UNC falls flat against Georgia Tech
For the second straight game, No. 24 North Carolina couldn’t escape from a flat first-half performance.
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For the second straight game, No. 24 North Carolina couldn’t escape from a flat first-half performance.
A 19-point second-half deficit proved to be too much for No. 12 North Carolina to overcome against No. 20 Georgia Tech.
UNC-Georgia Tech Live Blog
CLEMSON, S.C. — In the hours leading up to No. 12 North Carolina’s first ACC road game against No. 24 Clemson, the Tar Heels’ bus was involved in a car accident on its way to a shootaround at Littlejohn Coliseum.It wasn’t the only wreck Wednesday night.UNC’s offense struggled to find its way through the traffic of Clemson’s high pressure defense in the first half, committing 15 turnovers in the game’s opening period.And that was only the beginning.For the game, the North Carolina (12-5, 1-1 ACC) committed 26 turnovers in its 83-64 blowout loss to the Tigers (14-3, 2-1). The 26 turnovers tied UNC’s season high.“We thought we could turn them over because they’ve struggled with that,” Clemson coach Oliver Purnell said. “That’s what we do, that’s Clemson basketball.”Clemson’s collapse defense rattled the Tar Heels from the opening tip. After UNC’s first three possessions, Clemson already had three steals and six points off those turnovers.Three starters — Larry Drew II, Marcus Ginyard and Deon Thompson — were the main culprits for the Tar Heels, turning the ball over a combined 15 times.“It’s tough when you turn the ball over almost 30 times,” Ginyard said. “We never really gave ourselves a chance to win.”The mistakes led to plenty of easy baskets on the other end for Clemson, who turned UNC’s sloppy play into several easy transition dunks and layups.UNC’s inability to consistently break the pressure also gave the Tigers plenty of energy in half-court sets. After one turnover caused by the defense of Clemson’s Trevor Booker, the forward had an extra bounce in his step as he found his place on the block and demanded the ball down low.A pass and one solid post move later, Booker added two more points to his total and posed to the thunderous applause from the Clemson crowd.The 15 first-half turnovers were matched by only three assists, leaving UNC coach Roy Williams far from pleased with the effort from his starters at the break.And after another sluggish start after intermission, he pulled all five starters out of the game with 18:02 remaining and replaced them with all five of UNC’s freshmen.While he reinserted them only a few possessions later, the message was clear.“All the mistakes we made were things that they told us in practice, things that they’ve always shown us what’s the right thing to do and we make the same mistakes over and over,” Will Graves said.After the game, no one spoke in a somber UNC locker room other than to ask a question or to ask for a towel. Ginyard, a fifth-year senior, best summed up the team’s mood on its offensive performance.“I’ve never felt like this before.”Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
She wasn’t exhorting them to start making a few baskets to slow down the Huskies’ momentum and cut into a rapidly increasing UConn lead.
A quintet of juniors from North Carolina’s highly ranked defensive unit announced they will return to Chapel Hill for their senior seasons in the week following the team’s 19-17 loss to Pittsburgh in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.
In Marcus Ginyard’s first action in three games, the senior managed only two points, two rebounds and one assist during No. 9 North Carolina’s 78-64 win against Virginia Tech.
According to a report by ESPN.com's Joe Schad, UNC linebacker Quan Sturdivant and safety Deunta Williams will return for their senior seasons.
North Carolina will return most of its defense for yet another year.
No. 10 North Carolina used a freshman in the starting lineup for the first time all season, but the result against unranked competition was the same as usual for UNC.
