There was 12:25 to go in the game. North Carolina was down twelve, 57-45, and looking out of sync. Hanmsbrough had four points, all of them from the free throw line or further out, and too many of the Heels' shots had come from behind the three-point arc, where they were 2 for 13.
Then Taj Gibson went to the bench with four fouls, and the offense changed.
Carolina only took one more three after that. The shots inside still weren't there - Hansbrough only had one more point the rest of the way - but the rebounds were. Oh, the rebounds.
UNC's next seven buckets were putbacks off of offensive rebounds. Seven straight. By the time Wayne Ellington made a lay-up, their first points off an initial offensive opportunity in five and a half minutes, the score was 62-59, Carolina.
UNC ended up with 19 offensive rebounds, 13 in the second half. That, coupled with the good defense the kept the Heels in the game in the first half when they were raining missed threes and a USC's sudden lack of depth - they only played seven players more than 10 minutes - was enough to give Carolina the win.
The rebounds won't come as easy against Georgetown, which is why I'd have preferred a better performance versus a half court set. But it was an easier win than a lot of first seeds have, let alone the two-pivot foot Hoyas. We'll see what happens next.