UNC beats William & Mary 80-72, advances to the second round of the NIT

By Adam Gold
Mar 16, 2010

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Tyler Zeller's steal and runaway dunk sealed the game as the sophomore shined in the 2nd half....Dexter Strikcland and John Henson were both very big in this one as the Heels will advance to meet the winner of the Mississippi State-Jackson State game

11:21...Aside from it being too late to be watching a basketball game, this is pretty cool. Heels responded with a 6-0 run as Dexter Strickland has made his presence felt. four free throws in a row and it was contagious because Larry Drew even stepped up and sank a pair as Carolina leads by 3.

11:15...David Schneider has 7 3's on the night, JohnMark Ludwick has merely 5 and William and Mary (and David and JohnMark) are 16 of 39 for the game. Tyler Zeller's got 11 to help seniors Deon Thompson and Marcus Ginyard, 19 and 12 respectively. But, with just under 4 minutes left the Heels need to figure out a way to stop the shooting of William and Mary.

11:10...William and Mary has four players in double figures, led by DAvid Schneider's 18 points on 6 of 9 shooting from long range. The Heels are being led by Deon Thompson and Marcus Ginyard, who've combined for 31 points on 14 of 22 shooting. Ginyard's got a couple of 3's to his credit as the Heels are trying to get their nose out in front of the Tribe with 6 and change to go and Tyler Zeller heading to the FT line.

11:06...It's gotten a bit manic lately. William and Mary still leads it, 66-65, but the play has gotten a bit ragged.

11:00...First, this is a helluva lot of fun! Second, William and Mary scored 26 points in the first 8 minutes of the second half to turn a 10-point deficit into a 4 point lead! Leslie McDonald rang up a 3-ball from the right wing to pull Carolina within 1, but Bill and Mary are starting to spread UNC out. The last six points have come on a pair of free throws, a twisting lay up and lob-dunk.

10:50...William and Mary's hit 6 of their 8 threes this half and the 10 point lead is all but gone. Folks, the more I watch this game the more it's obvious that the outcome will be 100% decided by whether or not the Tribe can hit the open shots that Carolina's "defense" is giving up. Not a contested 3 in the bunch, especially here in the second half. David Schneider is 6 of 9 from long range for 18 points to lead all scorers

10:45...William and Mary has come out of the locker room with some life after trailing by 10 at the break. Three 3-pointers and a pair of Tar Heels turnovers and it's now 47-44 with 16 and change left

10:24...At the Half....Heels 43 Tribe 33...

Deon Thompson's dunk counted -- believe me, gave it a second look as well -- and his 11 points is the best of a very balanced Carolina attack through the first 20. John Henson's 8 points, 8 boards, 2 steals and a blocked shot have really been the standout moments tonight, and props to Marcus Ginyard for bringing the energy and intensity to a game that could have been his last -- and one that he never, ever anticipated playing. William and Mary is 7 for 21 from 3-point range, and 5 of 7 from inside the arc. Twice this year the Tribe have hoisted 36 threes, they'll get that before the under 8 time out.

10:15...Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you John Henson! 8 points, 7 rebounds -- 5 of them on the offensive end -- and about a thousand smiles. Dude, can't hold back the grin when he does something good on the court, which is often tonight. Throw in a blocked shot and one steal and you've got a complete night so far here in the old barn. Heels shooting 54% while Mary is just 6 of 19 from beyond the 3-point ring.

10:03...Eight Tar Heels have played, all eight have scored. Marcus Ginyard leads the way with 7 points including a 3-pointer (I know, huh?), William Graves has 5 and the Heels look great in the 1957 throwbacks. The Tribe is 4 of 15 from 3-point range and all four came in succession...make that 4 of 16 and they missed their last 10.

9:58...Back to not being able to hear. The Heels' transition game has been evident tonight, Dexter Strickland went coast to coast at Mach 2 for a lay-in, and UNC withstood a 3-point barrage to open up a 6-point lead on the Tribe midway through the first half. North Carolina has to do a better job at getting out to the perimeter shooters because Bill and Mary have missed their last three wide open looks from long range. Not that they're going to hit all of them, but you give them free looks.

9:47...If the Heels play well there's no way the Tribe are going to be able to hear each other in this place. It's so loud I can't hear the drummer and he's sitting in my freakin' lap! Drew's 3, and a pair of Ginyard fast break buckets got the crowd ballistic and caused Tony Shaver to call a time out. It was 9-0 before Bill and Mary showed up, but a pair of 3-balls calmed people down a bit and it looks as though we're going to have some points on the board tonight...In fact, W&M knocked down 4 straight triples and what was a 9-0 Tar Heels advantage has become a 12-11 William and Mary lead.

