North Carolina rallied from behind with a late 12-3 run and Deon Thompson scored a career-high 23 points as the Tar Heels defeated Nevada 80-73 to give Coach Roy Williams his 600th coaching victory. (11/29)
Williams' shoulder, which was operated on earlier in the week, gave him a lot of pain at one point in the second half just as Nevada was taking a lead. The Tar Heels had squandered an 11-point second half advantage and Nevada took a 64-62 lead on a three pointer by Joey Shaw with 6:42 left.
However, the Heels eased Williams' pain with that 12-3 run highlighted by three pointers from each corner by Larry Drew, who finished with 12 points and 10 assists, to go up 74-67. The lead got down to five a couple of times and up to nine before Carolina settled for the seven-point final margin.
It looked as if it might be an easy night for UNC as the Heels took a 16-6 lead after five minutes when Marcus Ginyard stole the ball and tossed it to John Henson for a layup. The Wolf Pack chipped away at the lead pulling it to two at 41-39 before the Heels went on a 5-0 run, highlighted by a Henson dunk, to go up 46-39 at the half.
Buckets by Thompson and Ed Davis, who finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds, to start the second half gave the Heels their biggest lead of the game at 50-39. Once again the Wolf Pack didn't go away and went on a 7-0 run to get their first lead since it was 4-2 at 57-56.
It went back and forth over the next five minutes until the Heels went on that 12-3 run to take the lead for good. While the Tar Heels had a season-low eight turnovers, they only hit 12 of their 24 free throw shots. Armon Johnson led Nevada with 20 points.
North Carolina plays at home Tuesday night against Michigan State at 9 p.m.
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