North Carolina trailed by five at the half and by eight five minutes into the second half. But the Heels, who had missed their first eight three-point attempts, scratched out a 73-64 win at Miami after Harrison Barnes and Reggie Bullock got hot from outside. (2/15) Click here for a photo gallery.
Trailing 44-36, Barnes drained Carolina's first three of the game with 15:13 left. Less than a minute later, Barnes converted an old-fashioned three-point play on a fastbreak to draw the Heels with a pair at 44-42.
P.J. Hairston tied it with a couple of free throws and another Barnes three from the left wing put the Heels on top with just over 13 minutes to play at 47-46.
It went back and forth over the next three minutes. But with the score tied at 53, the Heels went on a 10-2 run to get their biggest lead of the game up to that point at 63-55 with 6:27 left. A Barnes three following a John Henson block on the other end and a Bullock three from the right corner highlighted the run.
Miami got no closer than five the rest of the way. A Bullock three with 1:38 left put a dagger in the Hurricanes at 67-58. The largest lead of the game came with 18 seconds left when Henson stole the ball and forwarded it to Bullock for a layup which made it 73-62.
The Tar Heels, who shot only 38 percent from the floor, managed only five of 18 threes but they were all big ones.
"That was a tough win," UNC coach Roy Williams said. "When we start making some shots, we're going to be a really good basketball team."
Barnes led all scorers with 23 points. Henson had 14 and 11 rebounds while Bullock scored 10. Tyler Zeller, who was saddled with foul trouble in the second half, scored nine.
Miami, 15-9 and 6-5 in the ACC, is considered an NCAA bubble team. The Tar Heels, now 22-4 overall and 9-2 in the ACC, plays Clemson Saturday.
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