Duke, Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

Improbably, Tar Heels whip Duke for ACC regular season title

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Before the season only one basketball writer picked North Carolina to win the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season and he tried to renege saying it was a mistake. Improbably, the Tar Heels whipped defending national champion Duke in Chapel Hill 81-67 to win the ACC regular season title.

The two teams came into the game with 13-2 marks and Carolina had blown a 16-point lead in the first matchup between the two teams. The game was important enough that UNC coach Roy Williams seriously considered not starting all his seniors, a school tradition. In the end, he started the three walk-on seniors along with transfer senior Justin Knox, a first for all four.

The walk-ons left the game after a minute and a half with a 3-0 Carolina lead. The Carolina fans were in a frenzy with the modest start that set the tone for the game.

The game was close and went back and forth through the first 10 minutes of the game. Kendall Marshall hit a three midway through the first half to give Carolina a 23-21 lead and remarkably the Heels never trailed again.

UNC worked the lead up to 14 late in the half after an 11-2 run with the last five straight points coming from Leslie McDonald.

Carolina led 51-39 at the break but Duke came out hot in the second half and Carolina turned the ball over a couple of times and missed a couple of open shots. After two minutes, the Blue Devils had cut the margin to five at 51-46.

A Harrison Barnes steal and layup, followed by a pair of free throws pushed the margin up to nine and then five minutes in he drilled a three to push the lead back up to 12 at 60-48.

Curry’s sixth three pointer of the game pulled the Devils to within six at 64-58 but it never got closer. A Barnes dunk follow of his own miss got the margin back up to 12 with less than eight minutes to play. The lead stayed between 9 and 15 points the rest of the way.

For more on the game, please click here.

Duke, Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

Barnes shuts down Singler, makes a mark in Duke-UNC rivalry

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That moment when Harrison Barnes went to Skype to tell Roy Williams he was coming to Chapel Hill loomed large on Saturday, when North Carolina captured a stunning ACC title with 81-67 victory over Duke.

This season swung on two critical points. The first, of course, was Barnes’ remarkable decision to attend UNC after many insiders thought he would head to Durham. The second, of course, was the toe injury to Duke freshman Kyrie Irving.

But who could have thought Barnes would draw the assignment of covering Kyle Singler – a preseason national player of the year candidate  – and outplay Singler so decisively?

Singler’s perplexing slump continued with a three of 14 shooting effort and only eight points. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski has touted Singler as one of Duke’s best defensive players in his tenure, perhaps a way to keep Singler’s confidence high, but Barnes got off good shots against him and hit 7 of 17 from the field for 18 points.

Barnes hit big shots and gained confidence as the game continued. Duke never got on a roll late, and Nolan Smith and Seth Curry couldn’t find a third scorer to get the offense untracked.

You would think that Singler would be that guy, but the touch again was missing. Part of that was certainly Barnes, whose decision to attend Carolina had an enormous impact on Saturday’s game. Think of it like this – can you imagine how great Duke would be with a healthy Irving and Barnes in the lineup?

Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

Despite heroics, Barnes no longer a top 5 NBA pick

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Basketball insiders who had thought UNC freshman Harrison Barnes would stay in college only one season now believe he perhaps should stay in Chapel Hill a little longer.

“He’s not an explosive, wow-you-with-athleticism type of young man. He’s a very good, very fundamentally sound player who’ll be a piece of an NBA team’s puzzle,” said Fran Fraschilla, former college coach who works as an analyst for ESPN. “He’s not Michael Jordan.”

Fraschilla, who says Barnes would be a Top 15 pick in the NBA draft instead of a No. 1 or Top 5 pick, said he believes Barnes should stay at least one more year. For his part, it appears Barnes will consider going pro after this season.

“I have to consider that when the time comes,” Barnes said. “Obviously, I didn’t anticipate struggling. But you’ve got to just roll with the punches. … Whichever way I decide to go, I’ll be prepared.”

Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

UNC’s Greg Little says he was ‘naive’

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Former North Carolina receiver Greg Little called his suspension “a pivotal point in my life” and said Wednesday that he regretted how his actions contributed to undermining what could have been “a special season” for Carolina in 2010.

Little was one of 12 UNC products at the recent NFL combine in Indianapolis. Carolina had more players there than any other school, but many, like Little, did not play for the Tar Heels last fall.