Well, whaddaya know! I said today on the show that the Heels should pay homage to Charmichael by busting out the throwback unis and that's exactly what they've done! Awesome!

Let's play ball....I'll come back with your starters for the Heels when my hearing returns.

Thompson, Henson, Ginyard, Graves and Drew II get the start....

and the sequel bangs in a triple from the right wing for a 3-0 lead!

It's come to this: North Carolina vs. William and Mary in the opening round of the National Invitation Tournament. Clearly, when this season began, the last place the Tar Heels felt they'd spend the Tuesday after Selection Sunday hosting a basketball game at Carmichael Auditorium. But, as football coaches like to say, "it is what it is."

Now, what do you do with it?

I'll tell you this about William and Mary and their 21-10 record; the Tribe is coming here to play and prove a point. William and Mary feels as though they deserved to be in the other tournament. At the very least, they feel as though this game should have been played at their place. They won at Maryland in December. They went to Winston-Salem the month prior and hung one on Wake Forest. They beat A-10 runner up, Richmond, early in the year as well.

The Tribe can play. They shoot the three -- a lot. William and Mary attempts 25 3-pointers a game and connects at a 35% clip as a team. That's not stellar, but there are nights when they can shoot you out of the gym. And, I don't have to remind Heels fans that defending the 3-ball isn't exactly a strong suit. On top of that, the Tribe utilize the potentially frustrating "Princeton" offense, using patience and back-cuts to create lay ups. It will take all of Carolina's defensive awareness to be successful.

For the Tar Heels, the number one factor heading into the game is their heads heading into the game. Are the players serious about winning this game and this tournament? Are they willing to sell out for every possession? Are they willing to forget the last 32 games of disappointment that put them in this position and try to create a positive vibe heading into the spring? Winning the NIT can be a positive. But, it's all about the approach.

We'll see starting at 9:30 tonight. I'll be here the entire way.

9:30..Before we get underway here at venerable Charmichael Auditorium, a couple of observations...

First, What a frippin' cool building! First time I've ever been inside and I can absolutely see why everyone loves it so. Doesn't have the museum-esque feel of Cameron Indoor, but it's quaint. I'm excited to be here. One drawback though, I'm sitting right in front of the Carolina band's drummer and I swear I'm going to be stone deaf by halftime!

The place is packed. Let's hope the guys are ready for a fight from a very good team.

Cool note: December 4, 1965, Charmichael Auditorium opened it's doors and don't you know it, William & Mary was the foe. Heels prevailed by an 82-68 score. The Tribe is coached by former Tar Heel Tony Shaver, who played for Dean Smith's 1973-74 Heels. Jonathan Holmes (1999-2003), another former UNC player, is one of Shaver's assistants.

All in the family. Let's get it on!

Most Recent Comments

RE: UNC beats William & Mary 80-72, advances to the second round of the NIT

All jokes aside... can someone let me know why KaraWHINA had on uniforms with Pink in the trim? They looked like throwbacks, of course for playing in Carmichael, but when did they have pink in their uniforms...????

RE: UNC beats William & Mary 80-72, advances to the second round of the NIT

Earth to WRAL. NC State had a game tonight and they won!
- Posted by riddlesx4

Perhaps they can't get ESPNU...???

RE: UNC beats William & Mary 80-72, advances to the second round of the NIT

Congrats Heels!
- Posted by wolfbitesyourheels

Congrats to your guys as well. We both had tough opponents in the first round. Glad both our teams made it to the second round.

RE: UNC beats William & Mary 80-72, advances to the second round of the NIT

Seeing how WRAL decided that State didn't deserve a live blog for tonight's game I guess I'll have to give the update. State held on to win by 1 against USF. They had the ball down 1 with 8 seconds to go ran it up court but we stopped the penetration, forced a kick out and USF missed a pretty bad looking shot as the clock expired. On to UAB in round 2.
- Posted by RedIrish

Congrats on a hard-fought win. We both survive and advance.

RE: UNC beats William & Mary 80-72, advances to the second round of the NIT

actually know i am not. if i am correct the Pack won the ACC tournament in 74 to advance to the NCAA. If you won't to go back to old school. So that made them 5th place?

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