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The Daily Tar Heel

Late game run not enough for Tar Heels

No. 15 UNC fell to N.C. State 58-46

BeeJay Anya (21) dunks over the UNC defense for two of his five points.
BeeJay Anya (21) dunks over the UNC defense for two of his five points.

They were on a 10-2 run, but they were still down eight points.

Justin Jackson got the steal, but it was swiped right from his hand, and it bounced aimlessly toward midcourt.

Marcus Paige didn’t think about it — he just dove, and with an outstretched hand, he poked the ball to Jackson, who finished in traffic.

Six points.

BeeJay Anya missed the following shot for N.C. State, and Kennedy Meeks was under the ball for the rebound. Ten second later, he was under the basket on the end of an assist by Paige.

N.C. State head coach Mark Gottfried had had enough. He called a timeout.

Four points.

As chairs were being set up behind him, North Carolina coach Roy Williams ventured onto the court to meet his team. Paige bent over, resting his hands on his knees. Williams hesitated before speaking. Then he patted his star guard’s head and got to it.

Monday, J.P. Tokoto had brought up an oft-made and oft-apt observation — that basketball is a game of runs. The Tar Heels put up a sprint for just over five minutes Tuesday night, outscoring the Wolfpack 18-4 and closing the deficit to a very appealing two points.

Two points.

But 43 seconds later, N.C. State was up by seven. It would go on to win by 12, handing Williams his first-ever loss to the Wolfpack in Chapel Hill by a final score of 58-46.

Fourty-six points. The fewest by a Tar Heel team in Smith Center history.

For a team that had trailed for all but five minutes of the game, being so close without capitalizing was tortuous.

“It hurts,” Brice Johnson said. “We were down two, then all of a sudden they were back up seven that quick.”

“Runs don’t do you any good unless you’re tough enough to withstand and keep going,” Williams said.

With just under two minutes left in the game, it was clear the Wolfpack was running away with the game, and the Tar Heels couldn’t withstand it.

They were down just five, but it was over.

Seconds ago, Paige had caught the ball in the corner in front of his bench, and with two defenders closing out on him, he rose for a three. Midway up, he saw another option.

“I thought J.P. was looking at me because he was open under the basket too,” he said.

So instead of shooting, he passed, but instead of Tokoto, the ball floated into the chest of Lennard Freeman. UNC wouldn’t hit another shot in the game.

“I probably still should have shot it,” Paige said. “That kind of started the whole thing.”

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In the final two minutes of play, UNC committed two turnovers and four fouls and missed the five shots it took.

N.C. State turned the ball over zero times, missed zero shots and put up seven points.

For a team playing at home, UNC looked wildly lost, most of all when Meeks took the first 3-pointer of his career.

“No poise is what it was,” Williams said. “We’ve never had a play where our big guy shoots a 3-point shot unless he can really shoot threes. Kennedy didn’t know what to do, so he shot it.”

There were excuses, though none made by the team or their coach. Inexperience of the lineup, a disparity of hustle. But Paige noted the real cause — digging a 16-point hole in the second half does not an easy victory make.

“That was awful,” Johnson said. “We’ve got to do better. They came here, and they beat us. We can’t let that happen.

"But it did.”

sports@dailytarheel.com