“On paper we had the best team in the country,” Little told 620 The Buzz on Wednesday morning. “We were going to put together a special season.”

Instead, Carolina endured a bizarre year in which key players like Little, Robert Quinn and Marvin Austin never played as the NCAA investigated the program. Little was ruled permanently ineligible by the NCAA student reinstatement committee in October. The NCAA determined he received $4,952 in extra benefits, including diamond earrings and travel accommodations for the Bahamas, Washington, D.C., and two trips to Miami, among other benefits.

“That was a pivotal point in my life,” Little told hosts Mike Maniscalco and Mark Thomas. “It was a defining moment. I did some soul searching and understood you are going to make mistakes, but that it is what you do after that that defines who you are.”

Little, who played at Hillside, said he has spoken to students at his former school and other young people to encourage them to be more careful.

“Don’t let things like that happen to you” Little said. “Don’t let things like that become a part of your life or put yourself in the situation or around the people where those things can happen.”

Little said he realized what he was doing was wrong, but that he just had not realized he could be caught and penalized.

“It’s just me being so naïve and being so ignorant of the fact that you can be so invincible and not get caught,” Little said.

Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

Barnes’ late three stops Florida State, sets up rematch with Duke

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When the game is on the line, get it to Harrison Barnes and clear out.

That strategy worked for the fifth time this year as Barnes got the ball with 10 seconds left and his North Carolina team down 70-69. The Tar Heels spread out as Barnes dribbled up high. He tried to penetrate the lane, couldn’t, so he stopped at the top of the key and popped in a three with three seconds left to give the Heels a 72-70 victory at Florida State.

“It’s very exciting to shoot a last-second shot and have the game in your hands,” Barnes said. “You’re either the hero or the goat. Tonight I made it.”

The win moves Carolina to 13-2 and sets up a game for the ACC regular season title at home against Duke on Saturday. The victory also ensures UNC of at least a second-place finish and a bye in the first round of the ACC tournament.

If looked a little iffy there for a while – what with Tyler Zeller and Dexter Strickland in foul trouble and Reggie Bullock out of the season with a knee injury. There are only five other scholarship players on the roster.

Plus, Carolina turned the ball over 15 times, including a handful in the last few minutes when the Heels blew a 67-60 lead.

But this was a well-played game that ended in spectacular fashion on the Barnes three with three seconds left.

Threes and free throw shooting are becoming big for the Tar Heels, who rank near the bottom of the ACC in both categories.

In addition to the late Barnes three, a pair of threes by Leslie McDonald brought the Heels from behind to take a five-point lead that they held until the last few seconds.

The Tar Heels hit 14 of 18 free throws including a seven of eight performance by John Henson, who has struggled from the line all year. His inability to shoot free throws has landed him on the bench in late-game situations, until the Florida State game. It was big to have his presence in the game late.

For more on the Florida State game, please click here.

Featured stories, N.C. State, The skinny

N.C. State deserves better than lousy year in basketball, other sports

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N.C. State fans can give thanks for football. Other than that, this year has illustrated how new athletics director Debbie Yow has her work cut out for her in West Raleigh.

It’s hard to imagine a more disappointing men’s basketball season. State stumbled out of the gate yet again Tuesday night and lost at Virginia, 69-58. This is a Cavaliers team that could barely score Saturday against Boston College, and yet they ran right over N.C. State.

As one Wolfpack fan said recently, the team isn’t even “relevant.”

The media picked N.C. State for fourth in the ACC in preseason, a lofty assessment based on a strong recruiting class. But State is now 10th in the ACC and, as we predicted last month, in danger of having a losing season. The Pack is 15-14 going into Saturday’s home finale with Florida State.

A loss there, and then in Greensboro’s ACC play, puts the Wolfpack under water for the year. State fans should be outraged, but even a fan base with an amazing commitment to its school is greeting this season with a collective shrug.

For whatever reason, Sidney Lowe has not been able to elevate this program, and a season that looked promising has been greeted with deafening indifference from Wolfpack fans.

The football team, obviously, was a bright spot this season.  But other than that, it’s almost comical how low N.C. State is across the board in ACC sports.

