The Tar Heel point guard had just knotted the game at 40 with a nifty backdoor pass to center Sean May, who converted the easy layup.
While this was hardly a decisive play in the contest, it did mark a distinct change from the first half, when an almost complacent Felton committed five turnovers and scored just two points.
"I just have to get focused," Felton said. "I've just got to dig down, get things right, just play ball, just control the ball. It was my mistakes (in the first half); it was my fault. I take the blame for all those things."
It's no coincidence that the Tar Heels scored a meager 33 points in the first half and faced a three-point deficit at halftime. When Felton makes mistakes with the ball, North Carolina's offense grinds to a standstill.
"Raymond, he was struggling," May said. "The guy guarding him was really up on him. He threw some passes that he said if he could have done it again he wouldn't have thrown them."
Part of Felton's problem was simple impatience. The Tar Heels are best in transition, and they have had difficulty scoring when they are forced into a half-court offense. Rutgers pressured the ball often but did not press full-court, relying instead on several different defensive schemes that slowed down the pace and frustrated Felton.
"We have to be more patient," said UNC swingman Rashad McCants. "We're so used to being up-tempo, fast, fast, fast, not slowing down at all. We've got a very fast point guard who likes to go, go, go. It's going to be an adjustment for us to slow it down, take care of the ball, and score."
Felton acknowledged that the Scarlet Knight defense was quicker than he expected but said the bigger problem was just that he was forcing passes.
"They've got a great defense, but I'm not saying their defense was making me make mistakes," Felton said. "It was more me just trying to rush things, just trying to make things happen that really weren't there."
