PHILADELPHIA — For the past two months, Kennedy Meeks had been searching for something different — a different confidence level, a different mindset and, above all, different results.
Before Friday’s Sweet 16 game against fifth-seeded Indiana, the North Carolina forward tried something different in an attempt to find everything he had been searching for.
Sporting a different pair of shoes and no customary white tights on his legs, Meeks took the floor on Friday at the Wells Fargo Center hoping to change his luck.
And in top-seeded UNC’s 101-86 victory over the Hoosiers, he did just that, scoring 15 points — his most since notching 23 against N.C. State on Jan. 16.
“It was going to happen sooner or later,” said Meeks of his outburst. “I didn’t know when, but the main focus for me is to keep playing as aggressive as I can and continue to think things will fall in my favor.”
But everything hadn’t been going Meeks’ way ahead of Friday’s contest.
After scoring in double figures in six of the Tar Heels’ first seven games, the junior’s production dipped after returning from a knee injury on Jan. 9 at Syracuse. He scored 10 or more points four times in ACC play and totaled 21 points in the first five postseason games.
Meeks appeared to return to form in UNC’s regular-season finale at Duke, when he scored 12 points and hauled in 14 rebounds. But his postseason slump ensued.
“It’s been a rough couple of weeks, and everybody knows that,” he said. “But you’ve got to block out everyone who isn’t with us and focus on who is.”
