UNC men's basketball bounces back from Duke loss with 96-71 win over Miami

In the aftermath of Wednesday’s 74-73 loss to Duke, North Carolina men’s basketball coach Roy Williams was determined to make his team forget about its devastating defeat.

After not holding practice on Thursday, Williams only showed his team two plays from the game against the Blue Devils before telling his players they wouldn’t mention it again.

“I wasn’t going to lay down on my side and say, ‘Woe is me,’” Williams said. “I told them I didn’t want to hear any of that junk from them either.”

But if Williams’ tactics weren’t enough to make his team erase Wednesday’s outcome from its memory, Saturday’s home win over the Hurricanes might have accomplished the task.

In perhaps the Tar Heels’ most complete performance of the season, No. 5 UNC bounced back with a 96-71 victory over the No. 11 Hurricanes, putting North Carolina in sole possession of first place in the ACC.

UNC (22-5, 11-3 ACC) and Miami (21-5, 10-4 ACC) traded baskets for the game’s opening minutes before North Carolina went on a 15-3 run to take a 30-18 advantage.

The Hurricanes stormed back in the waning minutes of the first half to cut the Tar Heels’ lead to 42-33 entering halftime, but Miami never pulled within less than nine points.

Junior forward Isaiah Hicks made a jumper on UNC’s first possession of the second half, igniting a 13-1 North Carolina run prior to the first media timeout.

The Tar Heels continued to extend their lead — which reached as many as 38 points — as the period progressed in large part to their success from behind the arc. After going 1-for-13 on 3-pointers on Wednesday, UNC went 6-for-13 on 3-pointers in the second half against the Hurricanes.

Led by senior Brice Johnson’s 16 points and 15 rebounds — marking his 16th double-double this season — North Carolina had six players score in double figures for the third time this year and the Tar Heels put the Duke loss in the past.

Quotable

“We said in the locker room, ‘They caught us on the wrong day.’ They probably expected to catch us on a day where we just beat Duke and we’d be fat and happy. But we didn’t beat Duke. We’re desperate. We wanted to play like we were desperate, and that’s what we did. We came out, we hit them in the mouth and just kept hitting them. We didn’t want to let up.” — Johnson on the team’s mentality entering Saturday's game.

Notable

Hicks replaced Kennedy Meeks in the starting lineup on Saturday. During his postgame press conference, Williams said the change wasn’t made for any particular reason other than that he wanted to. Hicks scored 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting, hauled in five rebounds and recorded two steals.

First-year guard Kenny Williams took a hard fall midway through the first half and immediately grabbed his head. After staying on the ground for a couple of minutes, he was able to stand up and make his way to the locker room. Williams didn’t return to the game, but a UNC spokesman said the guard did not experience concussion-like symptoms.

Three numbers that matter

13: In the past 13 years, North Carolina holds a 13-0 record in the first regular-season game after playing Duke.

25: UNC’s 25-point win over Miami marks its largest against a team ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 poll since defeating No. 13 Michigan State by 35 points during the 2008-09 season.

21: The Tar Heels recorded 21 assists during Saturday game, including 16 in the second half. Sophomore wing Justin Jackson led the team with a career-high eight assists, seven of which came after halftime.

What’s next?

The Tar Heels face N.C. State at 8 p.m. on Wednesday at PNC Arena in Raleigh. The game will be televised on the ACC Network.

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