Heels Didn't Need A 3 Until They Needed A 3

HOUSTON – With 9:26 left in Saturday’s national semifinal game between North Carolina and Syracuse, Orange freshman Malachai Richardson drained his team’s sixth 3-pointer of the night cutting a 17-point Tar Heels lead to 7, yet Carolina still hadn’t seen a 3 fall through the cylinder

Carolina was 0-11 from the perimeter to that point, but then, spanning 109 seconds, the Heels’ Marcus Paige answered Syracuse with a 3, Brice Johnson silenced Syracuse with a dunk, and Theo Pinson squeezed the juice out of the Orange hitting Carolina’s second 3.

And just like that, the Heels had connected their interior groove with the perimeter, and began to pull away for an 83-66 victory, sending them into Monday’s night national championship game versus Villanova.

Now, if this was December, maybe even January, this could have caused the alarms to sound in Carolina heads. But instead of letting panic creep onto their faces and into their game, UNC simply played on.

“We didn’t really think that much of it,” said Pinson. “We knew we can’t shoot worse. We didn’t make one. We just wanted to keep stepping into it with confidence.”

Despite shooting 4-17 (23.5 percent) from the perimeter, UNC is heading to the championship game Monday night.

This team isn’t fazed by nerves, by shooting woes, or by playing long stretches without their best player and most productive scorer (Johnson). The Heels usually find a way to win, it’s not about the method, it’s just about the outcome.

“Honestly, I don’t think anyone really cares who gets the credit on this team as long as the teams winning,” said Joel James. The big man filled in for Johnson in the first half contributing 4 points and 6 rebounds. “We all cheer for each other as hard as we can and if someone is doing well we’re all cheering for each other.”

Last week in Philadelphia, Johnson found himself on the bench with two fouls and a technical, giving him three total personals, with only 13:16 left in the game. Tonight, Johnson found himself on the bench again after picking up his second foul with 9:05 left before halftime.

At this point Syracuse might have wanted to pat themselves on the back and congratulate their 2-3 zone defensive success. The Orange were tied at 16 with the Heels and UNC seemed to be embodying the NRG stadium shooting horror story.

Instead Carolina ran away on a 23-12 run to close the half, fueled once again by their bench and big men Hicks, Meeks and James. The Heels led 39-28.

The Heels shot 48.6 percent in the first half, and that includes missing all 10 of their 3-point attempts. However, inside the arc they converted 68 percent of their shots. Furthermore, 26 of UNC’s 39 points came from the paint.

Carolina built a 17-point lead less than 8 minutes into the second half by continuing to go at Syracuse, often scoring in the paint.

Cue the 2-minute, 10-0 Syracuse desperation run, sparking memories of last week’s comeback win over Virginia. With all momentum swinging towards the Orange and 9:26 left, Paige changed the game by draining a 3.

Carolina played 31 minutes without hitting a 3, only when they needed the big time shot, did they shoot and convert.

“It was big. I think we needed it because they had got some of the momentum and they felt comfortable and they were kind of speeding us up and we weren’t able to get very many stops during that point,” said Paige. “So to answer with a 3 kind of neutralizes that it allowed for us to take a deep breath and look up and still see a double digit lead.”

As monumental as the first made three by Paige was, the shooting drought is nothing new to Carolina. Just two weeks ago the Heels didn’t see a single made 3 in the second in their victory over Providence.

“We suck at shooting 3’s this year,” joked James. “I guess it was just up and down through the season... Sometimes they’re just off. So you just gotta take advantage of your miss matches inside with the bigs. If you’re not hitting 3’s outside throw the ball inside.”

Carolina did exactly what James said. The Tar Heels won the game inside. They ignored the 2-3 Orange zone and dropped 50 points in the paint: 26 in the first half and 24 in the second half.

The Heels drove right down the lane to the championship.

“Basically, all year we’ve always found a way to win and that’s what we did tonight,” Pinson. “It wasn’t going early so we attacked the basket, got a couple of easy buckets for our bigs, That’s the thing about our team, we have guards who can shoot the ball and bigs who can throw the ball in the basket so it’s a dual threat.”

And on Monday night, that balance just may bring home a national title to Chapel Hill.