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Off the cuff: Win or lose, I think most Carolina fans were ready for this season to end. It was frustrating throughout and the NIT championship game was no different. Wild turnovers, missed free throws, scoring droughts, allowing open threes, being outhustled for loose balls - this game had it all.
That being said, the Tar Heels - showing character - did put together a nice run to end the season and they did fight back in recent games, including this one during the first few minutes of the second half.
Coach Williams said the Tar Heels started playing harder once they reached the NIT. Which seems strange in that Carolina was disappointed about not being n the NCAA tourney. In fact, it was obvious that an NIT championship meant more to Dayton than it would have to UNC. Now, Carolina would have felt a great relief, a great burden lifted off them here in the 100th anniversary year of UNC basketball, had they won. But it was clearly disappointing to the Heels to be there and it was clearly a joy for Dayton to be there.
It was a fast-paced game - too many three-point attempts for my taste. Wild games like this make it hard on officials and indeed the officiating was not particularly good. One of my beefs all year has been the lack of three-second violations. I mean, get rid of the rule if you aren't going to call it or amend it to five seconds or something. It's just a charade.
On a key possession in the second half, with the Heels down just 62-59, the Flyers' Kurt Huelsman twice (on the same possession mind you) was in the lane for much more than three seconds, including one time when he actually had the ball so officials were looking at him. The first time Huelsman was in the lane for a full nine seconds - check it out on your DVR starting at the 6:44 mark. The second time, after getting out of the lane for only one second, he was in the lane for five seconds. That's 14 out of 15 seconds he was in the lane. And what happened on that possession? Chris Johnson hit a three to up the margin to six and the Tar Heels never got it closer than four the rest of the way.
I wish the officials during my junior high years had been as forgiving. I came into one game to spell foul-plagued starter Jeffrey Battle, who went on to star at Memphis State, with two seconds left in the first half. The official called me for three seconds.
That's kinda like the luck Carolina had this season. But, when it comes down to it, the Tar Heels just could not get the ball in the basket consistently. They've got guys coming in next year who should be able to help with that. If Zeller stays healthy and Ed Davis comes back, with the experience the underclassmen got this season, next year should help erase the frustration of this season. It could be a special year.
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Both North Carolina and Rhode Island played hard but neither played well. Several minutes would go by without either team scoring a field goal because they'd turn it over or miss easy shots or something.
The Tar Heels survived a 11-4 run over a seven-minute period late in the first half and a 12-3 run over a four-minute span before the final TV timeout. With the three-point shot not being there for the Tar Heels and with their foul shooting being off, it's hard to imagine how Carolina won that game.
But they did rebound well and gutted out a victory. You have to feel good if you are a Carolina fan that the Heels reached 20 wins, however they got there.
Now, the Tar Heels have a chance to be one of only two teams in post-season play that will win their last game of the season.
By the way, regarding the final controversial play where Ulmer fell down as time ran out, if it were a foul on Graves, it was a very light one that should not have made him fall. Announcers went wild as if it was so obvious but even after slowing it down on replay, it's hard to tell how much contact there was.
But if people want to argue that it was a foul, fine. If you go back further, less than two minutes before the end of regulation, there was a foul called on John Henson that resulted in a free throw for Rhode Island. If you look at the tape and pause it, you'll see that the foul came well after what should have been a shot-clock violation on Rhode Island. That one point made the difference between overtime and Carolina winning by one in regulation.
As many tough breaks as Carolina has had this season, I don't really want to hear the complaints about the final play. Plus, the man was not in any position to get off a decent shot. It would have been a travesty if Carolina lost after Graves was called on such a close play that far away from the basket.
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Carolina Football: Golden anniversary of a redeeming 50-0 victory over Duke.
Carolina Football: Excerpts from an article on the history of the Carolina-Duke rivalry.
Henson Barnes, nation's top high school player, signs letter of intent
Duke hurt most by decision
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Dayton 79, Tar Heels 68 (NIT Final)
Frustrating end to a frustrating season
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North Carolina, playing in perhaps the final NIT game, fell behind by 13 at the half and, despite cutting the lead to two on four occasions in the second half, couldn't get over the hump and lost to Dayton 79-68. (4/1)
The game was lost during the last eight minutes of the first half. With the score tied at 28, Dayton went on a 17-4 run, highlighted by three threes by the Flyers' Marcus Williams, including one from beyond the NBA line.
The Tar Heels stormed out of the lockerroom to go on 12-1 run of their own to cut the margin to two at 46-44. A pair of threes by Will Graves and a pair of dunks by John Henson highlighted that run.
But Johnson came right back to drill a three for Dayton for a five-point cushion. Carolina got it back down to two at 51-49 on an old-fashioned three-point play by Deon Thompson. Dayton pushed back again with five straight points.
A pair of Graves' free throws got it back down to two at 56-54 with less than 10 minutes to play but once again Johnson drained a three to keep Carolina at bay.
A Graves three-pointer from the right corner cut it to two once more at 59-57 with 8:44 to go. But this time things fell apart for the Heels. Marcus Ginyard missed a layup that would have tied it and Johnson hit another open three.
Carolina trailed only 62-59 at the next-to-last TV time but Chris Johnson hit yet another three. Then Larry Drew II threw it away on an alley-oop attempt, Zeller threw up a long, low-percentage jump hook, and Drew turned it over again on a wild upcourt pass.
