Advertisement

With one play, senior Walker Miller ignites North Carolina’s win over Duke basketball

North Carolina forward Walker Miller, who had played all of 10 minutes this season before making a senior day start, anticipated Duke guard D.J. Steward coming down the lane and he stepped in to take a charge on the game’s first possession.

The Tar Heels (16-9, 10-6 ACC) didn’t call game at that moment, but they could have.

That was all they needed to see as Miller’s play inspired their 91-73 victory over the Blue Devils Saturday in the regular-season finale in the Dean E. Smith Center. As the 6-foot-11 Greensboro native laid on his back waiting to be helped up, the Heels bench couldn’t contain their celebration.

How a reserve who played just two scoreless minutes against the Blue Devils had that much of an impact on the Heels comes down to how much respect Miller earned through working hard in practice.

“He’s the definition of Carolina basketball,” said senior forward Garrison Brooks, who scored 14 points in what may be his final home game at UNC. “He does everything the right way. We couldn’t let our energy fall from that one possession.”

It set the tone for a team that relies on seven freshmen in its rotation and hasn’t always understood the level of intensity it needs to bring. Just go back and watch their first half of last Monday’s loss to Syracuse for a comparison.

Or their first half against Marquette.

Or their first half against Florida State.

The pattern of inconsistent play has been well established.

“We usually harp on the same stuff in the first half: turnovers, missed free throws or not guarding,” said freshman guard Caleb Love who finished with a game-high tying 18 points. “It’s usually the same stuff.”

Yet it was different against Duke.

Had Miller scored the first basket instead of taken a charge it might not have had the same impact on the Heels. Sure, they would have been as excited as they were to see redshirt junior Sterling Manley, who hasn’t played the greater part of the past two seasons due to injury, score their final basket on a lob.

But it was specifically because Miller executed a play UNC coach Roy Williams has implored them to do more often.

“I’ve been after our guys all year long,” Williams said. “I don’t think we do anything close to what we want to do about taking the charge on the defensive end of the floor.”

Tar Heels need to keep energy heading into ACC tournament

Even though Carolina put up 91 points, its defensive effort was at times equally as impressive. Duke shot 53% from the floor in their meeting on Feb. 6 in Cameron Indoor Stadium including shooting 11-for-25 from 3-point range. The Blue Devils shot just 37% from the field in the first half and finished the game shooting just 5-for-27 from 3-point range.

And it all goes back to Miller.

“It convinced everybody we can’t have just one guy hustling and making big plays,” said freshman guard Kerwin Walton, who also had 18 points. “So we all got to make sure we keep bringing energy for the whole game.”

The same way Miller taking the charge ignited the Heels, it seemed to be a bad omen for how flat Duke would look the initial 10 minutes of the game.

The Blue Devils seemed to be in a daze as they twice committed shot clock violations, missed open shots or committed one of 11 first-half turnovers. Before they could snap out of it, Carolina ran out to a 26-6 lead and never allowed Duke to get within single digits.

“The first eight to 10 minutes, they played at a high level and knocked us back,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said.

The challenge for Carolina as it claimed the sixth seed in the ACC tournament next week, is how can they keep that energy and focus heading into the postseason. Walton said it comes down to “a sense of pride.”

“We came into this game really strong because we figured this is like one of the most important games for a lot of guys, especially for the seniors,” Walton said. “…It kind of gives you a lot of energy and it kind of makes you just super excited to play. And I think as long as we just keep carrying out that same energy, every single game, we’re gonna be fine.”