UNC's Harrison Barnes dunks over the Virginia Tech defense in the first half at Cassell Coliseum. ROBERT WILLETT - rwillett@newsobserver.com
BLACKSBURG, Va. — His team down by five at halftime at Virginia Tech on Thursday night, North Carolina coach Roy Williams walked into the Tar Heels locker room and told his players to stop pouting. They’d suffered a 33-point loss at Florida State just days before and now they were losing again.
Williams wrote words on a board: “Poise. Toughness. Confidence.”
“I challenged them,” he said. “I said don’t be giving me and woe-be’s, don’t be giving me any feel sorry for yourselves. Let’s play. I wasn’t going to feel sorry for us at all.”
No. 8 UNC (16-3, 3-1) folded in the second half of that loss against the Seminoles on Saturday. Here on Thursday night, though, the Heels used a 19-0 second-half run to fuel an 82-68 victory against the Hokies (11-7, 0-4).
Harrison Barnes, the sophomore forward, scored 21 of his game-high 27 points in the second half. He scored eight of UNC’s first 10 points in that decisive 19-0 run, which began after Virginia Tech had expanded its lead to eight with 18:45 to play.
At about the same moment of the game in the meltdown in Tallahassee, Fla., on Saturday, UNC appeared deflated and defeated. This time, though, the Tar Heels showed their resolve.
“I think at halftime when we sat in the locker room, we kind of had like a moment of truth,” said UNC forward John Henson, who finished with 16 points and 16 rebounds. “You know – what kind of team we wanted to be … and we came out in the second half with the fire we needed to have the whole season.”
Intensity and energy – and having the necessary quantities of both – have been problem points for the Heels. But they weren’t during the past few days.
The Heels began the week with a productive practice on Monday that carried over to the team’s other practices leading into Thursday night. Asked whether it’d be fair to say that UNC had its best week of practice this season, Williams said, “It wouldn’t be fair. It’d be the [dang] truth.”
It had been a hard week, filled with long, hard days. That 33-point loss at FSU was the worst of Williams’ nine seasons as UNC’s head coach.
“The past couple of days have been a little tough,” UNC point guard Kendall Marshall said. “But I think it’s what we needed. I won’t say the loss is what we needed. But the message that [Williams] got across to us in the past few days of practice is definitely what we needed.”
Williams said his team “probably” played its best half of the season in the final 20 minutes against Virginia Tech. During that stretch, the Tar Heels outscored the Hokies 48-29 and held scoreless Virginia Tech guard Dorenzo Hudson, who had 16 points and four 3-pointers during the first half.
After the Hokies’ guard Erick Green made a 3 with 18:45 to play, the Heels were down eight and the crowd at Cassell Coliseum was on its feet and at its loudest. But Barnes made a pair of free throws, and then a jump shot after Hokies turnover. After a missed shot, Barnes drove the lane and finished with a one-handed dunk.
The run was on.
“I could definitely feel the momentum kind of shifting our way,” Barnes said. “Jump shot. Dunk. Those are momentum-changing plays.”
The news wasn’t all good for UNC. Junior guard Dexter Strickland suffered a right knee injury and left the game in pain with 16:44 to play. He could walk on his own afterward, but he described his knee as “sore.” He will undergo an MRI today.
Outside of Strickland’s injury, though, the Tar Heels mostly accomplished what they wanted. They snapped a three-game losing streak away from the Smith Center, and responded from a loss against FSU that called into question the Heels’ toughness.
“We played a great 20 minutes tonight,” said senior forward Tyler Zeller, who finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds. “Hopefully we can get that up to 40 minutes. And I think we’ll be tough to beat if we can do that."
Comments
Crickets
Fri, 01/20/2012 - 19:36 — gvillegatrUNCNow just isn't the same unless the Heels are losing. What a shame.
We may have to step over the
Fri, 01/20/2012 - 20:37 — unc098We may have to step over the fence
Ha !
Fri, 01/20/2012 - 21:09 — gvillegatrJust get back before the devil knows you're there !
What ever happened to
Sat, 01/21/2012 - 11:28 — unc098What ever happened to Heels20???? Are you out there buddy? Musta graduated
been wondering the same thing
Sat, 01/21/2012 - 15:24 — JPDOhioI miss the guy.
I don't know
Sat, 01/21/2012 - 11:37 — gvillegatrHe was a great ally, though. The guy would fight and scratch to the bitter end with a wuffie no matter what the time of day was. He was right 95% of the time ... maybe more.
My guess would be he just burned out. Dollars to donuts he still lurks.
That's the past
Thu, 01/19/2012 - 23:38 — gvillegatrThe Heels are putting on a dadgum clinic in the 2nd half.
No idea why the offense doesn't run through Barnes for forty mins a game.
Pretty much a team effort.
Fri, 01/20/2012 - 02:05 — unc098Pretty much a team effort. Stunning rebounding on both ends of the court in the second half. Certainly Barnes put on a show.
My observations:
Outside shooting was atrocious in the first half and most of the second as well
Great rebounding and boxing out in the second half
Our frontcourt is still not physical enough. Plenty of finese but low on brut strength.
Barnes took over in the second half, just like we saw him do last year. It opened up a lot of possibilities inside and out. He also played his best defensive game of the season. A difficult combo to beat. Are you paying attention Roy?
Bullock played very well coming in for Strickland both defensively and offensively. Are you paying attention Roy?
Strickland injury: Hope its not to bad.
Heels still need to put two halfs together
Still not enough defensive pressure on the three.
Good win on the road in a tough place. But aren' t they all?
Shoulda beaten the last place team in the league by at least 20.
Stillman looked awful in the last minute.
Where and who is McAdoo? Absolutely absent.
Should win the next 4 games before Duke. Hope we do.
Piggy back
Fri, 01/20/2012 - 10:08 — gvillegatrIt was a great TEAM effort in the 2nd half. I thought UNC played pretty well on defense in the first half, but VT was simply red hot. It all started on the possession where Henson had those two blocks down low and then Green gets the ball and banks in a three from straight on with one second left on the shot clock.
IMO, Coach Smith was teleported into the locker room at HT and gave these guys an ass chewing on how to box out in the paint. I haven't seen a job like that in a very, very long time from any team. I seriously thought Z looked like Montross on a few defensive possessions in the 2nd half.
It's gonna be tough for our interior to play black top bball when Henson is on your team. He simply is not that type of player. He makes up for it with his long arms and his ability to run the floor.
Barnes is the man. Screw the "Carolina Way" and get this guy the ball early and often to start a game and then work it down low. He was non existent in the first half and rarely touched the ball. He took the second half over. Great performance.
Bullock played better on the defensive side than the offensive side. And that is fine. The Heels didn't need him to be on point last evening from three. Good performance.
Strickland probably is not ok due to him being able to walk around. You typically can when you tear something as opposed to badly bruising it. We'll find out today, I guess.
Heels will be fine. If they outplay their opponents in the first and second half, it would not be fair.
I thought the Heels had some hands in the face on three balls in the first half, VT was just hot. I'm glad UNC upped the anty in the second half and imposed their will on VT. They gave up rather quickly.
VT shouldn't be the last place team. Seth's hour glass is running out. The Dookies couldn't beat Fake last night by twenty on their home court. state only won by fourteen at home to the second worse team in conference. Can't always win by twenty ....
McAdoo, IMO, hasn't found a role with this team. Where does he fit in ? He's played below avg when given the opportunity.
Will definitely win our next game at home. No question. This 'ain't' football where apparently the coach didn't know what the 'score' was.
15-1