Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

Tar Heels season over as they can’t overcome threes

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North Carolina trailed by eight at the half and by 11 in the second half but rallied to tie it late in the game only to see Kentucky hit a pair of threes to send the Wildcats to the NCAA Final Four by a 76-69 score.

Kentucky lived by the three-pointer as the Wildcats hit 12 of them on 22 attempts. With the score tied at 67 following a pair of free throws by UNC’s Tyler Zeller, Kentucky’s Brandon Knight fired in a three from the right wing to make it 70-67 with 2:50 left.

A Zeller basket drew the Heels within one with 1:54 to go but that was as close as it would get. Kentucky’s DeAndre Liggins blocked a shot by a driving Kendall Marshall and on the other end threw in a three late in the shot clock to make it 73-69 with just 36 seconds left. Free throws by Knight, who led five Wildcats in double figures with 22 points, wrapped it up and ended Carolina’s season at 29-8.

“I couldn’t be prouder of my team,” UNC coach Roy Williams said. “I wouldn’t trade my kids for anybody.”

He could have used a few more of them however as the John Henson, Harrison Barnes and Leslie McDonald all got in foul trouble. Henson’s foul trouble particularly hurt as he picked up his third just 13 minutes into the game. He ende up playing on 23 minutes and had to be careful with his play in the second half, especially after he picked up his fourth foul just four minutes into the second half.

“(Foul trouble) definitely hurt us,” Zeller said during the post-game press conference. “We had to change what we’ve been doing the last couple of months but at the same time you can’t blame it on that.”

Still, Henson, who fouled out in the last minute, was able to take only four shots, haul in just one offensive rebound and block no shots as he had to play tentatively when he was in the game.

For more on the game, please click here.

Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

Heels click on all cylinders for the first time in a while; make Elite 8

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The dominating first half of the Marquette game might be good for a North Carolina team that hasn’t had its engine running on all cylinders lately.

The Tar Heels had to rally from way behind to make it to the ACC tournament finals and then they were whipped by Duke in the finals. They didn’t scare anybody with their win over a less talented Long Island team. While the tough victory over a very good Washington team seemed important, the Heels haven’t really clicked liked they did against Marquette.

The Tar Heels led 40-15 at the half and settled for a 81-63 victory to reach the Elite 8. The Heels had a 33-point lead in the second half and it took defense generating offense to do it. Carolina came up with 11 steals, eight blocks and helped force 18 Marquette turnovers.

Carolina held Marquette to six of 30 shooting in the first half including zero of eight from beyond the three-point line.

The second half might also serve as a lesson as fouls mounted up and the Marquette zone slowed the Tar Heels. Of course that also serves as a lesson for the next opponent who should try to get Carolina big men in foul trouble and employ a clamp-down zone. If Harrison Barnes and Leslie McDonald can’t shoot over it, the season will be over for the Heels.

While the Tar Heels aren’t a favorite to win the NCAA, they have as good a chance as most anyone left. They have to continue to score on fastbreaks as a result of defense and they have to be able to shoot over the zone.

For more on the Marquette game itself, please click here.

Duke, Featured stories, The skinny

Irving is likely to turn pro

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You don’t have to be a genius to figure out Kyrie Irving isn’t returning to Duke next season.

ACC players know these questions are coming, and have become smart about them. The standard line is, “I’m not thinking about the NBA now” during the season. Of course, most of the time they are.

But the truth usually comes out soon after the season. And that’s why Irving, Thursday night, told The News & Observer, “I’m not definitely guaranteeing I’m coming back. I’ll sit down with the coaching staff after the NCAA tournament and go from there.”

Go from there means turn pro. And that’s going to leave a huge hole for a Duke team that also loses Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler.

Duke, Featured stories, The skinny

Nolan Smith not the same as Duke struggles to integrate Irving

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For Kyrie Irving’s talent, it’s never easy to integrate a player back onto a basketball team, especially a great one. Duke had to gamble and play him – without Irving, the Devils weren’t on a trajectory to win a national title.

But Thursday’s loss to Arizona was an example of how tough this transition can be. Irving was very good, but Nolan Smith was rarely anywhere to be seen. Halfway through the second half you found yourself thinking, Where is Smith?

