UNC Blitzes Michigan State In First Half, Wins National Championship Rematch 89-82

Well headed into this weekend’s matchup with no. 4 Kentucky, the spirits are high in Chapel Hill after yet another big win over Michigan State. It’s enough to have some saying the Heels have the Spartans’ number, along with that of Tom Izzo. And last night, at least, SB Nation’s Carolina March says it’s tough to argue with the evidence:

For the third straight game, Michigan State headed to the locker room at halftime with a double-digit deficit and having given up 50 or more points to UNC. The Spartans had since their last meeting molded themselves even more like Carolina, picking up the tempo and building a strong interior game, only to meet a more deliberate UNC team this time out. It was the Heels who slowed the pace down tonight. Sure they pushed the ball up the court after a missed shot and still treated every defensive rebound as the firing gun of a sprint, but when the easy bucket wasn’t there they probed the defense with a patience I haven’t seen in quite some time. Every possession seemed to have two, three, or four entry passes, until the right shot could be found, and enough times that shot was on the perimeter to keep the defense honest – Ginyard, Drew, and Strickland were a combined 4-7 from behind the arc and 12-17 overall.

More importantly, it seemed like the freshmen were beginning to find their rhythm. The first half run where UNC pulled away from a 21-21 tie happened with four freshmen on the floor. Dexter Strickland had his best game to date, including two blocks, and John Henson was a game changer with four blocks, three in the first half. In fact, Carolina’s height kept Michigan State off-balance or most of the game, forcing them to shoot tentatively, and miss badly. Add to that their extremely cold shooting from behind the arc, and it was no wonder that it wasn’t until late that the Spartans put together any sort of run.

Of course, on the other hand, when a team plays as well as Carolina did in the first half, it’s virtually impossible to stop them, and that’s just the way it is. A performance that great—almost on par with UNC’s showing in last year’s NCAA title game against the Spartans—is more like a seismic event for its rarity and sheer force. How can you blame the Spartans for not stopping an earthquake?

SB Nation’s Michigan State blog, The Only Colors, notes that tonight, the Basketball Gods weren’t with the Spartans:

North Carolina almost literally couldn’t miss in the first half, building a 50-34 lead on 64.3% two-point shooting and 60.0% three-point shooting. MSU scrapped in the second half, getting the lead down to as low as 6 in the final 2 minutes. But the basketball gods seemed predisposed against us, as break after break went the other way. (Example: Kalin Lucas and Raymar Morgan running into each other on a back court steal opportunity that would have resulted in the lead being cut to 4.)

Given how well the Tarheels played on offense—not just taking full advantage of their height inside (36 points for Ed Davis and Deon Thompson on 22 FGA) but hitting from the perimeter, as well (18 points for Larry Drew II on 7 FGA)—you could argue that MSU shouldn’t hang its head over this one. They did manage to score 82 points in a 78-possession game.