North Carolina gave a double jolt of caffeine to the ACC tournament Friday – first by nearly losing to Miami, then by clawing back from a 19-point deficit to beat the Hurricanes on a buzzer beater by Tyler Zeller.
Zeller’s layup just before the buzzer – off a beautiful feed from Kendall Marshall – gave North Carolina a 61-59 ACC quarterfinal victory that seemed very unlikely until the final minute. The result: a crowd of more than 23,000 at the Greensboro Coliseum, made up of 90 percent Tar Heel fans for this one, got very scared and then got overjoyed.
Five reasons why North Carolina finally pulled this one out after never leading for the game's first 39 minutes and 59 seconds:
1. A three-point binge. Down 55-39 with 7:46 to go, the Tar Heels reeled off four three-pointers while Miami went scoreless in a span of two and a half minutes. That made it 55-51, and it obviously rattled Miami.
2. Zeller awakens. UNC’s leading scorer at 14.6 points per game, Zeller was flummoxed by Miami’s matchup zone until the last four minutes. He then scored the Tar Heels last eight points on four straight field goals from inside.
In the first 36 minutes, Zeller had five points. In the last four, he had those eight, including the last left-handed layup. “I just sort of shot-putted it up there,” Zeller said.
3. Miami miscues. You can’t make a comeback from 19 points down with 10 minutes to go – UNC’s largest comeback since 2006 – without a lot of help. Miami gave it by not being able to score. One shot after another went sour for Miami. And with the score tied at 59-all, the Hurricanes fumbled a relatively simple pass out of bounds, setting up Zeller’s layup.
4. Coaching strategy. Roy Williams went small with a three-guard lineup for much of the comeback, allowing the Tar Heels to trap more and make a few more three-pointers. Williams also sent in five walk-ons early in the game – basically to give him time to yell at the starters – but that didn’t do much immediately as the Tar Heels still trailed by nine at halftime.
5. The crowd. It was full, it was very loud and there’s no doubt it helped.
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9 years ago
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8 comments:
YIKES
All The ACC teams are out of gas...
The 2011 championship will be won by a Big East team...
watchout
Big East? PUH leeeeeeze. I'm so sick of hearing how good the Big East is year after year. Where are the NCAA trophies, then?
Looks like the ACC has produced 50% of the champs in the last 10 years to me.
The Big East is a good conference, but beat each other up too much and it shows in the NCAA's. I can say this about the BE, they did have a Hansbrough win POY. That has a familiar ring.
The do beat each other up - literally. Have you watched their games? Their fans take pride in what a "physical" league it is, but it doesn't help them in the tourney when the refs actually have whistles and use them ocassionally. Plus, the ACC is down but has two elite level teams most years. The BE has a lot of teams that are all about the same level, but no one really is ever elite save for a UConn team every few years.
d00k won't have many fans because STARWARZ called and summoned all nerds back to the space shuttle discovery retirement!
GO HEELS!
well this was one of the most productive weekend, specialy for the points you mentioned here, well I hope that you still doing the same work every time.
This strategy is awesome! you are the most amazing CEO I've ever seen in my whole life!
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