Second-half surge leads UNC to NCAA tournament win

GREENSBORO — With just less than 12 minutes to go in North Carolina’s second-round NCAA tournament matchup with Vermont, a turnover by forward Harrison Barnes sent the ball flying out of bounds and into the hands of a frustrated Roy Williams, who slammed it twice on the floor of the Greensboro Coliseum court.

In NCAA tournament history, a No. 16-seeded team has never beaten a top-seeded squad. But much to Williams’ and the Tar Heels’ dismay, Vermont simply wouldn’t go down without a fight.

The coach’s second-half outburst, though, seemed to wake up the struggling Tar Heels, who went on to win 77-58 and advance to a third-round matchup with Creighton on Sunday.

In the three minutes to follow, forward James Michael McAdoo led the Tar Heels to an 11-2 run, which culminated in a P.J. Hairston 3-pointer, and a 20-point lead for UNC.

The Tar Heels admittedly started off slow. But it’s not something McAdoo is worried about as they continue down the final stretch of the season.

“We just weren’t familiar with (Vermont),” said McAdoo, who finished with a career-high 17 points and four steals. “Coach had told us just watching the film that it didn’t really do them justice…I feel like once the first half was over, we were able to settle down and really get to what makes us successful.”

For the third game in a row, McAdoo started in the place of an injured John Henson. And from the get-go Friday, it appeared that the Tar Heels really missed their usual starting forward.

McAdoo went 1-for-6 from the field in the first half and pulled down just two rebounds.

“I kind of got down on myself a little just because my shot wasn’t falling,” he said. “I was getting great shots, that’s what coach kept saying. I really tried to just play myself into the game on the defensive end, and just be aggressive…In the second half, I really just put my mind to it that I had to be tougher.”

And after the break, McAdoo looked like a whole new man.

The freshman, who finished with five offensive rebounds, attacked the boards more aggressively in the second half, and with less than 10 minutes to go, McAdoo used a pair of and-1 opportunities to score six straight points.

UNC’s second-round NCAA tournament victory gave North Carolina its 30th win of the season — marking the Tar Heels’ fifth 30-win campaign in nine years under Williams.

Senior forward Tyler Zeller recorded his 18th double-double this season, finishing with 17 points and 15 rebounds, and guard Kendall Marshall’s 16th double-digit assist performance this season broke an ACC record.

And in the face of adversity, McAdoo proved he could rise to the occasion and lead his team in a do-or-die scenario.

Even though he was replacing the ACC Defensive Player of the Year in his first-ever NCAA tournament game, McAdoo said he wasn’t really nervous before the tip off.

And that assuredness shined in McAdoo’s first-half follow through dunk — a basket that got the crowd riled up and seemed to have jolted McAdoo out of his brief NCAA tournament slump.

“We used to get on him a lot early in practice, about, you know, going up strong,” Barnes said. “He used to always go up and finesse layups. Now, I guess all that constant reminder paid off and he’s going to the rim really strong.”

As the dunk replayed on the coliseum’s big screens and Vermont called a 30-second timeout, a visibly elated McAdoo ran to the sidelines to greet his cheering teammates.

When reminded of that moment after the game, McAdoo couldn’t help but flash a confident smile.

“I didn’t think it was going to be that nasty,” he said. “I still haven’t seen it. I look forward to that.”