North Carolina Tops Miami In Overtime In Chapel Hill

It took North Carolina an extra session to put Miami away.

North Carolina hit every big shot it needed in an unexpectedly dire situation at home against struggling Miami. That allowed the eighth-ranked Tar Heels to hang on for their best Atlantic Coast Conference start under Roy Williams. “according https://goheels.com/news/2019/2/9/mens-basketball-tar-heels-vs-miami.aspx

Freshman Coby White matched his season high with 33 points and Luke Maye and Kenny Williams each hit critical 3-pointers to help the Tar Heels edge the Hurricanes 88-85 in overtime Saturday. The victory pushed the Tar Heels (19-4) to 9-1 in the ACC for the first time in their 16 seasons under their Hall of Fame coach. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/2/9/mens-basketball-tar-heels-vs-miami.aspx

"I feel very fortunate to say the least," Roy Williams said. "I questioned our kids' toughness throughout the whole game, and was still doing it at the end. But I think they answered it pretty well down the stretch. They made plays, made shots."
They sure did. Big ones, too. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/2/9/mens-basketball-tar-heels-vs-miami.aspx

First there was White, who scored 23 points with six 3-pointers in the second half alone. That included one with 41.0 seconds left in regulation to bring UNC to within 75-74. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/2/9/mens-basketball-tar-heels-vs-miami.aspx

Next was Maye, who hit the overtime-forcing 3 with 10.2 seconds left. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/2/9/mens-basketball-tar-heels-vs-miami.aspx

Finally there was Kenny Williams, the senior defensive stopper who had been quiet offensively before hitting the go-ahead 3 with 2:08 to go in overtime. according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/2/9/mens-basketball-tar-heels-vs-miami.aspx

The Tar Heels struggled all day to slow 5-foot-7 Chris Lykes and the Hurricanes (10-13, 2-9). Lykes finished with 19 of his 27 points after halftime, including a 3 over 6-6 defender Nassir Little with 1:31 left that gave Miami a 72-71 lead. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/2/9/mens-basketball-tar-heels-vs-miami.aspx

But on Miami's final possession, with UNC fouling to protect a three-point lead, White poked the ball loose from Lykes. Williams dove on the floor to recover the ball for a game-sealing turnover that allowed UNC to kill the final seconds. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/2/9/mens-basketball-tar-heels-vs-miami.aspx

"Chris Lykes at one end, Coby White at the other was quite a show," Miami coach Jim Larranaga said, adding: "We came ever-so-close to accomplishing what we hoped to do today." “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/2/9/mens-basketball-tar-heels-vs-miami.aspx

North Carolina has a quick turnaround as they will host Virginia on Monday night who lost to their tobacco road rival Duke on Saturday night in Charlottesville.