Tar Heels Hold off Duke, Peaking When it Counts Most

It seems all is well again in Chapel Hill. The North Carolina Tar Heels extended their winning streak to 8 games with a 74-66 win over archrivals the Duke Blue Devils.

This unlikely talented bunch of Heels became the first team in the history of college basketball to defeat the AP preseason No. 1 (Kentucky Wildcats), No. 2 (Michigan State Spartans), No. 3 Louisville Cardinals) and yes No. 4 (Duke Blue Devils).

After each of their previous wins, they went on to play inconsistent, but the victory on Thursday is one that shows the Tar Heels are back.

The Tar Heels are one of the nation’s hottest teams but the team is not the most perfect that can be found.

The free throw percentage for North Carolina is close to a historic low for the school. They do not shoot well from three-point territory and there is no NBA lottery pick amongst the mix as has been in the past. Nevertheless, the Heels have learned what it takes to win.

North Carolina received 13 points in the second half from Marcus Paige to get past Duke, which was led by freshman Jabari Parker.

Before figuring out how to win, the team went through some difficult stretches. A case in point is a loss at home to Belmont and then a win on a neutral court against Louisville. A loss to UAB followed by a win at Michigan State followed by a win against Kentucky. Then they lost at home to Wake Forest followed by Miami before winning 8 straight.

The often overused phrase “peaking at the right time” comes into play here. The Tar Heels are nearing the end of the regular season and a strong showing in their conference tournament will help them get a higher seed for the NCAA tournament. However, can they hold onto their “A” game? Have they peaked too soon?

North Carolina continues to add new dimensions to their winning formula. On Thursday, it was Leslie McDonald. The senior, before last night’s game, was just 2 for his past 15 from beyond the three-point arc, and just 8 of his past 31 overall from the field.

However, his offensive output in the first half on Thursday carried North Carolina. He scored 11 of the team’s first 30 points and ended the game with 21 points.

The Tar Heels also unveiled a new look 1-3-1 zone defense in the second half versus Duke. Maryland used the same defense against Duke last week and was successful at times, before succumbing.

North Carolina was reluctant to switch from man to man to zone over their worry of giving up too many rebounds and second shot opportunities. However, the defense slowed down Duke and prevented Parker from touching the ball for five straight minutes during the last 8 minutes of the game.

The Tar Heels were shooting only 62% from the charity stripe going into the game. They made just 50% of their attempts during the first half. However, in the second half they shot 13 out of 17 including six of six by Nate Britt.

North Carolina has proven they will be a tough opponent in the NCAA tournament and has shown they know how to defeat the best teams in the nation. Now they need to make sure they can beat the not so good teams as well.