Heels run into Wall

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- North Carolina proved Saturday it knows how to come back.

The next step: learning how to finish.

Trailing by as many as 19 points in the first half, the 10th-ranked Tar Heels rallied to within two points in the final minute - only to watch No. 5 Kentucky (8-0) celebrate staying unbeaten after its 68-66 victory at Rupp Arena.

"A lot of times, we were just a half-second behind on the long rebound, or we didn't knock down the shots we wanted to, we let them get to the offensive boards; we were always just one step behind," said senior Marcus Ginyard, whose team had beaten UK five straight times.

"We were doing so well, but we always let them get their nose back in it a little more than us. We've just got to fight them off, and get better at late-game situations like that."

Remember: Except for Ginyard and senior Deon Thompson (the only returning starter from last year's title team) most of these Tar Heels have had limited (if any) experience being on a college court when things get tight. In the few close games UNC experienced last season, Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green were always around to take the brunt of the pressure (and shots), and they had been in those tense situations plenty of times in their careers.

The Tar Heels didn't have that sort of comfort Saturday.

So when UNC (7-2) went into the locker room at halftime, trailing 43-28 after Kentucky point guard John Wall of Raleigh led a 28-2 run that put the Heels on their heels, coach Roy Williams had to remind his team of two things:

That he thought they had a chance to be back in the thick of it at the end of the game if they started playing with patience and working the ball inside, and ...

That he never had a team not fight back.

So they did just that. With Wall out of the game getting an IV because of cramps, the Tar Heels - outscored 12-0 on fast-break points and 18-8 in the paint in the first half - took advantage, scoring eight straight points to cut the Wildcats' lead to 45-38. By the time Wall checked back into the game with 11:44 left, UK led 54-42 - but the freshman phenom lacked his usual explosiveness. And UNC took advantage.

With 4:39 left, Tar Heels sophomore Tyler Zeller's jumper cut Kentucky's lead to 59-56, and Wall's charge on the other end (taken by Will Graves) put UNC in its best position since the opening minutes of the game.

"If we could get it tied or within one, and they scored at the other end, it would still be a one-possession game; as a coach, that is what you are hoping for," UNC coach Roy Williams said.

But point guard Larry Drew II's 3-pointer from the left wing missed with 4:07 remaining.

Drew's pass to Zeller sailed out of bounds with 3:34 left.

Then, with 2:40 left, Ginyard's 3-pointer from the top of the key was off the mark, as well.

The Wildcats' Eric Bledsoe made two free throws after that - marking two of the seven points he swished during the final 2:31 - and the Tar Heels never got into position to make it a single-possession game after that.

Junior forward Patrick Patterson led UK with 19 points; Wall finished with 16, including 13 in the first half.

"You guys are going to say that I am crazy, but I am happy how this played out," said Kentucky coach John Calipari, whose callow team needed a winning shot by Wall to beat Miami (Ohio) this season, and had to top Stanford in overtime.

"We had to play without [Wall] against a good team, and we had to just figure it out. When another team makes a run at us, let's see what we can do. You have to understand how to play and finish it off."

For UNC to do the same thing, Thompson (14 points) said it will take more repetition, more concentration and more practice.

Ginyard said that the comeback against Kentucky is a step in the right direction. But the Tar Heels still need to take a few more.

"I don't know if, necessarily, as a team, all of us believed that we'd be in the situation we were in at the end of the game, coming into halftime," Ginyard said.

"But hopefully, we learn from this, and we have the memory in our minds the next time we're in one of these situations."

NO. 5 KENTUCKY 68,

NO. 10 NORTH CAROLINA 66

Three-point goals: 7-20, .350 (Graves 4-7, Strickland 1-1, D.Wear 1-1, Ginyard 1-4, Henson 0-1, T.Wear 0-1, Zeller 0-1, Drew II 0-4). Team rebounds: 4. Blocks: 4 (Davis 3, Thompson). Turnovers: 16 (Drew II 4, Graves 2, Davis 2, Strickland 2, Ginyard 2, Thompson, Zeller, Henson, McDonald). Steals: 9 (Strickland 3, Graves 2, Zeller, Davis, Ginyard, Thompson).

Three-point goals: 6-16, .375 (Miller 2-5, Dodson 2-6, Patterson 1-1, Wall 1-2, Bledsoe 0-2). Team rebounds: 4. Blocks: 8 (Orton 2, Miller 2, Cousins, Harris, Stevenson, Patterson). Turnovers: 21 (Wall 7, Bledsoe 4, Harris 3, Patterson 2, Orton, Cousins, Stevenson, Dodson). Steals: 8 (Wall 3, Miller 2, Patterson, Orton, Dodson).

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Att.-24,468. Officials-Tony Greene, Ted Valentine, Mike Eades.