Roy told Woody Durham that Ty Lawson will possibly play and they are really concerned about Deon Thompson. With Duke pulling the rabbit out of the hat in Raleigh, Heels need this one to keep pace. 3:30 game so the upset watch is one.
Open thread for comments, have at it guys.
3:53 PM: Well apparently the Heels were concerned about how that AFL game ended because they are asleep at the wheel to start the game and Tyrese Rice has gone nuts scoring 14 points, four of them threes. Heels need to tighten up down 18-5.
3:58 PM: Lawson. Returns.
4:01 PM: Come on. This is absolutely insane. 23 points in seven minutes? Can he really keep that going? Holy crap.
4:03 PM: Bad News: Rice is on pace for like 60 points. Good News: No one else on BC appears capable of shooting the ball. Lawson does not look good, but that was to be expected though he did have a nice pass to Hansbrough for the dunk. I say you keep feeding Hansbrough, his shot should last all game, those three usually do not.
4:15 PM: Down 14 here. If you take way about half of Rice's points and assume he is on pace for average I still think UNC is down in this game. Heels are out of sync. QT had issues at the start and the BC interior defense is much better than it was in Chapel Hill. Of course UNC also ran the ball more in Chapel Hill.
4:26 PM: Seven threes for Rice. The rule generally is he will cool off but all that means is UNC needs to make sure they get rebounds on the defensive end which they are not going a great job with right now. Will Graves providing some offense and UNC needs to step up the defense and gets some stops.
4:38 PM: UNC down 54-40 at halftime because Tyrese Rice has 34 freaking points. I will say this. UNC is not playing their A game, but they did put up 40 points which is only a tad off their pace and they did not shoot well. I also noticed that the BC players were acting like the game was over on the court after the buzzer. There might be a psychological edge to be had over them in the 2nd half. I would be even more shocked to see Rice come out and keep the pace up especially since Ginyard is now going to be guarding him. The problem is if he misses, UNC has to get rebounds. The Heels need Ellington to get on track and play better defense.
5:02 PM: Roy went Blue team and got a three from Green. They need a sustained run to get this game manageable before it gets inside 10 minutes so they can run again and hopefully win the game.
5:08 PM: UNC closes it to six as Ellington gets on track with a three. Despite the ankle, Lawson is doing a better job on Rice in the 2nd half.
5:13 PM: Heels within one at the 2nd TV timeout of the half. The defense has turned it because Ty Lawson is draping Rice. I don't know how many minutes Roy had in mind for Lawson or if he can even handle what is being asked of him but Rice only has four points this half and they came in the first minute of the half.
5:25 PM: Yet another stunning rally for the Heels now up seven with six minutes left. This has been all defense. BC has something like 8-9 fewer FG attempts in the 2nd half pointing to fewer opportunities for BC to score. This is probably a result of forcing turnovers and controlling the boards on both ends.
5:34 PM: Heels now in control by 10 with under four to go. If the Heels play smart and hit their FTs they should wrap this thing up and head back to Chapel Hill.
5:44 PM: Done deal. Heels survive.