North Carolina Defeats IU In Sweet 16

Friday, March 25

Philadelphia, PA

Approx. 9:57 PM

Indiana University

27-8

101

(#1 seed) North Carolina (Sweet 16)

31-6

Indiana

North Carolina

101

3/26/2016 12:28:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Sam Beishuizen, IUHoosiers.com

PHILADELPHIA - There was no sudden end to Indiana's season. There really wasn't much of a climax, either.

No. 1 North Carolina defeated IU 101-86 at the Wells Fargo Center to put an end to the Hoosiers' season in the Sweet 16. The Tar Heels landed the first punch by way of seven 3-pointers to take a 16-point lead just past the midway point in the first half and maintained a double-digit advantage the rest of the way.

"North Carolina played outstanding," head coach Tom Crean said. "If they play like that, even remotely close to that, then they're going to be very, very hard to beat."

Marcus Paige led the way for North Carolina (31-6) with 21 points, while Brice Johnson added 20 and Kennedy Meeks had 15 in what was a balanced Tar Heels attack. Senior guard Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell's 25 points and junior forward Troy Williams' 21 points paced Indiana (27-8), but it wasn't enough counterbalance North Carolina enough to keep the Hoosiers alive in the NCAA Tournament.

"We just didn't have any answers for them," freshman forward Juwan Morgan said.

UNC shot 51.6 percent from the field, including an uncharacteristically efficient 55 percent from 3-point range after entering the game averaging just better than 31 percent from beyond the arc.

Paige jumpstarted North Carolina by scoring 12 of his team's first 14 points on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting from beyond the arc. After connecting on just 33 percent of his treys entering the Sweet 16, he hit 6-of-9 attempts from long distance against Indiana to tie a program NCAA Tournamnet record.

"Marcus was making video game shots to start the game," Crean said. "I mean seriously."

Credit the Tar Heels' inside-out game for getting Paige and his teammates open looks.

North Carolina consistently worked the ball through the post looking for high-percentage shots around the rim. When they weren't there, UNC's bigs would find an open teammate like Paige hanging out on the wing for open jumpers or driving lanes.

"They were just hitting shots, really doing whatever they wanted," freshman forward Juwan Morgan said. "The rim must have looked big to them."

Indiana kept up with North Carolina at its own game. Freshman center Thomas Bryant held his own in the post throughout the majority of the game but didn't always have the help he needed. Even when he or his teammates were hitting shots, they couldn't string together enough stops to make a serious enough threat.

Williams nearly brought the Hoosiers back by himself with 14 consecutive IU points to pull Indiana within 10 points early in the second half. But no matter how often IU cut the lead down, UNC managed to keep it in double figures.
"We just couldn't get enough going," Bryant said.

Players gathered inside Indiana's locker room couldn't contain their emotions postgame. There were tears because the season was over, smiles because it happened to begin with.

The Big Ten's champion just wish it lasted longer.

"I'm really proud," senior guard Nick Zeisloft said. "It just stings."

As the crowds filed out and away from the players, Crean took a seat next to Bryant and began to comfort him. The passionate 6-foot-10 center was still trying to find a way to grasp the finality of the moment.

There wasn't anything Crean could do to fix the situation. Nothing could.

All he could offer was a shoulder to lean on.

"I can't even begin to describe how proud I am of this group," Crean said.