CHAPELHILL — North Carolina center Brendan Haywood changed the groaning to grinning.

Haywood misfired on five straight free throws as the Tar Heels started out pathetically on Monday night. But when all was said and done, the 7-foot senior had become the stuff of legends. He broke the school record for blocked shots and posted an unlikely triple-double in an ugly 67-45 victory over a Miami team that shot just 23 percent.

Prior to Haywood’s heroics, no Tar Heel — not Billy Cunningham, not Charlie Scott, not Phil Ford, not even Michael Jordan — had put together a triple-double. The dry spell for the boys in blue had lasted a span of 2,384 games. Unless you count the triple-double that a tongue-in-cheek Matt Doherty, first year coach of the Heels, claimed credit for.

“I played 10 minutes, set 10 screens and drank 10 cups of water,” said Doherty, poking fun at what was actually a solid playing career. “Yeah, that was my triple-double.”

But Haywood’s big night was made up of stats that are more easily quantifiable than Doherty’s. He amassed 18 points, 14 rebounds and 10 blocks — one more rejection than Warren Martin had in 1985 — to become the 13th player in ACC annals to turn in a triple.

Haywood’s big game drew attention away from an evening that started with almost comic woefulness for the 14th-ranked Heels (4-2). On its first nine trips down court, Carolina scored all of two points. That sorry success rate might net the Heels a 12-2 deficit against a quality ACC opponent, but Miami (3-2) failed to make the Heels pay. Even after a string of Carolina follies, theHurricanes led just 4-2.

“I was thinking that if we could just make a bucket, our young guys could get some confidence,” said Miami coach Perry Clark, whose team limped into the Dean Dome on the heels of a 32-point loss to Charlotte.

But the Hurricanes couldn’t make a hoop. Apparently, all the shooters in town were used up in long-ago episodes of Miami Vice. And it didn’t help that Haywood was doing a pretty mean impression of Godzilla swatting hapless aircraft from the sky. He was slapping away anything and everything and forcing the Hurricanes’ offense further and further toward Carrboro.

“We never saw Haywood coming,” moaned Miami big man Dwayne Wimbley, who failed to scratch. “You shoot and you don’t even see him. But he’s got such long arms, he comes out of nowhere and gets your shot.”

Carolina got a 3-pointer from Joseph Forte at the 13:08 mark for its first lead at 5-4. That marked the last lead change in the game.

Football star Ronald Curry, who saw 18 minutes of action, came in to guide the Heels after freshman Adam Boone failed to generate much and after freshman Brian Morrison chucked a lob pass to a young lady sitting six or seven rows back of the Tar Heel goal.

“All we need at the point is someone to hit the open man and play defense,” said Doherty, who admitted he was a “basket case” after Kentucky shredded the Heels 93-76 Saturday, handing them their second-worst loss ever at the Smith Center. “Ronald really guarded people tough. I told our freshmen, ‘See, that’s all you’ve gotta do.’ ”

The open men that Curry found were generally Haywood and Kris Lang, who are hard to miss and who used their combined 524 pounds and 167 inches to overwhelm Miami down low. Lang, who settled for his fourth career double-double with 17 points and 10 boards, had 14 of his points by halftime. Still, UNC didn’t hold its first double-digit lead until it went ahead 26-16 near the two-minute mark. It wound up on top 33-18 at the break, thanks to a flurry of blocks by Haywood, a late 3-pointer by Max Owens and a rousing steal and dunk by Forte.

Both teams could have been subject to criminal prosecution for the sins committed in that forgettable first half. Miami shot 0-for-9 on 3s and a miserable 18 percent from the field. The Tar Heels, who lost Jason Capel with a bruised tailbone after 12 minutes, countered with a dozen turnovers and 3-for-11 free throw shooting. The Heels were bad enough — at least on the offensive end — that the Hurricanes believed they could come back.

“We thought our defense had played well,” said Clark. “Now, if we could just find a way to knock down a few.”

Didn’t happen. The Hurricanes heated up all the way to 29 percent in the second half and the only thing they knocked down was Lang, who took a few charges. Miami crept as close as 39-28 with 14:40 remaining, but then failed to score for nearly eight minutes.By the time that disastrous drought ended, it was 51-30 and 19,859 fans were filing toward the exits.

“The big thing was to get the win,” said Haywood. “We had lost two straight. The triple-double is great — it gives me some bragging rights — but the team is what’s important.”

If a low-key Haywood sounded as excited as if he’d just won a contest for an all-expenses-paid night in Durham, Doherty tried to make up for it.

“Brendan was awesome.” he said. “But, was I surprised? Not one bit.”

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NOTES:Haywood had his triple-double in the books with 10 minutes left to play. His 10th block came when he slapped the ball away from a Hurricane just as he was going up to shoot. Such plays are often treated as steals, not blocks, in college ball, but Haywood got the benefit of the doubt from the scorer’s table. ... The Tar Heels have moved a number of students close to the floor (sort of a Cameron-lite). The close-to-the-action Heel fans were more polite than the “Crazies,” although they did ridicule the Hurricanes’ headband fashion statement and greeted the ‘Canes with a Seminole-style tomahawk chop to gently remind them of the BCS football rankings. ... Miami has never beaten Carolina and hasn’t beaten any ACC team since 1968. It did take care of Doherty’s Notre Dame squad three times last year, but that Miami team was a lot older. ... Forte had a career-high seven assists. ... Will Johnson had a career-high 10 points, including a 3-pointer.