UNC 98, Ohio State 89
What a fun game! Despite being behind by as much as 10 points in the first half on some extremely hot shooting by #1 Ohio State, UNC was able to run away with the victory in the second half. First and foremost, we came out playing much better defense in the second half. That coupled with OSU finally missing a couple of three pointers really helped. Our intensity was also much higher coming out of the half. Hansbrough was a monster. Brandan Wright was limited to 6 minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, but came out scoring in the second.
UNC started the second half on a 9-0 run and went on a 13-4 run with 6:27 in the game to go up 80-70. We played some of our best ball of the season and held off some attacks from OSU to close out the game with a 9 point victory.
There are several interesting story lines from the game:
- Hansbrough set a personal high in rebounds with 14
- This was the 6th time UNC has beaten a #1 team in the ESPN poll (more than any other team)
- Wayne Ellington's birthday is today, he turned 19. Reportedly he told the coaches before the game that he was going to score 19. He had 2 points at halftime, but came out shooting and ended the game with...you guess it...19 points.
- This was Tywon Lawson's coming out party. Despite a very solid performance from a (reportedly ailing) Bobby Frasor, Tywon was on full display tonight. He was driving in the lane, pushing the ball extremely well, and knocking down threes. Oh, did I mention he had 5 assists and 0 turnovers!
- The seniors continue to play an increasingly smaller role. Reyshawn Terry had another average performance (scoring 6). Wes Miller was 1-3 from three point line, although he did play some good defense.
In the final analysis, I believe my previous assessment of UNC still stands. If you try to run with them, you better bring 10 or 11 guys and have some shooters and a good down low presence. It will be tough to beat UNC in a up tempo game. Teams are better off trying to pack it in down low and slow the game down. Let's hope most of Carolina's opponents want to try and run with them ;-)
