Both of these teams have been well documented both on this blog and on my non-Tar Heel blog, Digital Headbutt. The key matchup may not be Terry vs. Dudley or Rice vs. Lawson/Frasor/Miller/Thomas, but it could Sean Marshall vs. UNC’s shooting guards. Marshall has a height advantage on Wanye Ellington, and Wayne is not famous for his defense, so Ginyard and Danny Green will get a alot of time in his grill. Brandan Wright is coming off of injury, so he could be tested early and often by Tyrelle Blair.
The reason UNC will win is because, as this clip shows, Roy is Dr. Honeydew to Hansbrough’s Beaker.
9:04 pm: 2-0, UNC. Hansbrough scores an easy basket over 6-6 Jamare Spears.
9:05 pm: 4-2, UNC. Oates gets a putback in the net, but Hansbrough responds by hitting the near exact same shot on the other side of the court.
9:06 pm: 7-4, BC. John Oates hits a big three pointer to put the Eagles up. That will be his secret weapon, the fact that Hansbrough or Wirght will have to come up to the perimeter.
9:08 pm: 10-6, BC. Deon Thompson comes in and hits a basket around the free throw line, but Oates gets a dunk off a rebound.
9:10 pm: 10-10. Danny Green comes in and his short rattles in, and then Psycho T steals the ball, runs half the court and delivers a rim-shattering dunk to tie the game. For The Tar Heels to control the tempo of the game, they will need to get defensive stops and turnovers like this.
9:13 pm: 13-10, UNC. WAYNE’S WORLD! WAYNE’S WORLD! PARTY TIME! EXCELLENT! WHOOOOO!!! (riff) off a great screen he hits a three. Lawson follows with an easy layup in transition to make it 15-10, UNC.
9:15 pm: Bobby Frasor is in the game. Laet’s see how he plays against Rice.
9:17 pm: Boston College is really playing sloppy. They’ve turned the ball over 5 times in 6 possessions.
9:19 pm: 17-14, UNC. Dudley and Rice each get their first points of the night.
9:20 pm: 19-14, UNC. Hansbrough gets the basket and the foul. He’s going to shott the free throw after the stupid TV timeouts.
Did you know that When SMU played Memphis earlier this year, the game managed to bypass an entire TV timeout, so then ESPN put 2 TV timeout 27 seconds from each other. That should be illegal. But at the same time, weshould be thankful; in Spain, commercial breaks last 15 minutes.
9:23 pm: 20-16, UNC. Blair is in the game, and he gets an easy dunk wothout being challenged. Rice drwas Wright away from the paint.
9:24 pm: 22-16, UNC. Wright gets his first basket of the game, a 10-foot hook shot.
9:25 pm: 24-16, UNC. The Heels get more help from Thompson, whose shot rattles in. UNC has shot 67% from the field so far.
9:29 pm: 25-21, UNC. Tyrelle Blair rejects a Hansbrough shot, and Rice hits a three in the fast break. That was just too easy.
9:33 pm: 25-23, UNC. Dick Vitale and product placement: they just go together.
9:34 pm: 26-25, BC. Dudley hits a big three of the backboard to give the Eagles the lead.
9:35 pm: 29-28, BC. Lawson gets a three off a nice pass, but the Eagles respond. Trouble arisesw as Dudley picks up his third foul. They simply cannot afford to have him on the bench.
9:37 pm: 31-30, BC. Tyrese Rice makes an unbelivable shot, a layup off the top of the backboard.
9:38 pm: 32-31, BC. Q enters the game and immediately delivers an assist to Hansbrough, who hits an outside jump shot.
9:39 pm: 33-31, BC. Al Skinner picks up a Technical foul. Wait…wow. Al is usually a very, very calm person. That’s about as unusual as this:
9:41 pm: 33-33. Rice hits free throws to tie the game.
North Carolina has already made 22 substitutions in 16 minutes That’s approximately once every 42 seconds, which means on almost every offensive possesion Boston College sees someone different.
9:45 pm: 37-33, UNC. The Heels take the lead off of Hansbrough free throws, and then Wright gets a nice basket. UNC is dominating the paint so far.
9:46 pm: 40-33, UNC. WAYNE’S WORLD! WAYNE’S WORLD! PARTY TIME! EXCELLENT! WHOOOOOOO!!! (riff)
9:47 pm: 42-36, UNC. Marshall hits a three to stop the run, but Wright gets another nice basket inside.
9:48 pm: 42-38, UNC. An unbelievable play by Blair: He gets the rebound, the basket. and the foul on Wright and Hansbrough.
9:49 pm: 44-38, UNC. WAYNE’S WORLD! WAYNE’S WORLD! PARTY TIME! EXCELLENT! WHOOOOO!!! (guitar riff) Wait…they counted it as a two! Booooooooooooo!!!
9:51 pm: The game hits halftime, as North Carolina leads Boston College 44-38. Both teams played fairly well in the first half, but Boston College was hurt by turnovers, Jared Dudley’s foul trouble,a nd being outrebounded by the Tar Heels. UNC needs to shut down Tyrese Rice, who is picking apart Ty Lawson, and keep getting the ball to Hansbrough and Wright. Boston College needs to get Marshall more involved, and Dudley cannot foul out, period.
10:00 pm: Bizarre ad: The Superfans are back! DAAAAAAAAAAA BEARS!
