MEMPHIS — Although North Carolina's 72-60 win over Oklahoma wasn't really as close as the final score indicates, the Tar Heels were in their offensive trouble range.
In the only two other games this season when they failed to score more than 73 points, the Heels’ record was 1-1. There was the 73-70 loss to Florida State in the ACC Tournament semifinals at Atlanta and a 69-65 win at Miami on Feb. 15.
Several factors contributed Sunday, the most important of which was OU’s defensive work against Tyler Hansbrough (eight points).
But Carolina also eased off the tempo, which Roy Williams very rarely does.
Up 61-40 with more than seven minutes left, Carolina was on pace to hit the high 70s or low 80s, depending upon the Sooners’ willingness to foul and gamble to grab steals. On five straight possessions after getting that 21-point lead, the Heels turned to their clock-killing strategy. It’s one of the few things this team doesn’t do well. The momentum quickly changed, and had Ty Lawson not canned a couple of free throws to make it 63-49 with 4:12 to go, the final minutes could have been exciting.
A third, but less obvious, contributor was the fact that Carolina wingman Wayne Ellington finally had a poor shooting performance - 3-for-9 with four misses on five 3-point attempts. He finished with nine points after having averaged 20-plus over the past five games.
On the opposite end of the court, Ellington more than countered. For most of the game, he held OU’s Willie Warren in check. Warren finished with 18 points, but seven of those came after the outcome was beyond doubt. He also committed four turnovers and rarely got an open look on 3-pointers.
The Sooners naturally preferred to cite their bad shooting luck, but Carolina had nine steals. Only Blake Griffin consistently had offensive success and much of that was the result of his six offensive rebounds.
Comments
Tyler should've
Mon, 03/30/2009 - 14:35 — jeromfitzbeen at the free throw line when look at the game on the internet channel. (I like the 30 second delay play on line). The refs didn't make calls like they should've to put Griffin on the bench in foul trouble. I believe Tyler could have scored anytime he thought he had the position. It's team game and coaches want team players. That what Tylers has on his side because UNC won the game as a team. OKlahoma has the Griffins brothers dominating the game and the rest of the team is so so.
On to Detroit
Mon, 03/30/2009 - 09:50 — heelsno1Any win that gets you into the Final Four is awesome. I do not see anything troublesome about a game when the Heels never trailed and finished with a twelve point victory.
flow
Mon, 03/30/2009 - 09:22 — gvillegatrflow of the game was miserable for the Heels b/c every time they breathed they were whistled for a foul in the 2st half. UNC should have been up about 20 some after the first twenty.
funny, the hoodlum for the historical black school can flip "red" and get the whistle. but when "red" tries to flip Tyler, (unsucessfully) Tyler is called for the foul!
Refs calling touch fouls to protect Griffin
Mon, 03/30/2009 - 05:40 — Vegasjoe57Griffin is very good but the protectionism when he initiates contact with the ball is a joke. The baseline foul called on Ed Davis when Griffin dribbled the ball off his leg was telling.
re:
Mon, 03/30/2009 - 07:40 — swisspfauyou mean like hansbrough has had the past four years?!
Jealousy does not become you
Mon, 03/30/2009 - 07:46 — WNCMikeJealousy does not become you !
just pointing out the
Mon, 03/30/2009 - 07:48 — swisspfaujust pointing out the obvious, nothing to be jealous of
oh yes /// the final
Mon, 03/30/2009 - 02:12 — bigbird1956oh yes /// the final minutes were exciting //////// heels won final four bound lol
i guess u couldnt see that
Mon, 03/30/2009 - 02:10 — bigbird1956i guess u couldnt see that ok was walking the ball up the court for most of the game? but if we have scoring problems and still have the game under complete control and win by double digits were not n much trouble ///////////// we have been playing much better defense so we dont need to score as much go heels