North Carolina had been to the ACC Tournament finals four out of the last five years but lost. This year, with the score tied at 44-all with nine minutes to play in the finals, the Tar Heels seemed bent on winning it this time. (3/11)
The Tar Heels used a stifling defense and outscored the deliberate Virginia Cavaliers 11-2 over the next seven minutes to take a nine-point lead before settling for a 61-57 championship victory.
During the deciding run, the Cavaliers missed 11 straight shots. Ironically, UNC’s Justin Jackson, who had not had a good game, came up with two big buckets during the stretch. First, he rebounded a missed shot and quickly put the ball in the hoop to put the Heels up 48-44. Then he stole the ball and went the length of the court for a dunk giving the Heels their biggest lead of the game to that point at 53-46 with 4:49 to go.
The Heels got the lead to nine with 1:50 to go before surviving three late triples by Virginia. Joel Berry, the tournament’s MVP, hit a pair of free throws in the last second to wrap it up. He led all scorers with 19 points.
Carolina held Virginia to 36.5 percent shooting and held down ACC regular season MVP Malcolm Brogden, who hit just six of 22 shots, going two of nine from beyond the arc.
“Our defense has been terrific the last couple of weeks,” said Marcus Paige, who scored 13 and played Brogden most of the time. “I wanted to make everything tough and contested. I did a pretty good job of using my quickness. Other than one time he got me with a pump fake, I think I was there for everything else he did.”
It was the 18th tournament title but the first since the Heels got back-to-back titles in 2007 and 2008.
“Coach Smith said a long time ago you build your momentum once you get into the tournament,” UNC coach Roy Williams. “He talked about each tournament individually. We played pretty well five of the last six years we’ve been in this tournament but haven’t been able to finish it off. I’m hoping this will even give us some more confidence.”
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