Heels Make Statement Against Clemson

Whew, Carolina made sure that Clemson was a paper Tiger on Wednesday night. With a 77-55 Tar Heel win, the Tiger had no bite.

Carolina did not let the surprising loss at Virginia Tech faze them at all. They went into the intimidating Littlejohn Coliseum, and it was UNC doing the intimidating.

“We wanted to bounce back strong,” said Tyler Hansbrough, who had 16 points and seven rebounds. “Nothing’s going to take away that Virginia Tech feeling, but this is the way we’re supposed to feel.”

The Tar Heels broke it open late in the first half and won it going away in the second half.

Carolina used its speed and size to dominate. Going in, Clemson thought they could keep up. They couldn’t, at least not on this night. Carolina ran players in and out and it wore the Tigers down.

“If people want to run with us, we can run with them,” senior guard Wes Miller said afterwards. “That’s what we want to do.”

Clemson had no answer inside for Brandan Wright. The tall freshman with the long wingspan hit eight of 10 shots and scored 17 points. It was his burst late in the first half and early in the second half that broke the game open.

Wright said he was focused and ready to play, and the Tigers couldn’t stop him

Carolina got the tempo it wanted and Roy Williams got the road effort he wanted. Williams won’t like the 22 turnovers, but he’ll like the shooting. The Heels shot nearly 52 percent and forced Clemson into a dismal 33 percent, and the Tigers turned it over 19 times in a game that sometimes looked like Saturday night at the YMCA.

This was a statement game for Carolina. After a poor performance at Virginia Tech, they faced a second straight road game at a tough place against a team that was 17-1.

There was a feeling in hearing the players talk on Tuesday that they would be better in this road game. They talked about playing with a chip on their shoulder, and they did. And they got a decisive win over the 19th ranked team in the country.