2011 ACC Tournament Semifinal Recap - North Carolina vs Clemson

(1) North Carolina 92, (4) Clemson 87 (OT)

Harrison Barnes scored 40 points to lead the North Carolina Tar Heels past Clemson in the first semifinal of the ACC Tournament on Saturday afternoon in the Greensboro (N.C.) Coliseum. In the process, Barnes registered more points in a single game than any freshman in the 58-year history of the tournament. The pre-season All-American selection, with his career-high point total; a 12-for-17 shooting performance from the field; a 6-for-8 showing beyond the arc; and a 10-for-11 outing from the foul line, led the Tar Heels when they needed it the most – carrying the team early, keeping the Heels in the game late, and then winning the game in the overtime period.

Clemson did a great job of containing the Tar Heels in the first half, holding UNC point guard Kendall Marshall scoreless and forcing three turnovers from the freshman floor leader. The Tigers out-rebounded Carolina 19-11, scored 14 points on eight turnovers, and led fast-break points, 7-0, against the run-and-gun Tar Heels. Demontez Stitt led the Tigers at the break with 10 points, and forward Milton Jennings had eight points and six rebounds, essentially shutting down Carolina’s power inside game. Barnes had 16 of UNC’s 28 points at the break, as the top seed went to the locker room trailing by 10 points.

Carolina came out strong in the second half, and led briefly with around 10 minutes remaining, but an 11-2 run put the Tigers back in the lead, 63-55, with around nine minutes remaining. Barnes continued to keep Carolina in the game, though, and with help from sophomore forward John Henson in the middle on both ends of the court, he enabled the regular-season ACC champions to outscore the Tigers 18-10 down the stretch to take the game to overtime at 73-apiece. The Tigers had not trailed in the game except for a 26-second stretch at that point, but Carolina was ready to put them on the ropes.

Barnes hit three long-range 3-pointers in the extra period, and the damage was done to the Tigers. Barnes scored 14 of Carolina’s 19 points in overtime, including five foul shots.

Behind Barnes’s 40-point explosion, Henson posted 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Tyler Zeller finished with 14 points and six rebounds for the Heels.

Stitt finished with 25 points and four steals for the Tigers, followed by Milton Jennings with 16 points and seven rebounds, and Tanner Smith and Andre Young with 14 points each. Brad Brownell’s club played with effort and focus for the entire regulation game, but the overtime period was too much for Clemson in the end. Clemson has defeated the Tar Heels only four times in North Carolina in its history, 1939, 1964, 1967, and 1996. Clemson’s NCAA tournament bid hopes are not certain, but taking the league’s regular season champion to overtime before a partisan crowd in the tournament certainly should help to solidify its chances for inclusion.

North Carolina’s slow start (excluding Barnes) continued a troubling pattern. Roy Williams will have to get his team ready to be aggressive from the start from this point forward, or the Tar Heels’ postseason will be much shorter than their fans expect. Carolina will play its arch-rival Duke in the ACC tournament championship game on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Eastern (ACC Network/ESPN). The teams split their regular season games, with Carolina winning the season finale in Chapel Hill, 81-67.

By: David Minter
DFN Sports Staff Writer