Graves kept the Tar Heels within range with a pair of long threes and the Heels trailed by only five at 73-68 with 1:10 to go. But Dayton easily broke Carolina's press that ended with a Chris Johnson layup and it was all but over. Free throws provided the misleading 11-point final margin.
Coach Roy Williams took out seniors Marcus Ginyard and then Deon Thompson with 16 seconds left. Thompson played in his 152nd game, a record for a collegiate player.
Dayton's hot shooting and tough defense in the first half was the difference. Coach Williams said that the Flyers had more enthusiasm and intensity in the first half but he was proud his team came back at the start of the second half - the team just could not get over the hump.
Williams said his team's NIT run was a nice one but... "No disrespect to the NIT," he said, "But my dreams and goals are not to play in the NIT." Still, he said the last few games were "extremely important" for seniors Thompson and Ginyard to end their careers with a better feeling and for the young guys to show them how they could play.
The Tar Heels, led by Graves' career-high 25 points, finished 20-17 while Dayton, led by Marcus Johnson's 20 points, finished 25-12.
Boxscore
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Tar Heels 68, Rhode Island 67 (OT)
UNC wins a wild one to advance to final |
North Carolina came from five down with 90 seconds left in regulation to tie it and then took the lead for good in overtime on a three-point play by Tyler Zeller to defeat Rhode Island 68-67 and advance to the NIT final. (3/30)
In a close game throughout, Rhode Island held its biggest lead at 59-54 with less than two minutes to play. UNC's Larry Drew canned a fall-away jumper from 18 feet out with 1:28 to go to make it 59-56. Following a UNC steal off a two-man trap, Drew was fouled driving to the lane. He hit only one free throw however and Carolina still trailed 59-57 with 1:06 to go.
Following a missed Ram free throw in a one-and-one situation, Drew drove all the way for a tying bucket with less than a minute to go. Rhode Island's Delroy James drew a foul with :29 left but missed both free throws.
Carolina held the ball for a final shot but, much to the chagrin of Carolina coach Roy Williams, Drew pulled up on his drive to the basket to stop and shoot a long one that wasn't close.
In overtime, Will Graves, who fought foul trouble and a shooting drought, drilled a long three with 4:38 to go to put the Heels up 62-59. The Rams tied it at 63 on a fastbreak bucket by Keith Cothran, who led Rhode Island with 23 points. Then UNC's Marcus Ginyard had an unforced error and lost the ball, which resulted in a fastbreak layup by James that gave the Rams a 65-63 edge.
But Zeller banged one in off the backboard as he was being fouled. He also converted the free throw to put the Heels up 66-65. Following a Zeller block on the defensive end, Deon Thompson was fouled on the offensive end.
Carolina had a hard time from the line all night and was only six of 14 on the night as Thompson stepped to the line. "I told him to make the dadgum free throws," Coach Williams said. He did to make it 68-65. "Great coaching huh?" Williams added.
Rhode Island pulled to within a point with two minutes to go. But the Rams missed a three-point shot and Thompson missed an easy tip for Carolina. The ball went out of bounds and it was awarded to the Heels.
With about six seconds difference between the shot clock and the game clock, UNC elected to hold it. Drew got off a shot with about seven seconds left but it bounded away. Rhode Island's Lamonte Ulmer got the rebound and dribbled out with about three seconds left but he tripped during a scramble for the ball and time ran out.
Rhode Island argued that Graves tripped him but replays seem to show that, while there may have been slight incidental contact, Ulmer tripped over his own feet. Despite that, Coach Williams said, "Something probably should have been called there at the end. We should not have been that close to him. You don't foul 60 feet away from the basket."
It was a sloppy game for both teams as Carolina turned the ball over 17 times and Rhode Island coughed it up 18 times plus neither team could shoot the ball - Carolina shooting 35 percent and Rhode Island shooting 37 percent. The Heels came down with an amazing - and season high - 60 rebounds compared to 45 for the Rams.
Thompson led the way with 16 points and 13 rebounds while Graves scored 14 and Zeller added 12.
The Tar Heels, now 20-16, play for the NIT championship Thursday night against Dayton.
Photo Gallery
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Editor's Note: HeelPrints chronicled the UNC basketball, baseball and football seasons for 2008 and 2009. Since the vast majority of comments I get about the site relate to basketball and since this isn't a paying job for me, I have decided to limit my coverage and analysis to basketball. Baseball and football will remain archived and if I have comments or opinions I want to make on those or any other sports at UNC, I will make them here on the front page and then archive them in the corresponding sports section. Thanks for all the positive comments I have received about the site. Should I get sponsorship in the future, I will reconsider adding baseball and football again. Ironically, my favorite sports to watch in person are baseball and football. But my first connections to UNC came from watching Dean Smith's basketball teams on TV or listening to them on the radio in the days before all the games were televised. It should come as no surprise that people pay more attention to the basketball coverage. Thanks for your interest in this site. |
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© 2009 CB3media Cary, NC
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Heel Prints reviewed each UNC game
As a student sports editor years ago, prior to the season, Clifton Barnes predicted a national championship for the Tar Heels and indeed they won. In fact he wrote his lede paragraph for the national championship game almost a year early. He regrets that he didn't keep a journal after each game. While he didn't predict a championship this season, he did have those same feelings. He kept a journal after each game of the 2007-2008 season and you can reach them here. He recently completed writing about UNC's baseball season and wrote an analysis after each 2008 UNC football game.
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