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"I told him to shoot the ball or come over and sit down"

Justin Jackson left timid play behind and scored 13 points against UAB

Forward Justin Jackson (44) makes the last shot of the first half during the win against UAB.
Forward Justin Jackson (44) makes the last shot of the first half during the win against UAB.

Roy Williams had to resort to screaming, because taking a nicer approach wasn’t getting the job done.

So the Hall of Fame coach got mad. And he yelled. And it worked.

It got freshman forward Justin Jackson listening — and more importantly, shooting — in the No. 20 North Carolina men’s basketball team’s 89-58 blowout over University of Alabama-Birmingham (4-9) Saturday, something Jackson had been too timid to try for the game’s opening 17 and a half minutes.

Instead, Jackson had been passing — to J.P. Tokoto, Marcus Paige, anyone and everyone across the floor instead of pulling the trigger himself.

So in the half’s dwindling minutes, during that period when he yelled at Jackson, Williams gave his 6-foot-8 swingman an ultimatum.

“Everyone wanted him to shoot it and he didn’t shoot it,” Williams said. “(I) told him to shoot the ball or come over and sit down.”

Jackson chose the former, and it made all the difference. Just moments later, not to his coach’s surprise, the freshman drilled a 3-pointer with 2:33 left in the half to give UNC a 34-17 advantage over the Blazers at the break, a team that beat the Tar Heels in 2013.

Fifty-two seconds after that, Jackson popped another 3-pointer, from the opposite side this time.

Swish again.

That, coupled with a Marcus Paige 3-pointer after 21 more seconds had passed, brought life to the Smith Center and gave the Tar Heels (9-3) momentum heading into the second half. But above all, perhaps it gave Jackson – who scored eight points in a three minute span after Williams’ message — back the one thing he’s needed.

“I’ve said all year I think he’s really going to be a good shooter,” Williams said. “I think those were big for his confidence today.”

Jackson, who averaged 9.5 points per game heading into Saturday, dropped in 13 against the Blazers, on 5-for-8 shooting. He’s the first to admit that prior to Saturday, he was in a rut, shooting just 16.7 percent from deep, and 43 percent from the field. From a technical standpoint, Williams said there isn't anything wrong with Jackson's shot, other than the fact that it could use a bit more spin. Occasionally, Jackson said, that slump takes a toll on the psyche.

“It’s difficult at times,” he said. “Obviously you love to see the ball go in the hoop so whenever you don’t see it go through every once in a while it can kind of get to you.”

But on Saturday, that feeling was far removed from the Smith Center. Jackson looked loose, confident and relaxed. 

His teammates fed off of his energy, and after Jackson scored seven, six, four, seven and 11 points in the five games before Saturday, they got a glimpse of the Justin Jackson that played in high school. The one that was a five-star ESPN recruit. 

"Some days he shoots wide open shots and it just doesn't go in. And you can tell he's a little frustrated by it," junior forward Brice Johnson said. "But tonight he looks a lot more comfortable out there. When he went in and he was smiling — it's a lot of fun to watch him do that. That's just the kid he is. 

"I watched him in high school. And that's what he did."

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