ATLANTA — North Carolina’s 99-81 first-round ACC Tournament victory over Clemson on Friday will be remembered as a game of 3s because Tar Heel Jason Capel hit all six of his 3-point attempts.
But Clemson coach Larry Shyatt will remember it as a game of toos.
“North Carolina was just too good, too smart and for too long,” Shyatt said.
It was a game of T’s as well as toos — as in technical fouls. Clemson big man Ray Henderson was assessed a “T” that turned the game.
It was 54-all at the Georgia Dome with 15:40 remaining when UNC guard Ronald Curry drove the lane and was smashed to the floor by Henderson. The thickly built Tiger was whistled for his fourth foul for creaming Curry, then picked up a technical (which counted as his fifth personal) for taking a bit too much delight in his handiwork.
“When Henderson fouled Ron and put him on the ground, Ray was smiling and laughing,” explained Tar Heel center Brendan Haywood. “He said, ‘Better come strong or don’t come at all’, and he was saying it to Ron while he was in pain. That’s not called for.”
“I didn’t think it was a bad foul, just a good aggressive one,” countered Shyatt. “But then Ray lost his cool, and he said something. The technical was, I am told, for taunting. But, then, this was a day on which a great deal was was said by many people.”
Of that there is no question. If the Tar Heels and Tigers were paid by the word, all of them would be millionaires right now. Chief among the wordsmiths was Tiger guard Will Solomon, who led his team with 23 points and at least that many stare-downs of the various Heels who guarded him.
“You got Solomon out there, he sets the tone,” barked Haywood. “You’re either going to listen to him or you’re going to talk back, and after a while you get tired of hearing one man talk.”
The Heels (25-4) spoke loudly with their shooting and defense immediately after Henderson’s tackle. Joseph Forte, who was held to 15 points, made two technical free throws and Curry put in two more for the personal. That triggered a 12-2 run over the next three minutes for a 66-56 lead. The Heels never let Clemson closer than six the rest of the way.
“I like to think we go on and win without the technical,” said UNC coach Matt Doherty. “But we were in a little bit of a fog, had a few cobwebs before then. It maybe helped us wake up and get our heads out of the clouds.”
Capel, who had a huge game with team-highs of 23 points and nine rebounds, was more specific about the impact of the events surrounding the technical. “Coach said if that didn’t fire us up, nothing would.”
It was a game that contained some heat right from the opening tip. The origin of most of that warmth was Clemson’s stunning 75-65 upset of the Tar Heels on Feb. 18 — a game that ranks among the biggest shockers in collegiate history.
Clemson had lost eight in a row prior to that contest, while the Heels, ranked No. 1 in the nation at the time, had won 18 straight. But Clemson may have savored that magic moment at Littlejohn a bit too much, calling a timeout with 5.5 seconds left to rub things in a bit.
“It was just revenge. That’s about it,” said Forte. “They called timeout with five seconds left and we really didn’t appreciate it. Any motivation you can use, you use.”
Doherty used it in recent days, repeatedly showing his team tapes of the Tigers’ victory celebration down at Clemson.
“We showed the clips,” said Doherty. “We showed ’em their fans storming the court. I mean, if that doesn’t get you going, you don’t have a pulse.”
Still, it took quite awhile for the Heels, who have never lost a quarterfinal game in this tournament as the No. 1 seed, to assert their dominance. Even with Capel making four straight 3s from the top of the circle against a Clemson defense that was keying on Forte, the Heels struggled to hold on to a 50-45 lead at the break.
But Capel stayed hot in the second half and Kris Lang (16 points) and Haywood (17 points) took over in the lane after Henderson exited and the Tigers’ other burly banger Chris Hobbs got in foul trouble.
“We gave as good an effort as we have all year,” said Shyatt. “But, in the end, their great talent and size simply overwhelmed us.”
Much of that overwhelming was done on the defensive end, where Max Owens got right up in the loquacious Solomon’s face and forced him to drive into Haywood, rather than pull up for 3-pointers. Solomon hit only three field goals in the second half and the Tigers dropped off the brisk pace of the Heels, who shot 54.7 percent for the contest.
“We picked up the intensity defensively,” said Haywood. “We made them take really tough shots.”
Ninth-seeded Clemson (12-19), which beat Florida State in Thursday’s late “play-in” game, was visibly exhausted down the stretch, allowing the Heels to cruise into today’s 1:30 p.m. semifinal meeting with fifth-seeded Georgia Tech (17-11), which won a thriller over Virginia.
“We had four timeouts left (at the end) and we wanted Coach to use them all, keep Clemson on the floor all day,” said Haywood with a wicked smile. “He wasn’t going to do that, though.”
But Doherty did keep his starters on the floor until there were 34 seconds remaining — even when he had a 19-point lead.
Payback? No question.
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