Barnes quiet in Tar Heels' Sweet 16 win

Harrison Barnes hadn’t been making shots for North Carolina all night long. And without much offensive output from its leading scorer, UNC found itself tied with 15 seconds to go in Friday’s Sweet 16 matchup with 13-seeded Ohio.

All season the Tar Heels remarked about how, in late-game, do-or-die situations, putting the ball in Barnes’ hands was always the answer. Barnes’ teammates had learned to depend on his clutchness.

So even though Barnes had missed all but two of his prior field goals, UNC coach Roy Williams went to his go-to guy, hoping this time, the outcome would be different.

It wasn’t.

“He’s 3-for-16, I think, and I’m the coach and I’m dumb enough to put the ball in the guy’s hands at the end of regulation,” Williams said. “I just felt like he’d make a play.”

Barnes stood still and dribbled at the top of the key as the seconds dwindled, the Tar Heels’ Elite Eight spot in the balance.

With five seconds left, he drove to the basket and went up for a contested shot, but the ball slipped out of his hands.

Ironically, it would be Barnes’ overtime performance that would fuel UNC to a 73-65 win against Ohio and a spot in the Elite Eight for the second straight season.

But for almost the entirety of the 40-minute regulation, it appeared that offensively, Barnes was a little off at a time when, more than ever, the Tar Heels really needed him to be on.

“The youngster has the ability to make plays, and he’s not afraid to try and make plays,” Williams said. “Some kids will always say ‘Yeah, I want to have that shot,’ but he’s the kind of kid that does really want it, and he focuses on the play and not the result.”

The result was what the struggling Tar Heels desperately needed.

Ohio guard Walter Offutt said in Thursday’s pregame press conference he wasn’t afraid of Harrison Barnes. And Barnes didn’t really do anything in Friday’s game to change the Bobcat’s mind.

Many times during the regular season, Barnes would be relatively quiet during the first half before coming out of the locker room with a bang after the break. Against Ohio, the sophomore forward ended the first half 1-for-7 from the field, recording just three points, four rebounds and three turnovers.

But this time, his second half wasn’t much better.

Barnes, who shoots 44 percent from the field on average, finished regulation 2-for-15 with five turnovers and seven points.

Throughout the game it was hard to miss the frustration on his face, and Barnes said the victory was the ugliest he’s ever been a part of. He knew he was shooting poorly, but Barnes said he refused to let it get to his head.

“(Good players) believe every shot they take is going in,” Marshall said. “That’s a trait that he has that’s really valuable to our team, because there are times throughout the season where we’re going to lean on him to make big shots, and more often than not, he’s going to come through for us.”

With 3:26 left in regulation, Barnes missed the second of his two free throw attempts, but grabbed the rebound and drained a 3-pointer seconds later.

In overtime he sunk his only field goal attempt and went 3-for-4 from the line.

Barnes had moments of brilliance in the win. But at a time when the Tar Heels are determined to play their best basketball, those moments were a bit sparse.

After the game, there wasn’t a whole lot of celebrating going on in the Tar Heels’ locker room. UNC had done enough to keep its season alive, but just barely.

Barnes didn’t appear to be too worried about his lackluster performance in regulation Friday.

“You could be 0-for-25, but if you hit a big three down the stretch, that’s all that matters at the end of the day,” he said.

Barnes turned it on at the end, and it paid off for the Tar Heels. This time.