 were coming off Thursday’s defeat to Michigan in which they trailed at one point by 24 points. This time, UNC looked sharp in building a double-digit lead, then Anthony helped them hang on when the Ducks (6-2) got within a point.“It was probably a double good feeling because we had a 10-point lead and we got it there with our toughness and our attention to detail,” UNC coach Roy Williams said, adding: “Then all of a sudden it gets to be a one-possession game, and then I liked our toughness after that again.”Anthony had a baseline drive past Will Richardson with the Tar Heels up 70-69. He then hit four straight free throws to protect the lead in a game that went down to the final seconds. The freshman point guard finished with 19 points despite sitting for a chunk of the second half after picking up his fourth foul.“I want to win, so whatever that means I’ve got to do - whether I’ve got to get a rebound, got to get a steal, whatever was needed I was going to try to do that for the team.”Senior Brandon Robinson followed with clinching free throws with 0.8 seconds left.Bacot had 23 points, 12 rebounds and a season-high six blocks for UNC, strongly patrolling the paint after struggling against Michigan’s size a day earlier in a game that he said left him feeling “like I got my butt whipped.”“Today coming into the game, I knew I just had to make everything simple and just attack the offensive glass and do the moves we work on every day,” Bacot said.Payton Pritchard had 19 points to lead Oregon, which nearly erased a third double-digit tournament deficit in as many days. But this time, Pritchard couldn’t connect on a late tying 3 after Anthony’s first two free throws in what amounted to the Ducks’ last best chance.“We’ve just got to get a little tougher,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “I liked our effort. I thought we played as hard as we could. But you’ve got to be more physical on the boards. We took it weak to the basket a few times. You’ve got to really take It strong. We’ve just didn’t finish enough plays.”BIG PICTUREOregon: The Ducks had a wild tournament. First, they came from 19 down after halftime to beat No. 13 Seton Hall. Then they rallied from 17 down before losing in overtime against No. 8 Gonzaga. They made one more tough climb after doing down 10 with about five minutes left but fell a little short.UNC: The Tar Heels won their Atlantis opener against Alabama but Williams said after the Michigan loss that the team’s 5-0 start hasn’t been a “very good 5-0 compared to the way I think we should play and could play.” The response was UNC’s best overall performance this season.AT THE LINEOregon made just 12 of 20 free throws while the Tar Heels - who came in ranked 321st nationally at 60% - made 20 of 21.“They hit all their free throws, we didn’t,” Altman said. “It really hurts when you lose a couple of games to a couple of really good teams and you don’t do everything under your control.”BLOCK PARTYThe Tar Heels finished with a season-high 12 blocks, highlighted the 6-3 Anthony skying to stuff a first-half dunk attempt by the 6-7 Shakur Juiston.TIP-INSUNC’s Leaky Black didn’t play after halftime because of a foot injury. K. J. Smith played behind Anthony and had two assists. ... Williams earned his 877th career win to break a tie with Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp for fifth on the all-time men’s list. ... Oregon made 12 of 30 3s, though just four after halftime. ... UNC finished with a 47-39 rebounding advantage, though Oregon had a 22-19 edge on the offensive glass. ... This is the first time in Oregon history that the Ducks have played four ranked teams in the nonconference schedule.UP NEXTOregon: Hosts Hawaii on Dec. 7.UNC: Hosts No. 10 Ohio State on Wednesday in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.---Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at https://twitter.com/aaronbeardap---More college basketball: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and https://twitter.com/-Top25)
Nov 29, 2019No. 6 North Carolina and No. 11 Oregon face a quick turnaround Friday when they meet in the third-place game of the Battle 4 Atlantis at Imperial Arena at Paradise Island, Bahamas.The 11:30 a.m. local time tip-off actually sounded good to North Carolina coach Roy Williams, who said he can't wait to try to have the Tar Heels play better."I've got to do a better job of getting the attention to detail taken care of a lot better and the toughness a lot better," Williams said. "And get the ball to go in the basket for us." North Carolina (5-1) is coming off Thursday's 73-64 loss to Michigan in the tournament semifinals. Oregon (6-1) suffered a 73-72 overtime loss to No. 8 Gonzaga in the second semifinal.Oregon will be facing a nationally ranked the team for the third time in three days. The Ducks rallied from a 19-point hole to defeat Seton Hall on Wednesday night.Ducks coach Dana Altman had pointed out the energy level for his team could be zapped after the Seton Hall game. Now, it could be a more extreme situation following an overtime game in which Oregon trailed Gonzaga at one point by 17 points."You just can't do that on a consistent basis," Altman said of the large deficits.Williams has been critical of his team during the opening weeks of the season. He took a partially different approach when looking at the big picture following the first loss of the season."This team has a chance to be a really good team," Williams said. "I really believe that." Yet Williams gave a critical self-assessment after six games."I've got to do a better job coaching my team," he said. "It's frustrating as all get-out, but I've been in the game a long time and it still pisses me off when I don't do a good job with my team so that's the bottom line." Michigan used a 19-0 run in the second half to produce a big margin."We just didn''t play team defense great," North Carolina swingman Brandon Robinson said. "It's not just the people on the ball guarding the screens, it's everyone on the court. We didn't do a good job of that." North Carolina's perimeter shooting has been troublesome. The Tar Heels were a season-low 2 of 13 on 3-point attempts in the loss to Michigan, which held North Carolina to its lowest point total of the season."I think we will make a lot 3s, but we haven't done it yet in games so it doesn't make any difference what I think," Williams said.Oregon has had problems with offense, too. The Ducks shot 34 percent against Gonzaga."It's on me to get them moving the ball better," Altman said. "Our offense has got to be much more efficient." In the meantime, a North Carolina opponent has made 10 or more 3-pointers in three consecutive games.There could be some question about the availability of North Carolina guard Leaky Black, who was limping at the end of the game. Williams said he didn't know the extent of the ailment.The game is a rematch of a 2017 Final Four semifinal, which North Carolina won on the way to the national championship.--Field Level Media
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