Off the cuff: UNC coach Roy Williams was a little salty after his team's 75-65 victory at home over Clemson.
He was happy with his team - and why not, they clamped down on defense and held a good Clemson team to 35 percent and the Heels outscored the Tigers 12-2 over the last five minutes to make Clemson zero for 55 in Chapel Hill.
But Williams was salty because he got an earful from Carolina fans on his Monday night radio show about Sunday's lackluster performance at Georgia Tech. "Don't call me next week and tell me how good we are," he said speaking in general to Carolina fans. "Keep your damn phone calls to yourself."
Williams said he had great restraint during the radio show but after his team played well over Clemson, he evidently couldn't hold it in any longer.
It's good to see Williams defensive in support of his team. However, that was a sorry effort in Atlanta - so sorry that longtime Carolina fans had never seen anything like it. And they said so but Williams said he didn't care how long people have been Carolina fans, that these are 18, 19 and 20 year old kids.
Williams did say that his team was more enthusiastic and aggressive than it had been in any ACC game so far over 40 minutes. "Our defensive intensity in the first half set the tone," Williams said.
Reggie Bullock's three triples and 16 points in the first half helped the Heels to a 46-38 halftime edge. The game was tied, however, with five minutes to go before the 12-2 final run.
Tar Heels 75, Clemson 65 Heels get well with home win over Tigs
North Carolina outscored Clemson 12-2 over the last five minutes to beat the Tigers for the 55th straight time at home, this time by a 75-65 score. (1/18)
If Clemson is ever going to beat Carolina in Chapel Hill, this might have been the night. UNC was playing its third game in six days while the Tigers had a week to prepare for Carolina. Plus, the Tar Heels were coming off their worst field goal shooting since 1955 in a loss to lowly Georgia Tech. Meanwhile, Clemson had won eight games in row. Finally, the Tigers, despite strong defense by the Tar Heels throughout and losing starter Tanner Smith to injury, were tied with five minutes to go.
With the score 63-63, UNC's Harrison Barnes banged in a three from just in front of the Carolina bench with 4:56 to go. Each team scored two points over the next three minutes. A John Henson tip in with 2:07 left gave the Heels a two possession lead at 70-65.
Big rebounds by Tyler Zeller and four free throws by Zeller and Kendall Marshall wrapped it up. A Larry Drew steal and bucket with 14 seconds left finished out the scoring.
UNC's Reggie Bullock scored 16 of his game-high 18 points in the first half, including a trio of threes. The Heels went into the half up 46-38 and upped the margin to 10 five minutes into the second half at 56-46. Over the next seven minutes, Clemson hit three triples and tied the score at 63. Clemson missed 13 of its last 14 shots of the game.
The Tigers, now 13-5 and 2-2 in the ACC, were led by Devin Booker, Andre Young and Demontez Stitt who each scored 11 points.
John Henson had 14 points, eight rebounds and five blocks for Carolina while Barnes added 13 and Zeller 11.
The Tar Heels, now 13-5 and 3-1 in the league, are off until Jan. 26 when they travel down to Miami.
