...and comes out with its 13th win
When you read some stats about top ranked North Carolina (13-0) you find out that they're beating teams by an average of close to 27 points per game and have only scored under 80 once this season. So, when Carolina beat Nevada (7-6) by 23 points, 84 to 61, those stats do make sense. Over 80 points and a margin of 23. What the numbers don't tell, as most box scores never do, is that this win was done with a Tyler Hansbrough that under performed, even if leading his team in points scored, with 22. Also, another shocker for the Heels, Ty Lawson had 2 turnovers on the night. Other than that, well, it was a normal day at the office for head coach Roy Williams and his team.
Kind of a weird start for Carolina, who took the lead 2-0, but then let the Wolf Pack go in the lead 8 to 2, until Danny Green's back to back three pointers tied the game at about the 17 minute mark. The two squads then exchanged punches for a while, with Luke Babbitt giving Nevada a 12-10 lead with about 13 minutes to go and then Armon Johnson giving the home team a 14 to 12 lead a minute later. After that, a couple of free throws by Hansbrough at the 11:53 mark tied the game and then an Ed Davis short jumper off an offensive rebound gave the lead to the Heels. At that point there were 10 minutes and 59 second left in the game and Nevada would never have the lead again.
At the half the score was 41 to 27, thanks in part to a 10 to 1 run right after they had the lead and a crippling three pointer by Wayne Ellington with a few seconds to go in the first half. I have to say I'm not sure if I was happy with the performance from Carolina, or happy to be in the lead and we will see about the problems later. Either way, after a pretty slow start the Heels had a 14 point lead against a team that had nothing to lose, and were playing just that way. But I have to say one thing, if someone on this team has an off night it doesn't mean in any way that the opponent is set for an upset, because this team has way too many weapons this year. By no means is Nevada the compass on which to judge this team, but holding a team to 34.9% shooting from the field is good, especially for a team like UNC that everyone (including me) has said if there is a kink in the armor it is their defense. Last night, on a hostile floor, the Tar Heels played some good defense for most of the game, keeping the Wolf Pack at 10% (1 out of 10) from beyond the arc.
Wayne Ellington hitting one of his three's against Nevada. The one at the end of the first half might have been the final nail in Wolf Pack's coffin.
As I said before, Hansbrough was not at his best last night and every time they had a camera on him, be it on the floor or on the bench, he looked upset or mad at something. Maybe it was his 7 for 13 shooting, or the fact that he didn't score in the first eight minutes of the game, throwing up an air ball in the process. Or maybe it was the fact that he didn't get into the groove until late in the first half against a mediocre team. I'm not sure, but hopefully it is a one night thing and all is back to normal tomorrow. Ty Lawson didn't have as much turbo going as usual early on, and there weren't as many fast breaks as I remembered seeing last year, but one thing is for sure, Lawson is the ignition to this very powerful engine. When he goes, the rest of the team goes with him, and for the three or four times that his passes went to the right person UNC scored in a matter of seconds, remembering most of all the play with Lawson to Ellington for a jam and two points that happened about three seconds from Nevada's hard fought basket.
In all Ellington scored 15 points, on a 5 for 11 (2 for 5 from 3) performance. Lawson added 11 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds on the night. And while Deon Thompson didn't have a stellar game, 6 points and 3 rebounds, Ed Davis coming off the bench recorded 8 points and 8 rebounds. In all the big men for UNC had 36 points and 14 boards, not bad, but I think they can all do a bit better, especially on the rebounding category. As coach Williams said, one of his concerns on the night was the fact that a smaller lineup outrebounded the Tar Heels tonight:
"it’s not what we wanted to do and to have them outrebound us, but you got to win some games like this that are a little uglier than you like."
The bigger concern for the big men might be that in the second half their opponents seemed to be able to do a lot more than they should have. Easy shots, too many rebounds and most of all resorting to fouls to stop them (especially in the second half). I would say that Nevada could be a middle of the pack team in the Atlantic Coast Conference, which means they aren't as bad as a lot of people might think, but it also means that against better teams than Nevada, which the Heels will face many of from here on out, the big men cannot do as they please down low. If that happens it's going to be a major problem, win or lose.
Overall though, on a trip far from home, with different time zones involved, I have to say that Carolina played a game that, while it might not have been perfect, put them in a position of having control from way before halftime to the end of the game. Yes, some tweaks here and there should be made. Yes, it wasn't the same game as it was last year at Chapel Hill. Yes, yes, yes, but in the end did anyone ever have the feeling that UNC was going to lose this game? I surely didn't and even more, I felt that the Heels weren't rattled early on, when Nevada had that small lead. They played the way they were taught and got a handle on the situation.
As usual it was nice to see a deep rotation from the Heels, with nine players having double figure minutes, Hansbrough leading the way with 30 minutes, to Larry Drew II getting 11. In all, the first starters and Ed Davis all got 18 minutes or more of playing time. What was also nice is seeing Mike Copeland (2 minutes) getting his first action of the season after his injury, while Marcus Ginyard, in his second game back got 12 minutes of playing time. In all, as I always said, it is great to see this team keeping the minutes down, so that they can stay as fresh as possible during the season.
Marcus Ginyard and Mike Copeland, the last two Heels returning from the injury ward. This team can only get better as these two young men get playing time and back to form.
Talking of nice, I have to give credit, or should I say props, to Ty Lawson and Danny Green, as their two come from behind plays to stop easy lay ups were phenomenal. In the first half the speedy point guard caught up with one of Nevada's guards on a breakaway and stripped him as he was going up. In the second half, with about 14 minutes left in the game and the game well in hand, out of nowhere Green went up and blocked a shot from the Wolf Pack. (Green's shot block is on the highlight reel at the top of this post). As the commentators said "it was SuperMan Green". That play should easily have made any and all highlight reel for the new year as it was very sweet, well, very sweet for all but the Wolf Pack team and fans.
In the end, this win was a good one for the Heels and while it did expose a couple of concerns, it also showed that this team can play to win on any given night. UNC now comes home to play Boston College (01/04) and then College of Charleston (01/07) in the last non conference game of the season, finally meeting up with one of the other two powerhouses of the conference, Wake Forest on January 11th. So, as I keep saying, strap that seat belt on and hang on tight, this should be one heck of a ride.
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