With a little less than 13 minutes remaining in the second half of No. 10 North Carolina’s 89-82 win against No. 9 Michigan State, MSU forward Delvon Roe beat UNC’s defense down the floor and finished an easy layup to cut the Tar Heels’ lead to 13.For the moment, at least.Point guard Dexter Strickland raced up the court on the resulting inbounds pass and quickly spotted an unmarked Marcus Ginyard streaking toward the basket.Without hesitation, Strickland flicked a lob pass to Ginyard that hit the senior in stride on an unobstructed path to the basket.And like that, UNC had answered. Five seconds had passed.Just like old times.“Coach made an emphasis to us before the game; he thought that they were going to come and try to outrun us,” point guard Larry Drew II said. “Guys took that as a personal challenge to go out and show them we’re the best running team in the nation.”Strickland and Drew set the tone from the opening tip-off, making a conscious effort to sprint up the floor at every opportunity they saw open space in front of them.On one such opportunity in the first half, Strickland attempted to dribble the length of the court for a quick basket, but had his layup attempt blocked by Roe as he drove toward the rim.Undeterred, the freshman made another coast-to-coast run just half a minute later, finding enough space to create another layup opportunity — and the second time he finished.“I was just trying to help my team out,” Strickland said. “We were running the break pretty hard. We were trying to get early buckets and play good defense, get a good lead.”But it wasn’t all so pretty.At times, the Tar Heels’ point guards were moving a little faster than they were comfortable with.Drew committed three turnovers, and all of those occurred when the sophomore point guard tried to thread the needle to a big man in the post on the run.And a flurry of sloppy offensive possessions near the end of the game allowed the Spartans to whittle UNC’s lead to six.“(Drew) had a spell in the second half in which he threw two passes off the backboard. The Houston Rockets a hundred years ago had a play like that throwing it to Moses Malone,” coach Roy Williams said. “That’s not our play. He wasn’t trying to do that.”The up-tempo pace helped spark life into a UNC offense that had been bogged down in half-court sets most of the season. The Tar Heels’ point guards found a way to get their big men comfortable running and raced to a 16-point halftime lead on the strength of the fast break.Strickland acknowledged afterward that Tuesday’s game was the most polished and efficient UNC had played all season on the fast break, but said his coach was far from satisfied with how it functioned in the second half.“Coach Roy was really mad because we can do much better,” Strickland said. “But that was one of our best games.”Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
For 30 minutes Sunday night, No. 11 North Carolina (6-1) exhibited symptoms of a turkey hangover in its 80-73 victory against Nevada (2-3), fitting of the game’s post-Thanksgiving timing.
North Carolina's 80-73 defeat of Nevada (2-3) wasn't the prettiest or most memorable of wins the Tar Heels have delivered under coach Roy Williams. But it was one that will hold plenty of clout in the NCAA record books.
North Carolina vs. Nevada
Last year after its lopsided 41-10 victory against North Carolina, N.C. State didn’t hold back when taking a couple shots at UNC’s program.“What it speaks to is, we’re the best football program in the state,” Wolfpack coach Tom O’Brien said following that game. “Without question.”But the fun at the expense of its rival didn’t stop there.The school also printed up T-shirts declaring itself “State Champions” in football because it had beaten Wake Forest, Duke and East Carolina in addition to the Tar Heels.Given a chance to respond leading into this week’s game, safety Deunta Williams resisted firing back at this year’s struggling Wolfpack squad (4-7, 1-6 ACC) — at least for now.“To be honest with you, we think about it. But at the same time, that’s last year,” Williams said.“I’m not into too much trash talk — until I get on the field.”UNC coach Butch Davis didn’t bite either when baited with O’Brien’s comments at his weekly press conference Monday.“Those kinds of things are going to be resolved every single season,” Davis said. “Every season is an entity unto itself.”Riding a four-game winning streak and on the cusp of a nine-win regular season, the Tar Heels (8-3, 4-3) weren’t about to give the Wolfpack any bulletin board material at the press conference.UNC is too busy devising a scheme to slow down N.C. State’s Russell Wilson and fine-tuning its mistakes going into its regular-season finale.Wilson threw for 279 yards and two touchdowns in the two schools’ meeting in 2008, and Davis said he was perhaps the most dynamic player in the ACC other than Clemson’s C.J. Spiller.“There’s two parts to this equation for this week,” Davis said. “We have to prepare for N.C. State and the challenges they’re going to bring, but we also have to take care of ourselves. We have to play much better.”Surprisingly, one of the areas Davis singled out for improvement was UNC’s defense.Despite the defense forcing six turnovers against Boston College and scoring on two of those, Davis wasn’t happy at the way the Tar Heels defended the run.Eagles running back Montel Harris rumbled his way to 132 yards on the ground, finding plenty of space Saturday against a UNC defense rated first in the conference against the run.Davis also wasn’t pleased with the way his team handled its 21-0 lead. He gave Boston College credit for fighting its way back in the game, but still wants consistency from the offensive unit.Quarterback T.J. Yates isn’t content this week, either. The junior threw three interceptions against Boston College, and he is 0-2 as a starter against N.C. State.“I definitely need to get a win under my belt against them,” Yates said. “It kind of irks me every time we play against them and come out with a loss.”Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
In the minutes leading up to practice, North Carolina’s football players can always count on hearing a couple of numbers being discussed while they stretch.The digits are part of a game — a bet between coach Butch Davis and cornerback Kendric Burney.“We always chide each other,” Davis said. “How many balls can you get your hands on today in practice? He’ll throw out a little side bet. He’ll say, ‘I’ll get 10 today, I’ll get 12 or whatever.’”
