It was a Saturday afternoon in Miami, Florida as the No. 3 North Carolina Tar Heels took on the Miami Hurricanes at the Watsco Center.
Coming off an 80-76 loss to an unranked Clemson team, UNC looked to get back on track in an ACC matchup with the Canes.
Getting back on track… that’s exactly what the Tar Heels did. But it wasn’t easy and it was too close for comfort.
Recap
UNC had their foot all the way on the gas pedal for the first 16 minutes of the game. It was the definition of coming out of the gates on fire. The Tar Heels’ biggest lead was 20-8 at the 12:46 mark. That was until Nijel Pack hit three after three to give Miami their first lead of the game with 3:29 left in the first half.
From there, both teams traded basket after basket, with Miami ultimately leading by one, 41-40, at halftime. Nijel Pack finished the first half with 18 points, followed by Norchad Omier’s 16 points. Meanwhile, UNC’s leading scorer was RJ Davis with 16.
In the second half, North Carolina regained momentum. Less than six minutes into the second half, the Tar Heels went on a 14-2 run as Miami missed 10 out of their last 11 shots. With 13 minutes left in the game, UNC had their first double digit lead of the second half, 58-48. At this point, Pack and Omier failed to record a single point in the second half, putting Miami in a deep hole to recover from.
With UNC up 68-56 with 7:42 remaining, Miami made four of their last five field goals to make it 68-63 at the five minute mark.
With just a few minutes remaining, the Hurricanes needed to make something happen on the court.
Miami cut UNC’s lead to two points, 73-71, with 1:10 left in the game thanks to a Wooga Poplar layup. This was the smallest lead of the second half for the Tar Heels. However, that’s as close as the Canes would get. Miami had the ball with 12 seconds left, down by three, but Pack missed a three, ultimately ending their winning aspirations. UNC captured the 75-72 victory.
“We got the switch we wanted, but sometimes it’s up to the player to choose,” Miami Hurricanes head coach Jim Larrañaga said postgame. “And he chose a long three… it’s not out of character for him. It wasn’t the best shot we could have gotten. But at the end of a close game like that, the one thing you don’t want to do is turn the ball over.”
Omier and Pack both had 20 points for the Canes. Davis, meanwhile, had 25 points for the Tar Heels; it’s his eighth 25 point game of the season.
“Miami is a really good team and we have not had very much success against them as of late, especially here (in Miami),” North Carolina head coach Hubert Davis said postgame. “We made a couple more plays down the stretch to pull out the win.”
I asked UNC’s leading scorer RJ Davis how he can keep hitting the 25 point scoring mark. He’s already hit it eight times this season. pic.twitter.com/NjqqazcSUl
— Isaac Edelman (@IsaacEdelman) February 11, 2024