CHAPEL HILL - Who knew earning win No. 600 would be so painful?
North Carolina coach Roy Williams, wearing a protective sling on his left arm Sunday after undergoing shoulder surgery earlier in the week, had to withstand some late-game twinges - as his team withstood a late-game onslaught from Nevada - to beat the Wolf Pack 80-73 at the Smith Center.
With the victory, Williams became the 33rd coach in NCAA Division I history to win at least 600 games. He's the eighth active coach to reach that mark (joining Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, UConn's Jim Calhoun, Syracuse's Jim Boeheim, West Virginia's Bob Huggins, Houston's Tom Penders, Maryland Gary Williams and Valparaiso's Homer Drew).
"Right now, it don't feel too good - my shoulder's hurting,'' Williams, laughing, said when asked how it felt to reach his latest mark. "But it's a lot of great players, and great assistant coaches. I don't think you'll ever hear Roy Williams said 'I won 500,' or 'I won 600.' ... I'll say 'WE won this, and WE won that."
From the outset, Williams - who missed only Wednesday's practice after his Tuesday morning operation -- tried not to let his injury slow him down. Before the game, he tossed a few T-shirts into the crowd, as usual, and during player introductions, he used the hand-slap-to-hip method to applaud for the other team.
He didn't show any true pain until the final 10 minutes or so, when Nevada's Armon Johnson followed a Luke Babbitt falling 3-pointer to take a 57-56 lead. That's when the 11th-ranked Tar Heels started playing a stretch of basketball that Williams called the most impressive of the year.
With the three-quarters-full crowd finally on its feet and Williams pacing the sideline with pink-faced intensity, UNC finally matched that passion - creating turnovers, blocking shots.
After the Wolf Pack took a 64-62 lead on a Joey Shaw 3-pointer from the corner, Carolina put together 10-3 run, fueled by two 3-pointers from Larry Drew II and forward Deon Thompson's career-high 23rd point, to give the Tar Heels a 72-67 cushion.
"They were faced with a little adversity, and things aren't going their way, and all of a sudden the other team has the lead; I think we got more competitive during that time,'' Williams said. "We made some shots, got some defensive stops."
The only slight downside was that Williams forgot to take his pain medication at halftime, and "made one move that I shouldn't have made out there," during that stretch. He felt enough pain that trainer Chris Hirth walked down the bench to check on him, and Williams' wife, Wanda, came down to stand behind the bench, a bottle of pills in her hand.
"But if that's all I've got to do to win, I'll take that every night,'' Williams insisted, grinning.
Especially because things only get more difficult this week, what with games against No.2 Michigan State and at No 5 Kentucky on the slate.
"Needless to say, the few games we have coming up, those games are probably going to make my shoulder hurt a heck of a lot worse,'' Williams said.
Johnson led Nevada (2-3) with 20 points.
UNC sophomore Ed Davis chipped in 16 points and an active 15 rebounds; Drew II finished with 12 points and 10 assists.
After the game, Williams was presented with a framed "600" jersey - which his seniors held up and displayed for the crowd, because he couldn't.
"I was just about to pat him on the back and tell him 'congratulations,' but I remembered to pull back,'' wing Marcus Ginyard said, laughing. "...I didn't want to hurt him."
