92 - 71 What are you going to do?
By now, it’s a broken record. Opponent shoots lights out, opposing point guard has a career night, missed free throws, crucial turnovers, blown defensive assignments, poor shooting night, long scoring drought during a big opponent’s run, yada yada yada.
Let’s give Maryland credit – they are playing really well. When they are firing on all cylinders, they have a legit shot to win the ACC. Plus, when you make your first five threes – and seven of your first nine, you’re setting the tone for the game. Maryland shot over 50 percent from three and overall, and clearly has Carolina’s number, winning three of the last four against the Heels. And to top it off, nearly 18,000 hearty souls braved Snowmageddon to cheer on the Terps.
As for Carolina, Marcus Ginyard was finally able to crack the scoreboard with a team-high 17 points but it took 13 shots to get there. Deon Thompson added 16 points but only 4 rebounds. Ed Davis had maybe the quietest double-double in recent memory with 10 points and 16 rebounds, but was a complete non-factor in the game despite the numbers.
Poor Larry Drew had maybe his worst game as a Tar Heel, going 0-6 from the floor and 0-2 from the line. He was credited with five assists but four turnovers, and three of those were in the backcourt. The freshmen also performed weakly for the most part, adding to the Heels’ woes. Drew and the five freshmen went a combined 6-25 from the floor and had 10 of Carolina’s 14 turnovers.
And yet, despite Maryland’s stellar play, the Heels looked to be in good shape at the 12:59 mark, having weathered the Terps’ half-opening run and shaving the margin from 13 down to just four points. Of course, Carolina would go over 4 minutes without a field goal and make only three field goals in a nearly nine-minute span. By the time the funk was over, UNC was down 20.
Roy Williams looks like a man who has just done all he can do. The look of resignation/frustration/anger on his face when Ginyard and Graves blew the 2-0n-1 break in the first half says it all. He did call two time-outs during the game but to no avail. You can criticize Roy all you want for Xs and Os and substitutions, but Roy is not the one making bad passes in transition and missing point-blank putbacks.
The Maryland crowd taunted the Heels with chants of “NIT” but at this point, I’m not sure “CBI” would be appropriate. UNC is clearly shell-shocked and even the simplest things seem to take maximum effort at this point. Give Woody Durham credit for the best Carolina play of the night, however – when the “NIT” chant started, Woody said, “well, they would know”.
Still, let’s not make this anything more than it is – UNC continued to show the things that have earned them 10 losses on the season, but this would have been a tough game for any team to win (last year’s team lost at Maryland, too, when the Terps were not as good as they are this year). At this point, all anyone can do go back to work and get ready for the Evil Empire on Wednesday night.
