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Off the cuff: Coach Roy Williams was fairly critical of Danny Green after the game. Yes, he made a bone-head charge late in the game and he missed a couple of free throws that would have iced it. But if not for Green's aggressiveness on the boards that led to six points in the last seven minutes, the Heels would not have won.

Wayne Ellington scored only seven points. With Hansbrough having to battle hard inside for everything he got, it would have been a bit easier had Ellington just nailed a couple of threes. He had open shots.

Coach Williams was once again not happy with his defense saying that the Yellow Jackets got too many uncontested shots. They also got 10 offensive rebounds in the first half but the Tar Heels came back with 10 of their own in the second half.

The Tar Heels have a tough time playing at Georgia Tech as they had lost four in a row there.

Did Tech's Causey strike you as a spaz? Arms flailing, hair bouncing, head jerking, happy feet, etc. He seems like he'd be a fun teammate but he's a bit much when you're rooting for the other team.

As Coach Williams said, Hansbrough was "really something" in this game. He got a number of inadvertent elbows and hands to the nose and mouth. I say they weren't intentional and I believe that but it was obviously Tech's gameplan to be very physical with Hansbrough. That's ok - he can dish it out as well as take it.

Once again, we missed the first of the game on TV - unnecessarily I might add. The Duke win over Florida State was only 15 seconds from being finished but instead of holding up the start of the Carolina game for a minute, we missed the first 1:17 of the game. That's 1:17 that we will not only never see but not have on video for posterity. When I sit down to watch a game, I want to watch the entire game. Also, Florida State was foolishly fouling which added to the lateness. Then ESPN took a minute to show players shaking hands and to make a few final comments. They should have immediately switched to the Carolina game at the buzzer. As I've said before, two and a half hours (at least 2:15) should be alloted for each game so this doesn't happen.

If you know and get a chance, tell me the story of "The Rock" basketball that was being used. You can reach me at cb3media@gmail.com.

Heels 83, Yellow Jackets 82
UNC escapes Atlanta with a victory & all their teeth

The Tar Heels got beat up and almost got beat during a physical game but a free throw by Danny Green with 22 seconds left gave UNC its 18th straight victory against no losses, 83-82 at Georgia Tech. (1/16)

Carolina shot 26 free throws and got 21 of them. Ironically, the Heels missed four of those in the last five minutes - two by Green and two by Tyler Hansbrough, including the front end of a one-and-one.

Both Hansbrough and Coach Roy Williams said the Heels were lucky to come away with a win. Hansbrough, who was bloodied several times during the game, was double-teamed much of the night and still led the way with 27 points.

Hansbrough had 18 at the break but the Heels led by only two at 48-46 as Ganai Lawal, a 6-8 freshman, scored 11 points in the half to keep the Yellow Jackets in it. Lawal, who fouled out with 5:17 to go in the game, only tallied two points in the second half.

Carolina led 78-76 when Lawal fouled out. Hansbrough hit one of two free throws to up the score to 79-76. A few seconds later Hansbrough had a chance to extend the lead but missed the front end of a one-and-one.

Peacock scored over Hansbrough to bring Georgia Tech within one at 79-78. With just over three minutes to go, Green came down with a rebound and put it in for an 81-78 lead.

It looked as if the Heels might have gotten the momentum following a steal but Green gave it right back with a charge. Then, Carolina seemingly had a rebound with a three-point edge but the ball went through Hansbrough's legs into the arms of Peacock who threw to Anthony Morrow for a lay in to make it 81-80.

With 2:19 to go, Green was fouled as he grabbed a defensive rebound but he managed only one free throw to up the advantage to 82-80. With 1:13 to go Tech's Jeremis Smith, who led the Jackets with 15 points, canned a couple of free throws to tie it at 82-82.

Following a baseline jumper by Green that missed the mark, Georgia Tech got the ball and called timeout with 36.8 seconds to go. Green was fouled as he got another rebound with 22.6 seconds to go.

Green hit the first free throw but missed the second free throw setting up a frantic ending as the Yellow Jackets got two shots that would have won it. The first was blocked by Green and the second, a good look by Peacock, didn't go down. The ball went out of bounds off Georgia Tech with .5 seconds left. Hansbrough inbounded it and the ball was knocked loose but no one could get to it before time expired.

The Yellow Jackets led by six midway through the second half at 66-60 but Carolina went on a 10-4 run to tie it 70-70 after a Ty Lawson drive and free throw after being fouled.

Wayne Ellington, who had a bad shooting game going only three of 10, penetrated the lane and sank a 10-footer to give Carolina the lead at 78-76 as the Heels would never trail again.

North Carolina's largest lead came in the first half when the Heels went up 46-38 following a steal by Green that led to a lay-up by Lawson.

Except for Carolina's dominance at the foul line (21-8) and Tech's dominance from three-point land (24-6), the stats were fairly close. The Heels outrebounded the Jackets 40-38 and shot 48 percent from the field versus 45 percent for the Jackets.

Hansbrough got his 11th double-double of the year with 11 rebounds to go with the 27 points. Lawson added 13 and Green had 10.

Check out the game box score and a game photo gallery.
Take a look at other game articles.
Read my Tar Heels' season preview on WRAL.com by clicking here.