CORAL GABLES, Florida. Andrew Platek played a row-base bucket of 3.6 seconds to reach North Carolina to a 67-65 victory over Miami at Watsco Center on Tuesday.
UNC suffered a double-digit deficit for the fourth time this season and ended the match at 17-6. This is the second game in a row that a Tar Heel veteran scored the game in the final seconds after Leaky Black played 9.1 seconds to stop Notre Dame, 66-65.
Black was arguably the best match of his Tar Heel career with a 3-point lead with 1:42 to play to give UNC a 61-60 lead. The junior wing finished with a career-high 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting (4-of-4 3FG) to go along with nine rebounds, three assists and two steals.
The Tar Heels (7-4, 2-2 ACC) scored their first win this season despite a tougher Test than expected by a Hurricanes group missing four of their best players, including Chris Lykes, the first team see All-ACC-wag,. Miami led 53-43 at 12:03. At that point, UNC had more turnover (14) and errors (16) than field goals (13).
The Tar Heels shot 34.4 percent from the floor, marking the second straight game in which they shot under 35 percent, while the Hurricanes were held at 34.9 percent. UNC surpassed its opponent, 45-39, and took a 12-4 lead in the second-half points, setting off Miami’s 32-24 advantage in points in the paint. The Hurricanes had 20 UNC turnovers in 19 points.
Day’Ron Sharpe produced a double-double with 12 points and 16 rebounds.
Playing the game
ANDREW PLATEK FOR THE WIN! ??# ACCMBB | @UNC_Basketball @ PlatekFor3 pic.twitter.com/87SaWZUvHr
– ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) 6 January 2021
Walton continues to rise
Kerwin Walton again delivered a much-needed score to UNC on Tuesday, with a total of 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting (3-out-7 3FG). The first-year guard has now made at least three three-pointers in four of his last five games.
Walton has shot 59.9 percent from the three-point series since winning Kentucky (13-of-22).
Miserable shooting
Although Miami does not have its primary points for points, the Hurricanes were helped by UNC’s own points. After building an early 14-8 lead, the Tar Heels went more than seven minutes without a field goal and missed 11 straight shots as Miami took a five-point lead with a 13-2 run .
The series coincided with a series that included Garrison Brooks, Walker Kessler, Puff Johnson and Caleb Love, who together missed all nine of their field goal attempts in the first half.
UNC missed 11 of 13 field goals late in the second half, but Miami missed 15 of 17 during the same stretch that the visiting team was able to cut in its backlog despite the poor shooting.
3s More than 2s
It was not so long ago that the primary offensive weakness of UNC was the three-point shooting, but it actually seems quite long ago. The Tar Heels shot 29.2 percent of the two-point series against Miami compared to a 45 percent effort from three (9-out-20).
In their last two games, the Tar Heels have shot 39.7 percent against three and 32.2 percent against two.
Note
Tuesday was the first time UNC has won rugby games by two points or less since winning the 2017 NCAA Tournament over Kentucky (75-73) and Oregon (77-76).
Following
UNC welcomes Clemson to the Smith Center on Saturday for a 19:00 fee (ESPN). The Tigers, who were in 19th place, were one of the surprises of the 2020-21 basketball season and won nine of their first ten games. Brad Brownell’s team beat NC States 74-70 in overtime on Tuesday to win its fourth consecutive game.