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Ellington Carries Heels To Stunning Win
By Greg Barnes, InsideCarolina.com Jan 7, 2008
Clemson, S.C. — Wayne Ellington spent much of Sunday evening keeping his top-ranked North Carolina squad within striking distance of No. 19 Clemson. But with 0.4 seconds remaining in overtime, the smooth sharpshooter drilled a game-winning 3-pointer to give the Tar Heels an ACC-opening 90-88 victory in thrilling fashion.
North Carolina rallied from an 81-74 deficit with 2:37 remaining in regulation, scoring the final seven points to send the contest into overtime. And after freshman Demontez Stitt connected on two free throws to put the Tigers up 88-87 with 13.9 seconds, the Tar Heels used a timeout to set up the final shot.
Ty Lawson (16 points, eight assists) penetrated the Tigers’ 1-3-1 zone at the right of the key, and found Ellington open crosscourt behind the 3-point line. Clemson wing David Potter ran past the Philadelphia native in an effort to steal the pass, leaving Ellington a small window to get the shot up with the long-armed James Mays charging in his direction.
“It felt good leaving my hands, and [Mays] had a chance to get it, but it felt good and I knew if it got there, it was going to go in,” Ellington said.
It went in, all right, preserving North Carolina’s undefeated season (15-0) and No. 1 ranking. On a night in which the Tigers harassed Tyler Hansbrough with a triumvirate of athletic post players, holding the All-American to 12 points and 14 rebounds, Ellington erased the memories of last season’s failed game-winner against Georgetown in the Elite Eight.
“We didn’t think he could go for 36,” Clemson head coach Oliver Purnell said. “In fact, 33 would have been fine. He’s a heck of a player. If you had told me we would do that type of job on Hansbrough, I’d take it. Ellington really hurt us in transition.”
The sophomore guard put his teammates on his shoulders in the second half after the Tigers clamped down on Hansbrough and Deon Thompson (nine points, seven rebounds). Ellington made five baskets in the final 20 minutes after Clemson had built a four-point lead or more, striving to keep the score tight until the closing minutes.
The effort paid off in glorious fashion as the Tar Heels did a better job in their half court offense spacing and fed Hansbrough the ball inside to even the score at 81-81 on the big man’s free throw with 59.2 seconds left in regulation.
“When I recruited Wayne Ellington, I thought that this could perhaps be the best scorer that I’ve ever recruited,” head coach Roy Williams said. “I am so confident in this young man and what he can do.” The Tigers set the defensive tone early, using a raucous crowd to score 15 points on nine forced turnovers in building a 41-38 halftime lead. Neither team shot particularly well in the opening 20 minutes – North Carolina shot 36.8 percent while Clemson finished with a slightly better 37.5 percent, but both squads shot 50 percent in the second half. The Tar Heels shot 41.7 percent (30-of-72) for the game, and the Tigers ended up at 43 percent on 34-of-79 shooting.
“We feel very fortunate to win, to say the least,” Williams said. “It wasn’t a pretty basketball game, but it was a game by two teams that really fought very hard… [Clemson] is by far the best team that we’ve played so far, and in my opinion, the best team since Oliver and I have been back in the league.”
Wing K.C. Rivers led the Tigers with 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting, and center Trevor Booker contributed 14 points and 11 rebounds in the losing effort. Clemson’s downfall came at the free throw line (14-of-27) and the 3-point line (6-of-24). Purnell’s team had plenty of opportunities to defeat a top-ranked opponent for just the third time in the program’s history, but Ellington’s heroics ended those plans in the final seconds.
This was North Carolina’s first overtime win since Bill Guthridge’s final home game at the Smith Center on March 1, 2000. The Tar Heels had lost seven straight overtime games since that 74-72 victory over Georgia Tech.
Copyright 2012 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Most Recent Comments
Just for fun, can I throw another log (maybe its gasoline)on the fire? How many of UNC's players will occupy 1st & 2nd team all ACC honors? I know its early, but I figured since some of us have been spit shining the same flipping arguements for the past two months that I would throw in something new for debate. This is probably a dead post, so I will make sure to bring it up again after the next game's article is posted! :-)
BTW, State fans, Hickson may have the better numbers, but there is no way he takes Rookie of the Year honors from Singler. The sports writers have a big'ole warm and fuzzy place for that kid! Not saying I agree one way or the other..... or maybe I'm just baiting you!? LOL.
I can see NCSU losing at least 7-9 ot of their next ten games. I say 7-9 b/c NCCU might actually beat the Wolpack. I hope Coach Sydney "Curtis" Lowe has his girls prepared for ACC play, cos the next month is going to show if they are in fact mature women, or pubescent ones.
Jan. 9, 2008 NC CENTRAL 7:00 pm ET
Jan. 12, 2008 at N. Carolina 12:00 pm ET
Jan. 15, 2008 at Clemson 7:00 pm ET
Jan. 19, 2008 Miami-FL 8:00 pm ET
Jan. 23, 2008 Georgia Tech 7:00 pm ET
Jan. 26, 2008 at Florida State 1:30 pm ET
Jan. 31, 2008 at Duke 9:00 pm ET
Feb. 3, 2008 Wake Forest 12:00 pm ET
Feb. 5, 2008 Virginia Tech 7:00 pm ET
Feb. 9, 2008 at Maryland 8:00 pm ET
They don't call them ABC'ers for nothing.
Go Heels!!!
"so i guess you guys are saying that the refs gave them the game?"
Revisit my post from 6:32pm today...
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