Smith just wasn’t the same dominant player at all. When Arizona pushed out to its 66-55 lead on a run that proved decisive, Smith tried to strike back with a critical 3-point shot.  But it missed, and he dropped to 2 of 9 from the field – with only four points.

Irving, at the time, had 18.

Duke kept trying to get back in this. At 77-64, you thought Duke might have one more run. On a fastbreak, Smith had the ball and drove the basket, but a Wildcat was right there. Smith slid to the left, and ACC fans have seen him score that way dozens of times before. But this time, the ball just grazed the rim and fell out.

On Duke’s next possession, Irving drove the lane and shot, as if it was all up to him. It wasn’t, but it seemed that way. The fluid, precise Duke team we’d seen all season was missing. It was almost as if the Blue Devils players were on the court wondering who was in charge.

Arizona deserves credit for an amazing performance. If the world didn’t know what a great job Sean Miller was doing before this, it does now. Some media outlets are hinting that Miller will at least listen to N.C. State, but come on, we know how that works. You listen, make a head fake to Raleigh, and get a half million dollar raise.

Miller would be a marvelous fit in Wolfpack red, but State’s chance to get him was 2009, when he was wrapping up a brilliant five-year run at Xavier. It’s too bad that didn’t work out. Watching Miller work Tobacco Road on a regular basis would have been fascinating.

Duke, Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

Duke, UNC women’s teams make Sweet 16

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The Duke women’s basketball team has earned a spot in the Sweet 16 for the 13th time in 14 years with a 71-66 victory over Marist. Meanwhile the UNC women’s team advanced to the regional semifinals for the 15th time in program history with an 86-74 win over Kentucky.

Duke’s Chelsea Gray scored all 13 of her points in the second half to help the Devils rally from 11 down to take the lead for good with less than three minutes to play.

The Tar Heels, which led most of the way, outrebounded the Wildcats 55-31 and hit 21 of 22 free throws. Kentucky rallied from 15 down to pull within two but an Italee Lucas three held the Wildcats at bay and the Heels extended their lead again late.

Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

Rebounding key to UNC’s chances to beat Marquette

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The ACC now has three teams left and the Big East two after Florida State whipped Notre Dame Sunday night.

Carolina could certainly lose to a Big East team, Marquette, but I agree with Dane Huffman’s assessment in his article “Marquette win is a break for UNC” that Syracuse’s zone would have given the Tar Heels trouble. The Heels would have needed to hit 9 or 10 threes to beat the Orange. The Heels have been averaging about half that over the last five games.

Marquette has fewer big guys to battle Zeller and Henson. The one really big guy they have is 6-foot-11 starting center Chris Otule who averages only five points and 3.5 rebounds a game. Compare that to Zeller who averages 15 points and seven rebounds a game and Henson who averages 12 points and 10 rebounds.

In fact, Marquette (which has only Otule over 6-foot-7) has only two guys who average over five rebounds a game and nobody that averages over seven. Most of the comparisons between the two teams are close. Carolina averages two points more a game. The two teams give up the same amount of points per game. The field goal percentages are almost identical.

Marquette shoots three percentage points better than Carolina from the free throw line. The three-pointers average and steals average are about the same.

The biggest difference is in rebounding where the Heels average more than five more a game. If the Heels hit the boards hard offensively and defensively, Marquette will be hard-pressed to score another upset.

Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

Marquette win is a break for UNC

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Marquette is no easy chore, but North Carolina got a huge break Sunday when Marquette stunned Syracuse 66-62.

Carolina is simply not a strong outside shooting team, and Syracuse is exactly the type of disciplined zone team that would give UNC trouble. You saw it in the ACC Tournament, when Miami nearly knocked the Tar Heels out of that event. And you might have seen it again in the Round of 16 in NCAA play.

Marquette had beaten Syracuse 76-70 in the regular season, so it’s not like the Warriors were intimidated by the Orange. Marquette was just 9-9 in Big East play,   but that’s hardly an indictment in a season in which that league was simply phenomenal. If you watched any Big East games this season – and it was hard to miss them if you turned on ESPN – it was jarring how athletic and talented the Big East teams were compared to the ACC.

