CB3 Media Heel Prints

Check back prior to the 2008 season for a preview and a program outlook.

Click here for Carolina baseball analysis.

Off the cuff: Well, it wasn't Virginia or Florida State but Northeastern was a pretty good team to get for a last-second game, and the Tar Heels responded well.

Northeastern is currently second in the CAA and has a decent shot to be the NCAA representative from that conference. Their RPI ranking is better than three ACC schools.

Coach Williams joked about how good Northeastern's Tyson Walker is, saying he was starting to believe that one player was going to outscore the Tar Heels.

In the first half, Walker hit seven of eight shots, including four of five from beyond the three-point arc. Carolina was up just 25-21 and 19 of those 21 points were scored by Walker.

But the Tar Heels double teamed Walker in the second half and he managed just six points after getting 21 in the frist half. Coach Williams said perhaps Walker "was just tired of making baskets."

Carolina did a better job from the free throw line in this one, hitting 13 of 16. The Heels also had 20 assists and 10 turnovers. It's the first time this season that they have had a two-to-one assist-to-turnover ratio.

While he wasn't a huge scorer in this game, Caleb Love had nine assists and just two turnovers.

This game was the first time Carolina had played at home since Jan. 23 and it was the latest in a regular season that the Heels have played a non-conference opponent since 2003.

Tar Heels 82, Northeastern 62
Carolina picks up game, picks up win

UNC, having had only six home games due to COVID issues, went out and picked up a last-second non-conference game with Northeastern and picked up an impressive 82-62 victory. (2/17)

Coming off a game where no Tar Heels scored in double figures, four scored in double figures in this one with two others close behind. Day'Ron Sharpe, off the bench, led the way with 15 points while Kerwin Walton, who hit three triples, was close behind with 14.

Senior Garrison Brooks accomplished a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 13 rebounds while freshman Walker Kessler added 10 points.

Northeastern's Tyson Walker kept the game close for most of the first half as he scored 21 of his game-high 27 points. Carolina led just 28-26 with five minutes left in the first half but the Heels closed out the half on a 13-4 run.

Freshman point guard Caleb Love started the run as he drove the lane for a bucket and then dished to Sharpe for a give-and-go dunk. Senior Andrew Platek scored Carolina's next six points in three different ways to give the Heels a 10-point cushion at 38-28. Platek hit an 18-footer, then got an offensive rebound and put it in at close range before he picked off a pass and went in for a layup.

Up 41-30 at the half, the Heels quickly worked the lead up to 15 as Walton completed Carolina's first four-point play of the season when he was fouled on a three-pointer from the top of the key to go up 45-30.

The second-half lead never got below nine points - and that was just for a few seconds - and got up to as many 22 points.

A 14-4 Carolina run midway through the second half seemed to expose a tired Northeastern team. "I really liked that Day'Ron (Sharpe) and Walker (Kessler) came off the bench for us and got double figures," UNC coach Roy Williams said adding that it's important to get more production from bench later in the season when guys started getting tired.

What the players have really gotten tired of is having games postponed or canceled. The game against Northeastern came about after Virginia Tech canceled its game at UNC due to COVID. Carolina's game against Louisville is now in question as the Cardinals are undergoing some COVID issues while next Tuesday's game against Boston College was canceled because of that program's COVID issues.

Coach Williams said the Tar Heel players want to play. "They're tired of listening to me and running sprints and things," he said.

UNC improves to 13-7 while Northeastern, which is an impressive 8-2 in the CAA, falls to 9-8 overall.

Stay tuned as the Tar Heels continue to look for home games to play.

Box Score

UNC's Caleb Love dishes out one of his game-high nine assists. (UNC sports information photo by Jeffrey A. Camarati.)

Check out the other game articles.
Read my Tar Heels' season preview on by clicking here.