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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.

Carolina 92, Miami 73
Tar Heels win season-high fifth in a row

(Photo by UNC Sports Information.)

North Carolina improved its NCAA Tournament hopes by not only avoiding a bad loss but by winning big, 92-73 at home against Miami for the fifth straight victory in a row. (3/1)

A 12-2 Carolina run late in the first half gave the Heels a comfortable 46-31 halftime lead. Then, Ven-Allen Lubin opened it up for good by scoring 10 of the team's first 12 points of the second half to give the Heels a commanding 58-37 advantage five minutes into the second half.

For the second game in a row, six Tar Heels scored in double figures with Lubin leading the way with a season-high 19 points. Drake Powell, who was in the startin lineup, was next with 16 points while RJ Davis added 13. Jae'lyn Withers, who manned the most minutes for Carolina with 33, scored 11 points and hauled in 10 rebounds. Freshman Ian Jackson managed 11 points in just 13 minutes while Seth Trimble added 10.

During the game-changing run at the end of the first half, Trimble tossed back-to-back threes while Davis drained one. The Tar Heels ended up hitting 10 of 18 threes for better than 55 percent from beyond the arc.

"We shot the ball really well today," Coach Hubert Davis said admitting that it doesn't always work out that way. "It was an efficient win but defensively I felt we could have done better."

Behind 25 points from Matt Cleveland and 20 from Brandon Johnson, Miami cut the margin to 14 on several occasions but could get no closer as the Hurricanes fell to 6-23 overall and 2-16 in the ACC.

Carolina outrebounded Miami 38-26 and outscored the Hurricanes in the paint 46-28.

"There's a week left (in the regular season) and I feel like we're improving," Coach Davis said. "To sustain that we have to play with energy, effort and attention to detail. We can't have four or five minute lapses."

There may have been a couple of lapses that lasted a couple of minutes but, at least offensively, the Tar Heels are playing the best they have all season, which could help their at-large NCAA selection chances.

The Tar Heels, who play Virginia Tech Tuesday, improve to 19-11 and 12-6 in the ACC.

Box score



 


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