After reeling off three straight victories, two of those against top-15 opponents, North Carolina has assured itself of its second straight winning season and bowl eligibility.But given what happened in the final games of last season, coach Butch Davis and the Tar Heels are planning on closing out this season like they closed out Saturday’s 33-24 victory against Miami.“Some of the same things that allow you to finish games certainly become evident as you try to finish seasons,” Davis said in his weekly press conference. “Some kids, when they’re freshmen and sophomores, don’t appreciate the fact of how tough it is to win these games.“The minute you think something is going to be easy, it almost assuredly won’t be easy.”After a 7-2 start to 2008, UNC struggled on its way to the finish line. The Tar Heels stumbled in three of their next four games to close with an 8-5 mark.One of the losses in that stretch included a 41-10 rout at the hands of rival N.C. State, one of the remaining two teams on UNC’s regular season schedule this year.Sporting a 7-3 record at this juncture, UNC finds itself in a similar position.Davis’ players certainly don’t need much reminding of that.“There’s still a sour taste in our mouths about (the N.C. State game). It’s definitely been something we’ve preached all year about not having a game like that,” cornerback Kendric Burney said. “Never having a breakdown where we’re not playing Carolina football for all four quarters.”One aspect UNC is focusing on this week is correcting some of the problems that still linger on offense.North Carolina has leaned heavily on its defense, rated No. 8 nationally, in most of its wins this season. Of UNC’s 33-point outburst against Miami, 14 came off of two defensive returns for touchdowns, and a Burney interception set up a field goal.UNC ranks 11th out of 12 teams in the conference in total offense.“We haven’t played as good as we want to on the offensive side of the ball,” tight end Zack Pianalto said. “We have two more chances to work out the kinks before the bowl game.”And while UNC players say they are focused on the next week’s practice, they are not completely immune to the postseason and the surrounding projections that come with it.Two more wins could mean a trip to Atlanta for the Chick-fil-A Bowl, while two losses would likely lead to a shorter drive to Charlotte for another shot at winning the Meineke Car Care Bowl.Quarterback T.J. Yates admitted to peeking ahead a little bit when asked to which bowl he thought the Tar Heels were headed.“I’ve heard some in the papers and on the radio,” Yates said. “But I try to stay away from all that stuff, keep my head in the right place.”Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
North Carolina’s Will Graves had to think for a few seconds before assigning a grade to his team’s performance in its 88-77 victory against Valparaiso.His final verdict? The Tar Heels passed — but barely.“I’d say a D,” Graves said. “We showed intensity in spurts, but you can get a couple questions right on a test and still come out with a D.”Roy Williams said he was glad his team got the win, but that was about all he was happy about afterward.“It’s wasn’t very pretty, it didn’t have the intensity that I thought we would have today, it didn’t have the sharpness on the offensive end,” Williams said. “There were some wild turnovers.”UNC (3-0) committed 14 turnovers against the Crusaders’ zone defense, most of them coming on reckless passes on the secondary break.Marcus Ginyard and Larry Drew II were the main culprits, giving the ball away nine times combined.Drew said he was going to take his high turnover total personally.“A couple passes, it seemed like it was there,” Drew said. “Coach is always yelling, ‘Make a bounce pass, make a bounce pass.’ It’s just something I’ve got to try and carry on to the next game.”It wasn’t all bad for North Carolina, who did have four players score in double figures.Deon Thompson led UNC in points and rebounds with 20 and 8, respectively, and UNC held a comfortable lead for most of the second half. The margin ballooned to 24 points with 11:55 left in the game.But that’s when possessions got sloppy for UNC, and Valparaiso’s shooting began to heat up.Crusaders guard Brandon Wood was on fire after intermission, scoring 20 of his 30 points in the game’s final 20 minutes.Wood made four of five three-pointers in that half, and Valparaiso as a team shot 7-for-10 from the three-point line in the same period.He and his teammates’ offensive efficiency chipped away at UNC’s formerly sizable cushion, bringing the margin down to just nine