Foul trouble becomes game-changer for UNC, Wolfpack

ATLANTA — When North Carolina’s usual starting forward John Henson walked out onto the court at the Philips Arena in a suit for UNC’s ACC semifinal game against N.C. State on Saturday, it was clear the Tar Heels would have to play with a little different lineup than normal.

But in a game that featured 42 total fouls, it soon became apparent that foul trouble would force both the Tar Heels and the Wolfpack to make some big adjustments in order to be successful.

Harrison Barnes had just three first-half points in UNC’s 69-67 win against the Wolfpack.

With Henson on the bench dealing with a wrist injury, and ACC Player of the Year Tyler Zeller with four fouls late in the game, though, Barnes said he felt like he had to be more aggressive if his team was going to come out on top.

“The game’s on the line,” Barnes said. “Being down in that situation — Z being in foul trouble, especially, not having John there — it’s a little bit different look. We can’t necessarily go inside as much as we used to.”

Barnes, whose second-half spark helped him finish the game with 16 points, raved about the bench’s ability to show up in a time of need.

UNC forward James Michael McAdoo, who made his first career start in place of Henson, picked up his fourth foul less than three minutes into the second half, and Tyler Zeller, who later fouled out, picked up his fourth with six minutes still on the clock.

So instead of turning to the tried and true, fouls forced UNC to go another route.

“It’s always frustrating when you can’t do anything about it,” Zeller said of his late-game foul trouble. “I knew we had a lot of great players out there, so I was just hoping and trusting them to make the best possible plays.”

A clutch shot from guard Kendall Marshall and a Justin Watts steal in the waning seconds gave the Tar Heels what they needed to punch their ticket to the ACC tournament championship game tomorrow despite playing with an unusual lineup, but foul trouble might have hurt the Wolfpack more than it did UNC.

N.C. State forward C.J. Leslie led all scorers in the first half with 15 points, and the Wolfpack took a three-point lead into the locker room at halftime.

But in a minute and a half span in the second half, the Wolfpack’s go-to guy picked up three fouls, which would banish him to the bench for the rest of the game.

WIth 8:35 left on the clock, Leslie got called for a charge — his fourth foul of the game. But N.C. State head coach Mark Gottfried and his staff didn’t bother taking him out of the game. In fact, Gottfried admitted afterwards he wasn’t even aware that the foul was Leslie’s fourth.

And less than 30 seconds later, that proved to be their fatal mistake.

On a drive from Barnes to the basket, Barnes said Leslie hit his elbow, and the whistle blew for Leslie’s fifth and final foul.

“(It was a) miscommunication by our staff,” Gottfried said. “That is our responsibility. Now, the two fouls happened so fast — boom, boom. The other bigs had four fouls as well, so we were in a quandary either way.”