10:07 pm: UNC has to play better defense. They have allowed 59% shooting by the Eagles.
10:08 pm: YES! UNC gets the rebound, ad 3 seconds later Wright gets the three point play on the other end. 47-38, UNC.
10:09 pm: 47-40, UNC. Marshall drives down the baseline and gets an emphatic dunk.
10:10 pm: 51-42, UNC. WAYNE’S WORLD! WAYNE’S WORLD! PARTY TIME! EXCELLENT! WHOOOOOOO!!! (riff) He gets two baskets on two straight possessions, and the Heels take a 9 point lead.
10:11 pm: 51-45, UNC. Dudley gets the basket and draws the foul from Terry. Spears follows with a basket of his own off an offensive rebound to reduce UNC’s lead to 4.
10:13 pm: 55-47, UNC. Lawson makes a reverse layup inside, a la Jordan, and then Tyler Hansbrough just makes it look easy.
10:14 pm: 55-49, UNC. UNC does not have a lot of defensive stops today. When the Eagles have botten shots they usually have been able to make them; this has to stop.
Oh no…The Heels get a 4-on-1 opportunity and turn the ball over. In a game this important, we cannot afford to let those chances slip.
10:18 pm: 55-51, UNC. At halftime I said that for BC to win, Marshall needed to get more involved. He certainly has. This time he hits a floater in the paint. He now has 6 in the second half.
10:20 pm: 57-51, UNC. Hansbrough hits two free throws. He has 17 in the game.
10:22 pm: 59-53, UNC. Jared Dudley gets another basket inside, but Terry finally reminds me that he exists.
10:23 pm: 59-57, BC. Rice is single handedly keeping BC in this game. He gets a nice layup inside, robs Ty Lawson blind, and makes a nice dish to Marshall, who gets an easy layup and his 8th point of the second half.
10:27 pm: 61-59, UNC. Marshall is simply on fire in the second half; he now has 11 points in 9 minute. Our two best defenders play his position; what the f— is happening? Why isn’t Ginyard in the game?
10:29 pm: 64-61, UNC. Dudley ties the game, but Terry finally hits a three. Where the hell has he been?
10:30 pm: 68-63, UNC. A great series of events, first Rice attacks and gets an easy layup (NOOOOOOO!!!), then Lawson gets a layup of his own (YESSS!!!), then Wright hits a floater off another offensive rebound. This game is getting so exciting and fast, my fingers and eyes can’t keep up.
10:35 pm: How does Doug Flutie, BC legend/god, end up with an upper level seat?!? I was born in Boston, and that is an insult!
10:36 pm: 68-65, UNC. Marshall hits yet another basket. He has 12 points in 14 second half minutes He must be stopped! Where is Ginyard?!?
10:38 pm: How does Hansbrough foul Marshall and not get fopuled by Oates or Bliar?!? HOW?!?!?!?
10:39 pm: OOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH!!!! What a play by Rayshawn Terry! He runs over a guy and gets the basket! 70-65, UNC.
10:40 pm: Dudley shoudl’ve been called for an offensive foul. It was clear that Hansbrough had his feet set when Dudley made contact.
10:42 pm: Dudley steals an inbound pass, but Rice can’t capitalize. Terry makes his presence felt by hitting another three to give UNC a 73-66 lead with less than four minutes left. The difference between 73-66 and 70-69 is about half an inch.
10:46 pm: Oh, now I know why Ginyard’s been on the bench. He just fouled a guy whiloe shooting, saving precious clock for BC and allowing the Eagles to get points.
10:50 pm: 73-70, UNC. The Heels play 35 seconds of great defense, but Rice still hit a jumpshot as the shot clock expired.
10:51 pm: Get it to Tyler! GET IT TO TYLER! WHY ARENT THEY GIVING IT TO TYLER?!?!
10:52 pm: Jared Dudley draws the 3-point foul on UNC’s resident moron, Rayshawn Terry. But he misses all three! OH MY GOD!!!
10:54 pm: This is why we lost to Virginina Tech: in crunch time, the team collectiveely decided to deny Tyler Hansbrough’s existence.
10:55 pm: UNC plays great defense and Rice STILL gets the basket with 30 seconds left. UNC will have the ball, but ifr Hansbrough doesn;t touch the ball I will disown Ty Lawson.
10:57 pm: With 22 seconds left Ginyard is sent to the line. He hits both of his free throws and gives UNC a 75-72 lead.
11:00 pm: Holy crap, is the BC band playing “Smack That”?
11:01 pm: Rice’s shot is blocked by Brandan Wright, and then Dudley misses a three and the Heels rebound. Ty Lawson is sent to the free throw line and hits his free throws.
11:04 pm: Carolina Wins 77-72! WHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! CUE THE BAND!!!
The Heels did a good job of responding to adversity in this game; every time the Eagles tied, took the lead or got too close for comfort, UNC gave themselves some breathing room. However, there were a lot of things I didn’t like about how we dealt with a close game. We still should have done a better job of getting it to Hansbrough in the final minutes, they allowed the Eagles to shoot 51% from the field, and they were very lucky that Jared Dudley missed his free throws. If he makes those free throws, Rice’s layup gives BC the lead, and the Heels might lose. I am still very apprehensive about being in a close game in the tournament, because good teams like Wisconsin, Kansas, Marquette, Vanderbilt and Southern Illinois will not be as forgiving.
Tar Heel Mania 