Game blog: Carolina beats Miami, 82-65
Jan 17, 2009
10:53 p.m., Heels win! Final score 82-65. What an amazing half by Wayne Ellington. He buried seven three pointers and scored 23 points, all in the second half! Tyler Hansbrough led all with 24 points. This was a nice win against a pretty solid Miami team.
10:49 p.m., Heels give up a little lead: The lead was cut to 13, but right as I am typing Hansbrough makes a bucket and has 24 points to lead all. With 1:35 left UNC is up 80-65. This game is done!
10:42 p.m., Finally a miss!: He missed two in a row from three now. They were both good looks with his feet set, and his shoulders square to the basket. They just didn't fall. UNC let up a few easy baskets in the last minute. They lead by 16 with 3:30 to play. Bobby Frasor can't buy a bucket. Has he made a basket all season?
10:38 p.m., Ellington with another: Let's make it seven three's in the half. I am getting tired of this! Maybe I can just copy and past the rest of the blog. Seven is the most three's a Carolina player has hit since McCants hit eight back in 2004. Eight is the Carolina single game record. UNC leads 74-55 with 6 minutes to play. Ellington has 23 points.
10:34 p.m., Ellington with another: He just hit his sixth three of the second half. He has 20 points. The Heels are up by 18 with under 9 minutes to play. This guy is unconscious.
10:30 p.m., Ellington with another: He just hit his fifth three point shot of the half. Remember he had no points in the first half. Now he has 17 with 10:13 to play. The Heels are up 65-46 and it is their largest lead of the game.
10:28 p.m., Ellington with another: He hit another triple and now has made four in the half. The Heels are up 60-46 .
10:24 p.m., Heels taking command: They now lead Miami 57-43 and are on an incredible run since the 6:25 mark in the first half. Carolina is on a 34-11 run since then. Ty Lawson now has eight points and has two three's in the half. Ellington has made three from beyond the arc and has 11 points, all in this half. Hansbrough has 22 points.
10:13 p.m., Ellington now has points: Ty Lawson knocked down a three pointer and Wayne Ellington knocked down three in a row as the Heels come out and extend the lead to seven. Ellington had no points, and then scored 11 in the span of two minutes or so. I can't believe the Canes kept leaving him open to shoot the threes after he made the second one. UNC is up 50-43 with 14:37 left to go.
10:08 p.m., Back to playing again: That was a really long halftime but we are back to playing. Carolina has a 36-32 lead to start the half. UNC starts things off with a missed shot on it's first possession.
10:02 p.m., Halftime: This break is longer than the Super Bowl half. ESPN crew means business in primetime on Saturday night. I did sight Erin Andrews, or "EA" as we like to call her. Some say she is attractive. I also say that. In one of the goofy halftime entertainment things this so called "man" missed three layups and then couldn't make a free throw in eight tries. My message to him - never pick up a ball again.
9:51 p.m., Entertaining half: Roy Williams might not be too pleased with the half but from a viewer's standpoint you can't ask for a better half of basketball. UNC ended the half on a 13-0 run and leads 36-32. Danny Green knocked down a big three pointer just before the half expired. Tyler Hansbrough had 20 points in the first half. Green, Lawson, Ellington, and Thompson combined for a total of ten points so far. Wow this is an exciting one. Welcome back to earth Miami. I think you found out this is a tough building to hold a lead in.
9:45 p.m., Building was rocking: Wow it was loud in here as the Heels cut into the Miami lead. One of the craziest possessions I've see ended after Miami had four chances to score. Then Ty Lawson dove for a ball to steal it away from McClinton and threw it to Hansbrough for the dunk while he was laying on the ground. Another steal and a Deion Thompson fast break jam cuts the lead to 32-29 with 3:11 left in the first half.
9:34 p.m., Miami came to play: UNC right now is sluggish on offense as they are being pretty careless with the ball early on. The only thing working is giving it to Hansbrough, who has a game high 16 points so far. Jack McClinton has been deadly early on as he is 5-6 for 12 points. Miami is up 32-23 with 6:25 to play in the first and the Tar Heels defense is not doing anything to slow the Canes. There was no secret about this Miami team coming in, they are a for sure tournament team.
9:25 p.m., Sweet Caroline: I don't care what sporting event you are out, this always works. The only words in the song I know are "bum, bum, bum!" You got to love Neil Diamond. And Danny Green knocking down a three. Miami still up 15-13. Green also made a sensational play to stop Dwayne Collins from a sure fast break dunk. He just followed it up with another great block on a Miami fast break. This is a high flying game right now as Miami's DeQuan Jones just threw down a baseline reverse dunk. Hansbrough makes a three point play at the other end. Miami is up 20-16 after a McClinton three pointer. I can't type fast enough with all the action going on here. The building is electric after those Green blocks!
9:22 p.m., Delay: With 12:30 to go in the first half there is a short two minute delay. The officials go to the scorer's table to check something but it isn't announced what the problem is. Miami's Cyrus McGowan got fouled on a shot but then picked up the dead ball and tried to jam it after the whistle. He clanked it back to the other side of the floor and the fans went nut, screaming for a technical. UNC got a little sloppy with Drew and Frasor in the game and turned it over on back-to-back possessions. Miami leads 13-10 with 11:49 left in the first half. Hansbrough has 8 points so far.
9:13 p.m., Lawson at the line: At the first media timeout Miami is up 7-6 with 15:54 left in the first half. Jack McClinton's jumper appeared to come with him tonight as he has knocked down two long j's already. Ty Lawson took a drive strong to the rim and drew a foul.
9:06 p.m., Pre-tip dancing: Larry Drew II dances like a clown before the tip as Will Graves holds his warm-up top for him. After a minute it gets funny as the "Jump around" songs blares through the arena. Dwayne Collins of Miami actually looks to the UNC bench where the dancing is going on and gets sort of pumped up himself. The Canes have an early 5-4 lead. Tyler already has a big slam in the game.
9:01 p.m., Let's get it started: The ESPN crew is being pushed off the floor. It's hard to play when Digger Phelps, Jay Bilas, Hubert Davis, and Reece Davis on the court. This is my first time at the Dean Dome this season. I came here a few times last season, but the atmosphere is just a little different from Duke. This is a full house tonight and the scalpers were out as usual before the game asking an absurd amount of money for really cheap seats.
8:47 p.m., Closing in on tip-off: I got to the arena almost an hour before game time tonight. I had a chance to obtain some media food, which was very good tonight. There's nothing like filling up on chicken, baked beans, and hush puppies before an ACC game. Hey, I'm not playing tonight, I don't care. The ESPN crew is set up on the court still doing their final report before the game starts. We will find out tonight if North Carolina has put that Wake Forest and BC loss behind them. I think they have, but I still think they allow Miami to score tons of points tonight. I just think UNC will score a few more. This is a good team the Tar Heels are facing tonight and any win will be a good one. This team is led by Jack McClinton. He is without a doubt one of the best guards in the conference. He averages over 17 points per game. We know how good guards have done against the Heels lately. Dwayne Collins is a solid forward for the Canes who has three years of experience. He is second on the team in scoring.
