hurricanes from the 13:48 to 3:20 mark in the second half before freshman Coby White, who tied his season-high with 33 points, hit a 3-pointer to give the Tar Heels a 68-66 lead.
That lead wouldn’t hold for long though as Miami held a 77-74 advantage in the final moments before Luke Maye hit a three with 12 seconds remaining to force overtime. Maye’s shot gave UNC a lifeline and was a prime example of the toughness they played with in the final few minutes of the second half.
“I just wanted to do it (hit the shot) like I do it in practice, that’s how I’ve always been taught,” Maye said. “Coach (Williams) had confidence in me and I had confidence in myself.”
And then, in overtime, the other seniors stepped up when called upon.
Kenny Williams hit a three with 2:08 left for an 82-79 advantage that they never relinquished. Those two baskets from Maye and Williams were huge and once again showed the fortitude that UNC possessed in the final eight minutes.
“We learned a lot about ourselves today,” Kenny Williams said. “We know that when the time comes, when we need to, we can lock down and get stops. But we also know that we’ve got a bunch of guys that can make the big shots and the big plays that we need them to make.”
Cameron Johnson struggled from the floor, finishing just 3-of-11, but he hit a pair of free throws with 12 seconds remaining in overtime that iced the game.
“We just kind of didn’t come out with enough energy or as much as we should have,” Johnson said. “And I think we made some big time plays down the stretch when we needed them. Some guys really stepped up.”
Saturday’s performance was another reminder that simply showing up in the ACC will cut it, even for the league’s hottest team playing at home versus the league’s last-place club.