Off the cuff: That was a beat down in the first half by the Tar Heels. It all started with defense. Or maybe it started with the energy from the crowd, which consisted mainly of students who got to sit all around the court. Seth Trimble said the team noticed the feel in the Smith Center while they were going through pre-game drills. "It was an electric feel the whole game," he said. He pointed to the team's energy at the beginning of the game, particularly on defense, that made a difference. "That was probably the most fun I've had in the first half of a game that I've had in my three years here," he said. As for the whole game, he ranked it right up there with the home win against Duke last year. The Heels went into the game wanting to be the faster team, the more physical team and the team that came up with the most stops. Those stops allowed the Tar Heels to get out in transition. Not to be forgotten is the fact that Carolina hit some shots, making seven threes in 15 attempts in the first half. When they weren't draining threes, the Heels were scoring around the basket. In fact, Carolina scored 52 points in the paint compared to 26 for the Wolfpack. UNC needs to keep it going by putting away all the supposed inferior teams they play until facing Duke in the final home game of the season in order to have a chance to go to the NCAA Tournament. If they do that, even if they lose to Duke, the Tar Heels have a decent chance to go to the Big Dance so long as they can win a couple of games in the ACC Tournament. Not to look ahead too much, but if the Heels are able to do that they'd be 22-13, a worthy enough record for the tournament - especially considering the strong schedule. A win over Duke combined with a couple of ACC Tournament wins would definitely put the Heels in. But first let's concern ourselves with having a similar effort against Virginia. If it would open snow again. |
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