Despite dominating stats, Heels led by just five in closing minutes

Isaiah Hicks.
Isaiah Hicks.
When you shoot 57 percent from the floor, 74 percent from the line and outrebound the other team by 14, you normally win and Carolina did as the Tar Heels won 79-68 at Boston College.

But this was a five-point game with less than three minutes to play. Boston College missed several three pointers in a row. Another better team might have hit a couple of them and taken the lead. Who knows what would have happened had that been the case.

But Marcus Paige, who had done very little in the game and who went scoreless in the first half, once again came through. He opened it up with a drive down the left side after milking the shot clock, two free throws and a layup in the last 1:20.

Isaiah Hicks, who well may have been the player of the game with an unexpected start and career-high 21 points, missed a free throw in a one-and-one situation with 2:19 to go. He had hit seven free throws in a row before missing the final four at key moments.

Kennedy Meeks, who has been sick, didn’t start but Coach Williams said it was a coach decision not an illness that kept him out. Meeks played just 12 minutes and scored just four points.

Hicks and Brice Johnson controlled the game inside but if the Heels run into a team hitting threes, it will be tough trading twos for threes.

For more on the game, please click here.

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