Still, the Big East has had a disappointing effort in NCAA play. Marquette and Connecticut are still alive, with Notre Dame facing Florida State on Sunday night.

A win by North Carolina would be a huge statement for the ACC against the Big East – and the Heels are fortunate they don’t have to face the Orange in this one.

Duke, Featured stories, The skinny

Duke goes small with four guards to hold off Michigan

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Duke played most of the second half of its 73-71 win over Michigan with four guards on the floor with either forward Kyle Singler or Ryan Kelly in the middle.

Al Featherston, veteran sports reporter writing for GoDuke.com, wrote an interesting piece about that angle. He wrote, “It’s not something Duke has used before – or even could have used while freshman point guard Kyrie Irving was sidelined with a toe injury. However, with Irving’s return this weekend, Mike Krzyzewski can not only put four guards together on the floor, but four guards that few opponents can match.”

The four are Nolan Smith, Andre Dawkins, Seth Curry and Irving.

Coach Krzyzewski said, “We have confidence in all of them. You can’t have equal minutes [for four guards], but for Michigan, thank goodness we had them. [Michigan] did a really good job against us, but they would have done a better job if we were real big. They can slice you up.”

To read Featherston’s piece, please click here.

Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

Tar Heels fight hard to make it to the Sweet 16

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North Carolina’s 86-83 victory over Washington was a hard-fought win that has to remind Carolina fans of the tough NCAA tournament victory over LSU two years ago as the Heels were on their way to the NCAA title.

While this Carolina team might not get that far, this win seems important. Washington was a tough matchup for Carolina with big guys that could hang with the Tar Heels and three-point shooters.

Carolina was outrebounded (38-35), outshot from the three-point line (10 to six) and was down by 11 in the first half. Yet the Tar Heels found a way to reach the Sweet 16 for a record 24th time.

The Tar Heels also won despite a below-par offensive game from John Henson, who seemed to get beat up a bit by the big bodies on the Washington team. He hit only four of 10 shots and two of five free throws.

But the guards, Kendall Marshall and Dexter Strickland played well. Marshall had 14 assists, breaking a UNC tournament record and Strickland got six rebounds, 13 points and didn’t turn the ball over.

Plus, Tyler Zeller and Harrison Barnes continue their excellent late-season runs. Zeller, who can score on anybody when he gets to his jump hook spot, led all scorers with 23 points. Barnes, who hit four threes and came up with three steals, added 22 points.

After not making the NCAA tournament last year and with an entirely different starting five this year, North Carolina has to now feel that this has been a successful season, no matter what happens in the East Regional finals.

The Tar Heels have won the ACC regular season against all predictions and have survived a tough team in the NCAA tournament. While it might seem like gravy from here on, and some pressure may be off, make no mistake that this team isn’t satisfied yet. Within minutes after the game, the players were talking about going to Newark, NJ. There is still some work to do.

For more on the Washington game, please click here.

Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

UNC women survive 50 three-point attempts to advance

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The North Carolina women’s team survived a 50-three-point shot barrage to defeat Fresno State 82-68 in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Spokane, Wash. today.

Fresno State only connected on 14 threes for a 28 percent clip. Meanwhile, the Tar Heels managed six of 16 threes and had five women in double figures.

Italee Lucas led the way with a game-high 22 points. Chay Shegog scored 12, followed by Cetera DeGraffenreid’s 11 along with Jessica Breland’s 10 and Tierra Ruffin-Pratt’s 10.

“They took 50 threes — that’s 10 more than anyone has ever taken on us. We had to make a lot of adjustments to cover that. The big kids had to come out,” UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell said. By that she means that Carolina’s tallest players moved out defensively to guard the perimeter players from the three-point line.

Waltiea Rolle, the Tar Heels’ tallest player at 6-foot-6, saw 10 minutes of action while another tall non-starter 6-1 freshman Laura Broomfield played 19 minutes. Starters Shegog, Breland and Krista Gross are 6-5, 6-3 and 6-0 respectively.

UNC advances to the second round in Albuquerque on Monday against the winner of the Kentucky-Hampton game.