UNC Basketball: Roy Williams on Tar Heels loss against Duke

Roy Williams spoke post game about his team’s loss to Duke

On Saturday night, the North Carolina Tar Heels men’s basketball team lost to Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinals.

And without hesitation and right on cue, Roy Williams took the blame.

“Congratulations to Duke. It was a big time game for a while, and then it got so it was not a big time game,” Williams told reporters after the game. “I think the most disciplined, the best coached team, the most focused team is the one that won the game tonight. I didn’t do as good a job as Mike did.”

The Tar Heels held a seven-point advantage at halftime and a 13-point lead five minutes into the second half, but couldn’t hold onto it after Joel Berry II got his fourth foul and subsequently went to the bench.

Mar 10, 2017; Brooklyn, NY, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels guard Joel Berry II (2) looks to pass against Duke Blue Devils forward Jayson Tatum (0) during the first half of an ACC Conference Tournament game at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /

He remained on the bench for roughly 10 minutes of actual game time, a period of time in which the Blue Devils took advantage of, claiming the lead and eventually winning the game.

“I think our offense stopped moving [without Berry in the game]. They picked us up a little bit in the backcourt. We wasted some time in the backcourt getting it down. We really did stop moving. When we had shots — I remember a couple of them, I think we rushed them a little bit, forced them a little bit.”

Williams was asked about the absence of Kennedy Meeks in the game after having such a dynamic first half.

“We’ve been trying to get Kennedy through playing in short periods of time the whole season, and we need to give Tony some time as well,” Williams said. “Kennedy’s performance goes down drastically once he gets winded. His stamina is not as good as we would like for it to be. We’ve held him out of a bunch of practices because of a sore knee, but he’s come to play. Last night, he was defensive player of the game. I don’t even know how many scores tonight. He scored 19. Last night he was the defensive player of the game. For us, it’s the way we’re trying to milk as much time of him as we can, knowing that we had hoped to play three straight nights, and that’s just the way we’ve done it all year.”

Lastly, Williams was asked about the performance of recently crowned ACC Player of the Year Justin Jackson and why he hasn’t been as efficient over the last week.

“These last three games, Justin hadn’t been the player he was before. I think he’s putting too much pressure on himself,” Williams said. “I think he’s trying to do too much and perhaps take in some shots that weren’t quite as good. Tonight he had four assists and really did some good things, but the shots didn’t go in as much.”

While Duke moves on to the ACC Tournament championship game, North Carolina awaits its fate and destination to be decided on Selection Sunday.

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