by Matt Bowers
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—Fifteenth-ranked Miami went on a 13-2 run early in the second half to seize momentum and held off North Carolina, 80-72, on Monday night at the Smith Center.
Jordan Miller finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds on 9 of 14 shooting for the Hurricanes, who also got four three-pointers and 23 points from Nijel Pack.
The Tar Heels shot just 5 for 31 as a team from three-point range, missing 21 of their first 23 from behind the arc before RJ Davis and Caleb Love combined to hit three in a row in the final 4:07.
Two days after making 15 of 33 three-pointers in their win over Clemson on Saturday, the Tar Heels shot a season-low 16.1 percent from long range. Carolina shot 24 for 35 on two-point tries (68.6 percent).
UNC went on a 6-0 run in the final two minutes but couldn’t get any closer than four points as the Hurricanes sank enough of their late-game free throws to escape with the win.Davis hit 9 of 18 shots from the floor and led Carolina with 23 points. Love scored 20 on 7 of 19 shooting that included a 2-for-12 effort from three-point range. Leaky Black hit 6 of 9 shots with 13 points and nine rebounds, falling one board short of his second career double-double.
The Hurricane defense limited Armando Bacot to 12 points and four rebounds before he fouled out in the final seconds. The four boards were Bacot’s second-fewest in a game this season and fewest excluding the game at Virginia, when he grabbed two in one minute of action before leaving the due to injury.
Miami beat the Tar Heels for the second consecutive year and improved to 21-5 overall this season, 12-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Carolina fell to 16-10, 8-7.
The Canes out-rebounded UNC, 40-32, and limited it to six assists on 29 baskets. Miami held the Tar Heels to 37.8 percent shooting in the second half after they shot 51.7 percent before halftime.
“We took a one-point lead to the locker room at halftime and then quickly came out and took control the first ten minutes of the second half [and] kept it for the next five minutes,” Miami head coach Jim Larranaga said. “We made some mistakes that I think if we had to do it all over again, our guys would make different decisions. But, all and all, we made our free throws, we broke the press, and that’s what allowed us to come away with a very hard fought road victory.”UNC closed the first period by hitting 7 of its last 9 shots and trailed, 35-34, at the break. The Tar Heels shot 14 of 18 from two-point range in the opening 20 minutes but were 1 for 11 from three-point territory. Twenty-six of UNC’s 34 first-half points came in the paint on an assortment of layups as the Hurricanes sagged defensively to limit Bacot’s offensive opportunities.
Miami went on a 13-2 run in the early minutes of the second half to take a 52-40 lead, its largest of the game to that point. Shortly thereafter, Bacot picked up his fourth foul with just over 12 minutes remaining in the game.
After playing two games in three days, the Tar Heels will return to action on Sunday afternoon at NC State.
“We weren’t good enough to beat Miami tonight,” UNC head coach Hubert Davis said. “It is what it is. Let’s go back to work and see if we can get better this week and put ourselves in a position to play against a really good NC State team on their home floor.”
Three of Carolina’s remaining five regular season games will come on the road with home contests against Virginia (February 25) and Duke (March 4).
“It’s tough, but we’re playing for something bigger,” Love said. “And, hanging our heads would not help anything right now. So we’ve just gotta step up and own what we did and what we didn’t do on the court. And come back at practice and get better at what we need to get better at and focus on the next game.”