points with 1:52 to go in the game. “It seemed like he didn’t miss a shot,” Drew said. “He would score it seemed like every time we had a turnover.”But by the time Valparaiso got within striking distance, it was too late for the Crusaders to finish their comeback. UNC forward Travis Wear made a layup to put UNC’s lead back into double digits, and Drew iced the game with a pair of free throws shortly thereafter.Williams was far from pleased that his team allowed the Crusaders to come back and make the game interesting.He gave Valparaiso (0-2) credit for its intensity, but added that UNC will need to play on a higher level if it expects to survive the rest of its brutal non-conference schedule.The Tar Heels travel to Madison Square Garden in New York next week, where they could play two ranked opponents.“I said before the season started that some days we’re going to be pretty good and some days we’re going to be pretty ugly,” Williams said. “We have no chance in New York if we play this way.”Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
UNC-Valpo Basketball Live Blog
Defensive tackle Marvin Austin is one of the biggest personalities on North Carolina’s football team in addition to being one of the team’s biggest bodies.The junior lineman, who already has been projected to be a force in the NFL by draft experts, chatted with SportSaturday Editor David Reynolds about a variety of topics, including dancing, dreadlocks and music.David Reynolds: Every game you do a little dance on the field beforehand. Do you have a name for that? Marvin Austin It’s actually called jiggin’. That’s the name of the dancing. Or swag surfing. D-Town Boogie. A couple different names for it.DR: It looks like it’s just you right now. Has anybody else requested to get out there with you?MA: G. Little — he can jig. You got a number of guys. KB (Kendric Burney) does a little jig every now and then before a game. It’s something that’s a little fun. I love to dance. That’s why you always see me doing it. Getting me ready for the game.DR: Has any lineman tried to grab you by the dreadlocks?MA: Actually not this year, but last year in the Notre Dame game. Now that it’s in a ponytail it’s harder to get to. That’s why I put it in a ponytail.DR: So how badly does it hurt to have your ponytail pulled?MA: It hurts like hell. But it hasn’t happened this year, so it’s been fairly good.DR: Imagine a fumble and a big pile. What sort of stuff goes down?MA: It can get ugly. I don’t know if you’ve read my Facebook status, but you might want to go check it out right now. It’ll be up for a little while. It gets ugly. I’m down there trying to get the ball. I’m going to do what I’ve got to do. I’m not going to disclose what goes on down there because I’d like to keep playing football. I don’t want to be like Brandon Spikes. It gets nasty. It’s not the nicest of things. For me it doesn’t really matter, for a ball carrier, it’s not the funnest place to be. It’s not Disneyland.DR: I know you have to do a lot of running around the field. How hard is it to keep on the weight you have?MA: It’s not hard for me. It’s actually harder to keep the weight off. And the weight doesn’t matter. It’s about being quick and fast, playing with power. I’m just big by nature. Linemen, we’re big by nature. If I could be 280 pounds and still play, I would.DR: How many meals do you eat per day?MA: Probably three. I probably should be eating five, six small meals. Get lunch. Then you eat dinner here. Then I eat something before I lie down. DR: I’ve heard defensive lineman go to Cluck-U on all-you-can-eat night. Does that still happen?MA: We used to make moves to Cluck-U. We tried to tone that down to keep our weight down. We got a lot heavier than we needed to be to play the way coach wanted us to play.DR: How else do you build up camaraderie? You guys seem like a tight unit.MA: We love each other. We’re like brothers. We see someone doing something they shouldn’t be doing, we get on them. It’s just like they’re my brothers. We see each other. We’re always together. If you catch one of us, you might catch two or three of us. Like you said, a brotherhood.DR: I see you have your headphones on. What have you been listening to?MA: I’ve been listening to “No Ceilings,” the mixed tape by Lil’ Wayne. I’ve got Jay-Z’s album “The Blueprint 3.” Got a little jazz in here. Of course, Rick Ross’ “In Cold Blood.” A little bit to get me going and get me ready for the task at hand.DR: What’s one thing about Marvin Austin people wouldn’t expect to know?MA: Probably that I enjoy music just as much as I enjoy football. Probably even more.