By Bret Strelow
bstrelow@salisburypost.com
CHAPEL HILL ó Wayne Ellington went down the line high-fiving teammates once he reached the bench, and Danny Green greeted him by initiating a complicated handshake that ends with both players mimicking a follow through.
Green now has company when it comes to second-half hot streaks.
Ellington made seven 3-pointers and scored 23 points ó all in a 10-minute period after the break ó to propel fifth-ranked North Carolina in its 82-65 victory against Miami at the Smith Center on Saturday night.
Ellington, who had totaled eight 3-pointers in UNC’s previous six contests, needed one more to match Rashad McCants’ school record for 3s in a game.
“I haven’t been shooting the ball the way I usually can shoot it,” Ellington said. “I’m just happy to be able to see a couple go in and build some confidence. Hopefully I’ll be back in a groove.”
Tyler Hansbrough scored 20 of his game-high 24 points in the first half, when the Tar Heels (16-2, 2-2 ACC) trailed by as many as nine.
Ellington then caught fire like Green did against UNC Asheville in late November. He drilled six 3-pointers in the second half of a 116-48 victory.
“He watched from the sidelines and took some notes ó I thought I taught him pretty well,” Green joked. “To see guys get hot like that and be able to play basketball without thinking and just shooting unconsciously, it’s a lot of fun to watch.
“For him to be a part of my team and for us to be wining, it makes it even better. If I was on the other team, I’d probably be pretty upset about it.”
Ellington was scoreless until he followed his own miss and made a left-handed putback with 17 minutes remaining. That basket gave the Tar Heels a 41-36 edge.
They led 74-55 by the time Ellington had completed a 7-for-7 run from long range.
“It was fun seeing that youngster have some success because it’s been tough on him,” UNC coach Roy Williams said. “Nobody has been wanting to make shots more than he has. He’s worked at it, he’s kept a wonderful attitude and he’s done things to try to help out in other ways.”
One minute, 40 seconds elapsed as Ellington scored his first 11 points. He followed the layup with a 3-pointer from the left wing, and he made open shots from the right corner on back-to-back possessions.
An 18-3 run during Ellington’s breakout stretch enabled the Tar Heels to take control.
“Once I started knocking them down, it feels like all of them are going to go in,” Ellington said. “After I hit one, I kept running to the corners because they were trying to get back in a zone and they weren’t really running back.”
The Tar Heels were in danger of dropping another league game until Ellington helped them gain some separation.
Green hustled from behind on consecutive fastbreaks to block a dunk attempt from Dwayne Collins and a layup by Lance Hurdle, but UNC’s defense improved significantly once Miami (13-4, 2-2) pulled ahead 32-23 with 6:46 left before intermission.
The Tar Heels went on a 13-0 run during the remainder of the half.
“I told them you can’t play basketball if you’re not into it emotionally, into it physically and everything,” Williams said. “I even felt like, and one of the coaches agreed, that we sort of started feeling sorry for ourselves when they were making a bunch of shots.
“Some of those shots I thought we did a decent job of guarding, but if you do a decent job of guarding them, at least you give them an opportunity to miss instead of hoping they miss.”
Williams praised point guard Ty Lawson’s defense on Jack McClinton, who scored 12 of his 21 points in the first 13 minutes.
Lawson made a diving steal near midcourt and pitched ahead to Hansbrough for a dunk midway through UNC’s first-half surge.
“When he decides to play like that,” Hansbrough said, “this team can go a long way.”