GREENSBORO — Louisville coach Rick Pitino once challenged Roy Williams when the North Carolina coach said in 2008 there wasn’t a homecourt advantage when his Tar Heels played in Charlotte.
“I don’t think it’s a homecourt advantage,” Pitino said. “I think those are mostly mannequins dressed in powder blue.”
If Charlotte is jump away from Chapel Hill, then the Greensboro Coliseum is somewhere between the hop and skip. And the Tar Heel faithful let their voice be heard on Friday, as the venue erupted in UNC cheer throughout the 61-59 ACC quarterfinal win against Miami.
“I think it made a big difference with Miami trying to run their sets and not necessarily be ready for an away game, which it became at the end,” UNC forward John Henson said. “I think it was something that we took advantage of at the end.”
But the crowd was always in it for North Carolina in its largest comeback victory in ACC Tournament history. The audience, peppered with Clemson and Miami orange along with some Maryland red, began a “Tar Heels” chant before the tip.
With 12 minutes left in the first half, Roy Williams was so fed up with his team that he subbed out all five players for the walk-ons. Blue Steel, as they call themselves, stayed in the game for a minute and a half and received a huge ovation when checking in and out.
“I just remember when we got in the crowd went crazy,” senior walk-on Van Hatchell said. “We’re the people’s champions out there on the court. It felt good to know the fans were behind us and they wanted to see us do just as well as anybody else.”
A roar most recently heard in the Smith Center last week could be found in the Greensboro Coliseum on Friday afternoon on several occasions.
Henson’s momentum-changing block with 11:51 left in the game on Malcolm Grant and subsequent shot clock violation led to a timeout in which the scorer’s table had to hit the buzzer three times before the referees signaled the stoppage. And just a few minutes later, the Tar Heels began a 21-3 run that brought them within one.
