Zeller bounces back against Virginia

The day after Wednesday’s loss to Duke, Tyler Zeller tried his best to avoid any and all attention.

The senior only left his room to visit the Smith Center and to go to class, where he sat in the back corner to hide — at least as best a 7-foot forward can.

With the game constantly replaying in his head, Zeller didn’t have to turn on the TV to see the costly errors he committed against the Blue Devils.

But as North Carolina defeated Virginia 70-52 on Saturday, Zeller surged through his defeatist attitude and gave the public a show with a game-high 25 points alongside nine boards.

“I have a tendency to take a lot of losses hard, especially when you miss two free throws that could have won it,” Zeller said. “It’s something that I tried to deal with it as much and in the best way possible.

“I felt bad, and I think all my teammates also felt bad, so it was something that we were just trying to bounce back as much as possible today.”

Although that bounce-back started with Zeller committing two turnovers in the first 41 seconds of the matchup, he upped his intensity soon after.

Out of all his teammates, Reggie Bullock said Zeller is the hardest on himself. But for once Zeller admitted he had a good game for maybe the first time all season.

“I struggled a little bit getting started,” Zeller said. “But after I got started, I think I played well.”

As North Carolina’s tempo improved, Zeller easily converted assists from point guard Kendall Marshall and even a behind-the-head pass from fellow big John Henson into high-quality hook shots.

“The staple of Carolina basketball is working inside out, so obviously we’re going to work to get Z and John the ball ‘cause those are our best inside scorers,” Marshall said. “So, Z — he’s been doing a great job of giving us a lift to start out games, so we tend to feed him off of that.”

In his comeback, Zeller had five offensive rebounds, three steals and one block to his name. And all of Zeller’s stewing about those missed free throws obviously worked, as the forward missed just one of eight shots from the charity stripe.

Zeller’s biggest asset coming into the game against the Cavaliers, though, was his support system.

“I asked him Thursday night when I called him late. I said, ‘Are you thinking about, you know, getting the knives out and slashing your wrists?,’” coach Roy Williams said. “And he said, ‘Maybe.’ And I said, ‘Well, if you’re going to do that, call me and I’ll come do it with you.’”

Joking aside, the Dean Dome crowd added to that role, as well. As they chanted his name and gave him a standing ovation at the end of his near double-double performance, it was clear Zeller has been coaxed out of his self-inflicted hiding.

“I’ve got to thank the Carolina fans because they’ve been great to me,” Zeller said. “I know I let them down, but at the same time, they have helped me.”

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