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Heels end slump: UNC outlasts N.C. State for 77-63 victory
AP Photo
North Carolina's Ed Davis gets a shot off over Tracy Smith of N.C. State.
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Published: January 27, 2010
RALEIGH - North Carolina withstood a strong charge by N.C. State at the start of the second half last night and fought back to win 77-63, its first road victory of the season.
Down 43-38 with 17:05 left, North Carolina turned to Deon Thompson and Larry Drew and got a big lift off the bench from John Henson to retake the lead. North Carolina had a 28-6 run, getting points on its last eight possessions, to take a commanding 66-49 lead.
Coach Sidney Lowe of N.C. State called a timeout after a layup by Ed Davis increased North Carolina's lead to 17 points, but only 3:51 remained. N.C. State didn't have another run left, and absorbed its seventh consecutive loss in the rivalry.
Drew said that the critical moment for the Tar Heels came after Javi Gonzalez' follow shot ended a 10-1 scoring run for the Wolfpack in the first three minutes after halftime. Coach Roy Williams called a timeout, and Drew said something to his teammates.
"I told the team this is where we've got to find some courage, put our feet down and step up to challenge, or this is where we're going to fold," Drew said. "We did a really good job of coming back and making plays down the stretch.
"It's something that we're very capable of. We finally stepped up and did it tonight."
The Tar Heels improved to 13-7 overall, 2-3 in the ACC, and broke a three-game losing streak, the longest of the Williams coaching era. The Tar Heels had lost their first three road games in conference play.
The Wolfpack fell to 13-8 and 2-5 with its second consecutive loss. It fell out of contention as quickly and as sharply as it had gotten back, after trailing 37-33 at halftime.
N.C. State hit three of its first five shots in the second half to surge into the lead. It then made one of its next 17 shots to fall behind. North Carolina tightened its defense and Henson, a 6-10 freshman forward, added punch.
Henson used his long wing span to block three shots in a four-minute span. He blocked consecutive shots on one possession, first getting Tracy Smith from off the ball on a six-footer and then knocking back Farnold Degand's 15-footer.
Henson's presence around the basket made shots inside extremely difficult for N.C. State.
"I thought he had about two or three goaltendings," Gonzalez said. "The ref didn't see it that way."
Once back in the lead, the Tar Heels never lost control. Drew played a strong floor game, handing out seven assists and making only one turnover in 30 minutes, and had solid backing from freshman Dexter Strickland.
"They made their run and we couldn't stop it," Gonzalez said. "We couldn't come back at them. It's very frustrating. I feel we're a team that can beat them. We didn't come through, and I'm kind of disappointed."
Thompson led the Tar Heels with 20 points. Drew added 18 to match his career high and Strickland scored 14, hitting six of seven shots from the field. Ed Davis played despite not being fully recovered from a sprained left ankle and scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
"It was a complete team game," Thompson said. "That's what we needed. It wasn't about them; it was about us."
Thompson was aggressive from start to finish. He took the Tar Heels' first three shots from the field and helped his team build three nine-point leads in the first half. He made nine of 14 shots from the field, his highest points output in 13 games.
Smith led N.C. State with 20 points but was hampered by foul trouble in the second half. Gonzalez scored 19 and almost single-handedly carried the Wolfpack starting late in the first half.
North Carolina led 34-25 when Gonzalez scored N.C. State's last eight points of the first half. He added seven points in the run to open the second half, which gave him 15 of N.C. State's 18 points in a period of 4:32.
But Gonzalez could carry his team only so far.
"We came out in the second half and made a run at them," said forward Dennis Horner of N.C. State. "We were looking good there for a minute, but then we started turning the ball over a little too much.
"And against a team like that, you can't do that with their fast break. They got easy layups."
UNC Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A PF Pts
Ginyard 28 0-5 0-0 1-4 0 3 0
Drew II 30 5-9 6-7 0-1 7 3 18
Graves 33 2-7 0-0 2-9 0 1 6
Thompson 33 9-14 2-3 2-4 1 1 20
Davis 28 5-8 2-2 1-9 0 3 12
Strickland 17 6-7 1-4 0-0 1 2 14
McDonald 5 0-1 0-0 0-1 1 0 0
Henson 7 1-2 0-2 0-2 0 0 2
DWear 2 1-1 0-0 0-1 0 0 3
TWear 17 0-3 2-4 1-4 1 1 2
Totals 200 29-57 13-22 11-39 11 14 77
Percentages: FG .509, FT .591; 3-Point Goals: 6-13, .462 (Graves 2-3, Drew II 2-5, D.Wear 1-1, Strickland 1-1, Ginyard 0-3); Team Rebounds: 4; Blocked Shots: 3 (Henson 3); Turnovers: 10 (Davis 3, Strickland 2, Ginyard 2, Henson, T.Wear, Drew II); Steals: 6 (Strickland 2, T.Wear 2, Graves, Thompson.
NCSU Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A PF Pts
Gonzalez 24 6-11 4-5 2-4 2 3 19
Degand 31 2-8 2-2 0-5 4 3 7
Wood 36 1-9 0-0 1-3 2 1 3
TSmith 34 9-15 2-2 1-6 1 4 20
Horner 29 2-7 0-0 1-3 3 2 6
Howell 12 1-3 2-2 0-1 0 2 4
Painter 1 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Vandenberg 4 0-2 0-0 1-2 0 0 0
Williams 7 0-0 0-0 0-2 0 0 0
Davis 4 1-1 0-0 1-1 0 1 2
Mays 18 1-2 0-0 0-1 1 4 2
Totals 200 23-59 10-11 8-30 13 20 63
Percentages: FG .390, FT .909; 3-Point Goals: 7-22, .318 (Gonzalez 3-4, Horner 2-6, Degand 1-3, Wood 1-8, Mays 0-1); Team Rebounds: 2; Blocked Shots: 4 (Horner 2, Wood, T.Smith); Turnovers: 10 (Mays 3, Degand 3, Gonzalez 2, Davis, Williams); Steals: 4 (Degand, T.Smith, Gonzalez, Horner); Technical Fouls: None.
North Carolina 37 40 -- 77
N.C. State 33 30 -- 63
A--19,700
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