Isaiah Hicks' basket helps seal ACC Tournament championship win for UNC

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Five points.

Breathe out, it’s just enough.

There was under a minute left in Saturday’s ACC Tournament championship game, and the North Carolina men’s basketball team only led by three points. UNC would go on to win 61-57, but for now, Virginia’s Evan Nolte had just hit a corner 3-pointer to erase the Tar Heels' seemingly comfortable lead.

And now it was a one possession game.

The Tar Heels could turn to any number of guys for a clutch basket — Brice Johnson, or Marcus Paige, or ACC Tournament MVP Joel Berry. They all finished Saturday’s contest with double-digit points and were each named to the All-Tournament team.

But they didn’t.

Instead, Isaiah Hicks got the ball.

He caught it near the top of the key, not a defender in sight. Shoot? Pass? Drive.

“When he caught it, I was just hoping he took his time because there was no way he was gonna stop him,” Theo Pinson said. “Isaiah is 6-foot-9, 230 (pounds), going down through the middle of the lane — who's gonna stop that?

“The dude is a monster.”

So Isaiah, do that. First, look around. See what’s going on.

“I had just seen that they weren’t doubling, so that was my chance to attack the rim,” Hicks said.

Then start backing up into your defender. Jostle for position, inch closer and closer to the hoop. Dribble, step, dribble, step. Don’t give in to their defense, no matter how much contact they’re doling out.

Wait until the last chance you’ve got, and then, boom.

And he did. He kept his back turned until he was practically under the rim, and then he spun and jumped. Not too high, but just enough to float the ball out of his hand and over the outstretched arms of his defender.

It clanked off the rim, once and then again, before it fell through the net. Count it. 57-52, and there’s only 30 seconds left. Listen to his teammates, the yelling from the bench.

“They were like, ‘Tough bucket,’” Hicks said. “Everybody was excited for it because miss, anything could’ve happened.

“Just to have the thought of a five-point lead, just to have that little cushion right there, was good.”

And it proved necessary. A layup and made 3-pointer in the last 30 seconds meant UVa. trailed by only two points late in the game. Without that basket from Hicks, it’s a tie game with two seconds left. There’s no reason for the Cavaliers to foul Joel Berry, like they did, and give him a chance to ice the game at the free throw line.

Berry sank both attempts to make it a four-point game again with under a second left. At that point, the game was over. But without Hicks’ basket, there is no two-point lead at the end of the game.

“We just knew that we had to get a basket, and whichever way we had to get it, we would take it,” Berry said. “And Isaiah got the ball and made a strong move toward the rim, and instead of him fading away, he went right at his defender.

“And the ball bounced in and I was like, ‘Thank God it went in.’”

There it is. That’s what a little breathing room sounds and feels like. Not much, and certainly not as much as a team would like, but it was something.

And in the end, five points was just enough.

@BrendanRMarks

sports@dailytarheel.com