by Aaron Beard, Associated Press
ASHEVILLE—Leaky Black had a big driving basket at the 1:02 mark followed by a clinching free throw with 5.5 seconds left to help No. 14 North Carolina hold off Stanford 67-63 in Tuesday’s semifinals at the relocated Maui Invitational.
Freshman Caleb Love scored 16 points to lead the Tar Heels (3-0), who did just enough down the stretch to stay unbeaten. UNC shot 50% after halftime and won despite committing 24 turnovers, which led to 22 points for Stanford.
Black finished with 10 points and seven rebounds as one of five players in double figures. He came through with his biggest play when he drove into the paint and scooped in a layup to increase UNC’s lead to 66-63.
Then, after Spencer Jones missed a straightaway 3 for the tie with about 10 seconds left, Black grabbed the rebound and was fouled. He missed the first free throw but hit the second to make it a two-possession lead and all but ensure UNC would advance to the Maui title game.
It also improved the Tar Heels to 13-0 all-time against the Cardinal.
Daejon Davis scored 18 points to lead Stanford (1-1), which shot 39% for the game and made just 5 of 20 3-point tries. Touted freshman Ziaire Williams finished with 10 points.
The game featured a matchup for UNC coach Roy Williams against one of his former players and assistants in Stanford’s Jerod Haase, who beat his mentor while head coach at UAB but had lost the other four meetings.
The tournament is being played in the North Carolina mountains instead of its traditional Hawaii setting due to the coronavirus pandemic. It’s a home-state game for the Tar Heels in the city where Roy Williams grew up and played in high school, though with fan cutouts in the stands and crowd noise pumped in.
BIG PICTURE
UNC: The Tar Heels had a promising start to the tournament by turning a game-opening 13-0 deficit into a blowout win against UNLV. This time, they found themselves in a close fight to the horn. Unlike many games in last year’s miserable 14-19 season, the Tar Heels showed enough composure to close this one out.
Stanford: Ziaire Williams had a strong start to his college career with 19 points and eight rebounds in Monday’s first-round win against Alabama. Stanford led by eight late in the first half of this one, but the Cardinal shot just 10 of 30 while making 1 of 11 3-pointers after halftime to come up short.
UP NEXT
UNC: The Tar Heels advanced to Wednesday’s championship game to face No. 17 Texas.
Stanford: The Cardinal will face Indiana in Wednesday’s third-place game.