  • The women’s basketball team is in 10th place despite a huge win over North Carolina
  • The men’s swimming and diving team and the women’s swimming and diving teams both just finished eighth in the ACC championships in February
  • The wrestling team is in fifth place among the six teams that compete in the ACC – ahead of only lowly Duke – heading into this weekend’s ACC championships
  • The volleyball team finished 11th in the ACC at 4-12 in league play
  • Men’s soccer was eighth out of nine teams at 1-5-2 in ACC play
  • Women’s soccer was 10th of 11 teams at 0-9-2 in the conference

Baseball, softball and tennis are the spring sports that are underway, and State has some potential in those. The Wolfpack does not compete in lacrosse or field hockey, and heck, that’s a good thing for Pack fans who are tired of suffering.

N.C. State has had brighter days – much brighter days, in fact. But Yow has a big job ahead when it comes energizing an athletics program that is struggling to gain traction across the board. And nothing – nothing at all – would do more for the spirit of the school than to find the right man to energize the basketball program and get N.C. State headed toward respectability again in that critical sport.

Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

UNC’s Bullock out for the season

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The knee injury that has plagued UNC freshman forward Reggie Bullock has ended his season. UNC announced this afternoon that Bullock has a torn lateral meniscus and will have season-ending arthroscopic surgery.

This will be the second surgery the Kinston native has had on that left knee. Bullock, while in a slump lately, is the sixth leading scorer on the team with six points a game.

Duke, UNC

Duke women wrap up top seed with win over UNC

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The Duke women’s basketball team has clinched the top seeding in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament and they did it against one of their favorite teams to beat, North Carolina. The Blue Devils, behind seniors Jasmine Thomas (17 points) and Karima Christmas (14 points), beat UNC 66-58 today in Durham.

The Blue Devils (26-3, 12-2) got out to a big lead and withstood a comeback by the Tar Heels (22-7, 8-6). Going into the game, Duke was the No. 9 team in the nation while Carolina was No. 13.

Italee Lucas scored 15 points and Chay Shegog added 14 for the Heels who enter the conference tourney in Greensboro later this week as the No. 6 seed. (22-7, 8-6), the No. 6 seed for the league tournament later this week in Greensboro.

Featured stories, UNC

Heels tie Duke by putting away Maryland

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North Carolina never trailed as the Tar Heels banged inside and hit from outside to defeat Maryland 87-76 and tie Duke for the ACC lead with just two regular-season games to go.

Tyler Zeller did the offensive damage inside with 25 points while Harrison Barnes and Leslie McDonald did the damage outside with 21 and 15 points.

Barnes drained three threes in the first four minutes and Carolina got out to a quick 13-5 lead. But Maryland fought back to tie it at 13-all and it stayed close until the last five minutes of the first half.

Carolina went on a late 12-4 run to take a 43-31 halftime lead that stood up through the second half. That run was highlighted by a McDonald three from straight away, an old-fashioned three-point play by Zeller and a Barnes reverse lay in.

The Tar Heels now stand at 22-6 and 12-2 in the ACC, even with Duke after the Devils lost at Virginia Tech Saturday. The Heels go to Florida State Wednesday night before finishing the regular season at home against the Blue Devils.

When asked about possibly playing Duke for the ACC regular season title, UNC coach Roy Williams said, “We better be thinking in terms of Florida State.”

For more on the Maryland game, please click here.

Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

Roy Williams says Tar Heels can be ‘immature,’ but they still know how to bear down

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North Carolina is well aware it plays Duke Saturday night in the Smith Center, and yes, the Tar Heels know they are tied with the Blue Devils at the top of the ACC Standings.

But Carolina also knows it plays a tough Florida State team Wednesday night in Tallahassee, and coach Roy Williams insisted his team – though young – isn’t getting ahead of itself.

In fact, Williams even called his team “immature” in some ways.

“We know that we’ve go a big challenge at Florida State,” Williams said. “This team is immature as all get out about some things but they really have been pretty focused about playing the next game.”

For example, Williams said his club can be loose and comical around the clubhouse. But the Tar Heels are often playing with the poise of an experienced team despite starting two sophomores and two freshmen. Carolina has won 15 of 17 and 10 of 11 since that loss at Georgia Tech.

That’s an impressive run for a program that was a huge disappointment last season, and came into this year with significant, and unexpected, personnel losses.

“You go back to last May, when the Wears say they are not coming back … Will Graves … Larry Drew. There has been some adversity I never want to to through again,” Williams said. “Right now I’m estatic about what they have done. … I am really proud of what my team has done. It hasn’t been easy. Ol’ Roy has had a hard year since last May. But I am really proud of them.”