UNC Basketball: Tar Heels win on Andrew Platek game-winner

For the second consecutive contest, the UNC basketball program secured a victory thanks to a last-second field goal from one of their veteran players.

Andrew Platek… FOR THE WIN! In what was another nail-bitter, the Tar Heels can thank the senior guard for their second-straight conference victory of the season on Tuesday night.

With 3.6 seconds left, the senior guard buried a baseline floater to give the UNC basketball team a lead they would not relish. With the victory, the Tar Heels improve to 7-4 on the season (2-2 in the ACC).

Once again, it was another sloppy performance for the Tar Heels. Roy Williams’ team (which ranks last in the ACC with over 15 turnovers a game), turned the ball over 20 times, which definitely hurt their overall offensive approach.

Overall, the Tar Heels made just 34% of their shots (21-61 from the floor). As we already know, the Tar Heels have struggled from three and at the free throw line, but tonight, that simply wasn’t the case.

Beyond-the-arc, the Tar Heels made 9 of their 20 attempts (with Leaky Black and Kerwin Walton making seven of the nine threes). They also shot 73% from the free throw line (16-22).

The Tar Heels took a two-point lead into the second half, but struggled mightily on the offensive side of the ball for a large stretch in the second half. The Hurricanes were able to extend their lead to 10 at one point, but countered the Tar Heels struggles with offensive deficiencies of their own.

Missing four starters, including Chris Lykes, the Tar Heels were finally able to take advantage. They found a brand-new energy late in the game to put themselves right back in the game.

After a pair of free throws by Garrison Brooks to take the lead, the senior big man forced a turnover on the ensuing inbounds pass with about 46 seconds remaining. The Hurricanes would regain possession after an ill-advised Caleb Love shot attempt, and would score on their next possession to tie it up.

Fortunately for North Carolina, but there was still too much time left on the clock for them to capitalize, and Platek came up big in this huge moment of the contest.

A few players had standout performances, but none were bigger than the game that Leaky Black put together. The junior just missed a double-double, as posted a career-high 16 points while adding 9 rebounds and three assists to his stat line. For the first time in his North Carolina career, the junior wing hit four three pointers, which is also a career-best.

To compliment Black’s stellar night, Day’Ron Sharpe followed up his best collegiate performance so far with another strong performance. The freshman big man picked up his second career double-double, as he registered 12 points and 16 rebounds. His 16 boards are tied for the second-most ever by a Tar Heel freshman in a single game.

Kerwin Walton continues to improve his value, as he put together yet another strong shooting night. The freshman connected on four of his eight shots, including three from behind-the-arc, to tally 13 total points in the contest.

This Tar Heels team still has a ton of room to improve, and tonight’s game is another performance in which Roy Williams will most likely not be particularly happy with, but hey… a win’s a win!

With the way this team operates, it’s likely that we could see a handful of ugly victories this season. However, as this team continues to grow and develop, we hope that they can get out of this habit of sloppy basketball and figure out a way to play more efficiently as time goes on.

The Tar Heels will be back in action on Saturday night, as they are scheduled to take on Clemson in Chapel Hill. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 PM EST, and the game will be telecast live on ESPN.

Continue to follow the Keeping It Heel team for all the latest news and updates regarding the UNC basketball program.