Off the cuff: Carolina started quickly against Miami by hitting seven of the first nine shot attempts to open up a double-gigit lead in less than seven minutes. Matt Cleveland got Miami back in it by scoring 12 points over about eight minutes to but the margin to five before Seth Trimble hit a pair of threes that started a game-changing12-2 run. While Eliott Cadeau is still having trouble with turnovers, he - and others - also did a good job of getting the ball low to Ven-Allen Lubin, who Then, echoing the sentiment of Coach Hubert Davis, he said, "small details lead to big buckets." Carolina hit a lot of big buckets and almost unbelievably, Florida State at one point was shooting 71 percent from the field and yet the Tar Heels were ahead. There were many highlights iin the first half including a textbook give-and-go play from Jackson to Cadeau to Jackson and a rare converted three by big man Jalen Washington. Then there were six points from Cade Tyson over just two and a half minutes of game time, a Trimble euro step on a driving bucket and a big dunk follow by Ven-Allen Lubin. All that was just in the first half. There were plenty of second-half highlights as well but probably my favorites came in the last seven minutes or so of the game. Two driving layups by Trimble which he turned into three-point plays were big. A magical drive by Davis ended with a Houdini left handed flip which started an important 8-0 killer run. There's a lot of work to do to earn an NCAA bid but this team is playing well right now - and the Seminoles were a stiffer opponent than Syracuse, State and Virginia were. |
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