With 17:36 left in the second half of the North Carolina men’s basketball team’s 95-50 win over Radford, the Smith Center went dead silent. Berry, the Tar Heels’ emotional leader, was down on the floor after rolling his ankle.
Coach Roy Williams went over to check on his star point guard, who was able to walk off the court and into the locker room under his own power.
The official word is a left ankle sprain for Berry, but it appears to be nothing too worrisome for the Tar Heels (8-1).
But his exit provided an opportunity for Woods to run the offense.
The first-year was averaging just 2.3 points in 11.1 minutes coming into Sunday’s game. He’d shown flashes of what he could become with 14 assists, but then he would come crashing back to Earth with 11 turnovers.
The results Sunday were mixed. Woods finished with nine points, a career high, but he also tallied five turnovers to one assist against the Highlanders (3-5). He’s still going through the growing pains of learning the offense and the tempo that comes with it.
“I’ve been getting pretty frustrated,” Woods said. “(Assistant) Coach (Steve Robinson) has been talking to me a lot. He said all the point guards have been through it — Joel Berry, Kendall (Marshall), Ty Lawson — they’ve all been through it their freshman year, so I’m just trying to go out there and hold my own.”
Woods can see the passes in his head and understands where the ball should be going. But sometimes his first-year jitters, as senior Isaiah Hicks called them, get in the way. With each game, his confidence grows, and he gets a little better.
