Zeller beats the buzzer for a UNC win

GREENSBORO – Leslie McDonald couldn’t believe it.

When he saw junior Tyler Zeller put up a shot with seconds left in a 59-59 tie with Miami, McDonald was stunned.

“I didn’t even see Z,” McDonald said. “I was focused on Kendall (Marshall) trying to lay the ball up. Once he tried to lay it and wrapped it around, then I saw he threw it to Z, I was like, ‘That’s incredible.’”

Thing is, Miami, too, was focused on Marshall. The Hurricanes (19-14, 6-10 ACC) had just fumbled a pass out of bounds to give North Carolina (25-6, 14-2) a chance to take the lead. And with five seconds left, UNC decided to give Marshall the ball to make a play.

So when Marshall drove to the right, his defender and Zeller’s defender dropped down to stop his penetration. Marshall jumped, as did Miami’s post players, but instead of hurling a shot, the crafty point guard scooped a pass to his wide-open big man under the rim for a 61-59 win in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals.

“It’s one of those things that people always make fun of me for not dunking, but it paid off on that possession,” Zeller said. “I had to shoot it as fast as possible.”

Zeller’s shot went up like a volleyball set. He got it out of his hands about as fast as the ball got there. Any longer and the buzzer would have interrupted his heave.

And then it dropped.

Miami players walked away. Marshall stood under the basket, a dumbfounded look on his face and a bevy of teammates surrounding him.

“For him to see Z under the basket with nobody around him, you know, hands off to Kendall. He’s the best, I think,” McDonald said.

The Tar Heels didn’t want to start the ACC Tournament like this. UNC had just finished the regular season with an emotional win against Duke and in doing so, clinched the tournament’s No. 1 seed.

But for whatever reason, the Tar Heels came out flat against Miami. UNC’s players couldn’t hold the ball and Miami took advantage of it. The Hurricanes forced North Carolina into 14 first-half turnovers, more lost possessions than UNC had in the entire game against Duke.

To send a message to his team, UNC coach Roy Williams substituted all five of his walk-ons into the game for nearly two minutes during the middle of the first half. It was an unprecedented move in Williams’ 800 games as a head coach.

“I was (surprised), but it was needed,” Henson said. “We weren’t playing well. We weren’t playing up to what we needed to do and it was a great ploy for us to play better.”

The Tar Heels were still down at halftime 31-22 and Miami took an even bigger lead in the second half after its shooters started to connect from long range. With 9:55 left, the Hurricanes led by 19 points.

“We stopped turning the ball over and getting shots and needless to say that helps you a lot when you only have (six) turnovers in the second half,” Williams said. “It wasn’t a panic situation but it was a crisis.”

UNC switched to a smaller lineup and slowly battled back into the game with the help of McDonald, Harrison Barnes and Marshall all connecting from long range.

Once close enough, UNC went to Zeller in the post for its final eight points. Zeller, McDonald, John Henson and Harrison Barnes all finished in double digits. Barnes led all scorers with 18 points and with his 13 rebounds, Henson was the only player to record a double-double.

The Tar Heels’ comeback was the largest since UNC flipped a 20-point deficit to Georgia Tech in 2006.

It may not have been the way UNC wanted to start the tournament, but the Tar Heels play on Saturday against Clemson, and that’s all that matters to them at this point.

“Live another day, that’s what you want to do at this time of the month,” Henson said.