WRAL Sports Fan

North Carolina

Carolina cruises to 89-80 win over State

By Sam Rosenthal

Feb 19, 2009

In No. 3 North Carolina’s 89-80 victory against N.C. State on Wednesday evening in Chapel Hill, Tyler Hansbrough led the Tar Heels (and all scorers) with 27 points – no surprise there.

But Javier Gonzalez led the Wolfpack with 18 points – 16 of which came in the first half, when he went six-of-six from the field and four-of-four from 3-point land.

Major surprise there.

“He was the X-factor,” said Ty Lawson, who covered Gonzalez most of the night. “I mean, we really didn’t expect much out of him.”

Lawson said the Tar Heels’ game planned to double in the post when State (14-10, 4-7 ACC) made entry passes to its big men. UNC (24-2, 10-2) wanted to leave Gonzalez alone because he normally shoots threes like a blind person.

“He’s been shooting 24 percent (from behind the arc) the whole year,” Lawson said. “When they kicked it back out, he had an open shot, and I guess today he decided to get hot.”

Largely because of Gonzalez’s inspired play, the Wolfpack battled Carolina the entire first half. At one point, UNC appeared to be en route to a big lead – up by eight, 37-29, and on a seven-zero run in the final three minutes of the first half.

However, Gonzalez knocked down a two-pointer in the lane, a bucket that State needed to have. And on the Wolfpack’s next possession, Gonzalez netted a three to pull his team back within three – the halftime margin.

But in the second half, Lawson said he decided to stop doubling and concentrated on stopping Gonzalez instead. State’s X-factor hit only one shot in the second half, while UNC’s XXL-factor, Hansbrough, scored 20 points in the final 20 minutes of play.

As Hansbrough heated up, so did Carolina’s offense, which scored 11 more points in the second half than it did in the first. State scored at a proficient rate as well in the second period, but the Tar Heels – sharing the ball and getting offense from virtually every player on the court – proved too much for the Pack to keep pace with.

“I thought we had a good first half,” N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe said. “We came out with good energy and kept ourselves in the ball game. Second half, they made their run, we made a couple of turnovers, a couple of second shots for them, and they were able to pull away from us.”

Carolina scored 26 points off turnovers during the game, along with 11 points off offensive rebounds.

“I thought our guys gave a pretty good effort,” Lowe said, “but we turned it over a couple of times crucially and gave them an opportunity to get out and run on us.”

The Tar Heels received a big boost – a tall one, actually – as seven-footer Tyler Zeller returned from a 13-week hiatus. Zeller broke his left wrist at the end of a game against Kentucky on Nov. 18.

When the announcer called Zeller’s name with 8:28 remaining in the first half, the Smith Center fans gave him a standing ovation, and chants of “Ty-ler Zel-ler” rang out from the student section. Then Ben McCauley went right at Zeller on the latter’s first possession in three months, and the former scored. Welcome back, Kotter … er, Zeller.

Zeller looked a bit rusty – had a couple balls bounce off his legs – but he made his first shot, a smooth, turnaround jumper from the right block. He finished with two points, three rebounds, and four personal fouls.

But the other large guy named “Tyler” on UNC starred. Hansbrough went 10-for-15 from the field, seven-for-seven from the line, grabbed seven rebounds, and had four assists, two steals, and only one turnover – probably one of the more complete stat lines of his illustrious career.

Danny Green, Lawson and Wayne Ellington had 19, 17, and 16 points, respectively, for the Tar Heels.

For State, Brandon Costner played well, especially in the first half, but only took seven shots from the field. State had four players in double figures, as did Carolina – only, Carolina’s high scorers had a few more than State’s.

UNC used a 14-0 run in the first few minutes of the second half to take a 15-point lead, and the Wolfpack never really made it close afterward.

Lowe called Carolina’s ability to make game-changing runs after halftime “the mark of a good team … a team of guys that understand the importance of making a run those first five minutes. They’ve done it so often, they know, and they impose their will on other people.”

Lowe said the Tar Heels “know how to win. Once they get you down, now they’re going to execute.”

And in a game in which both teams executed well during both halves, the Tar Heels did it a bit better, a bit faster, and a bit more often. And that made all the difference.