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The Daily Tar Heel

Kentucky a step above Tar Heels in tight contest

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UNC forward John Henson attempts to shoot the ball over Anthony Davis in the final seconds of the game.

John Henson was a midrange jumper away from downing the No. 1 team in the nation, and he never even had the chance to make it.

It was Kentucky-North Carolina — the nation’s top-ranked team against the fifth-ranked team — and it lived up to nearly every expectation. Except one.

With a few seconds remaining, Kentucky forward Anthony Davis elevated with 6-foot-11 Henson and blocked his would-be game-winning fadeaway in the 73-72 UNC loss.

Davis is 6 feet 10 inches tall, but no one expected the block. Not even Henson.

“I thought I was open,” Henson said. “It was kind of like a little taste of my own medicine, which is kind of funny, but I’ve done that before. Credit to him, because that was a great, great play.”

It was a tough way to lose, especially after playing a competitive game. From the opening tip, it seemed the only ending worthy of the game would be a last-shot opportunity for the win.

At times the two teams played so hard that they were spent.

It was as if each possession were swinging right hooks from two boxers in the 15th round, each blow capable of knocking either boxer off balance. That helps explain the 11 combined points scored by two of the nation’s best offenses in a 6:20 stretch in the middle of the second half.

“(It was) such a crazy game,” UNC coach Roy Williams said. “I mean, it’s a one-point game. We had a chance to win. They missed some plays just as well as we did.”

Though disappointed in the outcome, UNC brought Kentucky closer to a home loss than any team has since the Wildcats last fell on March 4, 2009, to Georgia.

And it handled a raucous environment that’s helped Kentucky build its now 39-game home winning streak in stride.

When Kentucky made a shot early in the game, UNC answered, and often with a bigger shot.

By the end of the first half, UNC was shooting 48 percent from the field and was a staggering 6-for-9 from long range.

“I thought our kids tried,” Williams said. “I thought they wanted it badly. I mean, they’re hurting in the locker room right now.”

And the Tar Heels never really cooled down, from long range, that is.

In the second half, North Carolina made 5 of 9 shots from beyond the 3-point line but only made 5 of 20 inside the same line.

Kentucky just didn’t allow UNC an easy shot inside the arc.

“They dominated us a little bit more in the paint area than I thought they would,” Williams said.

The Wildcats didn’t just make shots difficult. They made interior passes difficult on UNC, too.

UNC forward Tyler Zeller felt the most of that and finished with four turnovers. He rarely touched the ball without two or three Wildcats swarming around him.

“(Kentucky forward) Terrence Jones actually took one (pass) before it got there, because he was coming to double-team,” Zeller said. “Usually you have a little time to see it coming.”

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And although UNC made a slight comeback after trailing by four points with two minutes left, Kentucky made the shots it needed to.

The biggest of those shots were two free throws made by Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to give the Wildcats 73 points.

“If we need a free throw late in the game, I’m giving him the ball and letting him shoot them,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said. “He will not miss it late in the game.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.