The Sweet 16 loss eliminated Carolina from the NCAA Tournament.
“You have to congratulate Wisconsin. They’re really, really tough kids,” UNC coach Roy Williams said. “The difference between winning and losing is so small. We came down (with a four-point lead) with JP (Tokoto) in the open court and couldn’t convert, and then they scored nine in a row.”
The run, highlighted by reserve Zak Showalter’s four points and a steal, erased a 60-56 Carolina lead and put the Badgers up 65-60 with five minutes to go.
But Carolina, which went 8 for 13 from beyond the three-point line, didn’t fold – cutting it to two twice and to one twice.
Marcus Paige hit a three a shade to the right of the key to cut the lead to 69-67 with 1:39 left and then he hit a three from the same spot with 54 seconds left that cut the deficit to 71-70.
Down by three, UNC’s Isaiah Hicks missed two free throws that forced the Tar Heels to foul. But Wisconsin went eight of eight from the free throw line over the last 42 seconds to wrap it up.
In fact, the Badgers outscored the Tar Heels by eight points (20-12) from the foul line. Wisconsin just missed three free throws all night while Carolina missed three free throws in the last 2:49 and eight over the entire game.
Even though Carolina’s big men got in foul trouble and even though the subsequently taller Badgers outrebounded the Heels 35-28, UNC led most of the way.
An 8-0 Wisconsin run in the first half gave the Badgers a 25-20 advantage though. A 6-0 Carolina run put the Heels right back up and they managed to lead 33-31 at the half.
The game went back and forth for a few minutes to start the second half but UNC’s Joel Berry hit a three, drew a charge and then Paige hooked one in to give Carolina its biggest lead of the game at 51-44 with 12:11 to play.
The Tar Heels held the lead and generally controlled the action until that 9-0 Wisconsin run six minutes later put the Badgers up for good.
Prior to the game, Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky, a national player of the year candidate, dominated the conversation. But it was Sam Dekker who killed the Tar Heels with a career-high 23 points, including 15 in the first half.
The rest of the Wisconsin team woke up in the second half as they shot just 37 percent from the floor in the first half but 58 percent in the second half.
Carolina’s Brice Johnson was the best shooter for the Heels as he hit seven of nine but he was in foul trouble much of the game and, despite scoring 15 points, only played 22 minutes. That really hurt the Tar Heels as Kennedy Meeks, who played just 14 minutes, was slowed by a sprained knee and in foul trouble himself.
UNC’s Justin Jackson hit all three of his three-point attempts and finished with 15 points. Paige, who had just two points in the first half once again, finished with 12.
Paige said Wisconsin was a tough team and tough matchup for the Heels but it will be losses to other teams earlier in the year that the Heels will look back on and regret. While the Tar Heels played better than a No. 4 seed late in the season, those earlier losses cost them as they had to play the No. 1 seed earlier than they’d like.
He added that the Tar Heels were a close-knit group this season and that most of the players will be coming back next season. “Next season we’ll try to execute better and make something special out of it,” he said.
Every person who played for Carolina against Wisconsin will be coming back next season. The Tar Heels finish the season 26-12.