GREENSBORO — All season long, North Carolina coach Roy Williams insisted that his Tar Heels were a good shooting team. That statement was met with various amounts of skepticism throughout UNC’s up-and-down campaign, but game after game, Williams didn’t give in.
Sunday in the Tar Heels’ ACC Tournament final matchup with Miami, they backed up Williams’ unshakable confidence, despite ultimately falling to the top-seeded Hurricanes, 87-77.
The coach was visibly disappointed after his team’s third-straight title game loss. Still, Williams couldn’t muster up a negative sentiment about the squad he said refused to give up against a top-notch opponent.
“My team gave great effort today, my team was tough today, my team was attentive today,” he said. “I feel very lucky to be the coach of my team.”
No. 9 Miami beat UNC by a combined 35 points in its two regular-season meetings, but from the opening whistle, the Tar Heels didn’t play like an underdog. North Carolina and Miami combined for 25 3-pointers Sunday, breaking an ACC title game record.
Just as he did in the teams’ first two matchups, Miami guard Shane Larkin had his way with the North Carolina defense, draining shot after shot in the first half, including three from long range.
A cut sustained during the quarterfinal game against Florida State between P.J. Hairston’s fingers didn’t stop the sharpshooter from doing what he does best.
Hairston, who made the All-Tournament first team along with Reggie Bullock, finished the game with 28 points, his third 20-point game so far this month, and had six 3-pointers.
In a two-minute span before intermission, the lead, which changed hands 13 times in the opening half alone, went back and forth as the teams traded 3-point buckets.
