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Off the cuff: Against Miami, Lawson was sick to his stomach on Thursday and Friday but he made the Hurricanes feel like throwing up as he scored Carolina's last 11 points. Ellington was the other star of the game but he too has been ailing. He pulled some ligaments in his elbow in the Duke game and was playing with an arm wrap.

There were only 10 total free throws shot in the entire game. Hansbrough was often pounded inside and rarely got a call. He's not getting the calls he used to get from officials. With the score 38-35 in the second half, he was fouled twice inside within a couple of seconds and neither foul was called. Maybe teams know how to play Hansbrough better than they did last year but it also seems obvious that the officials have decided to let fouls go - at least against Hansbrough. That's opening the door for Lawson, if he continues on his streak, to possibly get ACC player of the year honors.

Fox Sports missed a lot of the action by instead showing graphics or zooming in on players (especially Miami's Jimmy Graham for some reason) instead of the action. Maybe they don't cover the Heels enough but you just don't put a closeup of the player while the ball is in play because Carolina will be right back down the court within a couple of seconds. They even missed an inbounds play with 10.6 seconds to go because of their fancy graphics and replay capabilities. That's inexcusable.

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Heels 69, Hurricanes 65
UNC uses 3s to survive Hurricane Jack

A trio of three-pointers by North Carolina's Ty Lawson late in the game helped the Tar Heels survive a 35-point performance by Miami's Jack McClinton as the Heels won 69-65 at Miami. (2/15)

Carolina, now 23-2, led by 14 at 54-40 after a Wayne Ellington three with about 12 minutes left but McClinton scored eight points in a minute to put the Hurricanes within striking distance at 54-48.

With the Heels up 58-50 with just over six minutes to go, Miami, behind two more buckets by McClinton, erupted for seven more points in a row within two minutes to draw within a single point at 58-57.

Lawson, who finished with team-high 21 points, drilled a three with 3:35 left but Miami came back with a three of its own by Adrian Thomas just 20 seconds later to make it 61-60.

Just 25 seconds after that, Lawson popped in another three to make it 64-60 with 2:50 to go. But McClinton continued his heroics with another three that made it 64-63 with 2:22 to play.

Carolina used clock from then on out but missed shots twice at the end of the shot clock. Miami couldn't convert either time.

The Tar Heels got the ball back with 44 seconds to go after Tyler Hansbrough drew a charge. Carolina ran it down to 27 seconds at which time UNC coach Roy Williams called timeout. With 19 seconds left on the shot clock, the Heels worked the clock but the play broke down and Lawson launched a long three that went down with just over 10 seconds to go, making it 67-63.

McClinton drove for a layup with less than five seconds to go to make it 67-65. Lawson was fouled with 2.6 to go and, with a one-and-one situation, sank both free throws to wrap it up.

Ellington got his first double-double of his career as he scored 15 points and hauled in 10 rebounds. Hansbrough was held to just eight points on a three of eight shooting night.

It was an ugly win for Carolina, which shot only 39 percent from the floor, but it was an important victory.

The win moves the Heels to 9-2 to lead the ACC, a full two games ahead of Duke, which lost at Boston College. Miami falls to 4-9 in the conference and 15-9 overall.

Boxscore

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