bgorman@heraldsun.com; 419-6668
CHAPEL HILL -- Before each senior night, North Carolina coach Roy Williams points to each underclassmen in the locker room and tells them it is their responsibility to make sure the seniors go out on a high note.
But Tuesday's game against Miami went a little differently.
"I put pressure on the underclassmen to take care of the older guys, and today the older guys took care of themselves," Williams said.
Fifth-year senior Marcus Ginyard recorded his first double-double in a Tar Heel uniform -- 12 points and 12 rebounds -- and senior Deon Thompson added 14 points, despite playing just 24 minutes because of a back injury, to lead UNC past Miami 69-62 at the Smith Center for the 2,000th win in the program's history.
UNC is just the second school to reach 2,000 wins as Kentucky became the first to reach the milestone on Dec. 21, 2009.
The victory also guaranteed that the Tar Heels (16-14, 5-10 ACC) will finish the regular season above .500 overall, and they still have a shot at an NIT berth.
It was the first time UNC has won back-to-back games since beating Rutgers on Dec. 28 and Albany on Dec. 30.
"Today was perfect," Thompson said.
And it was only fitting that Thompson was the one to make a key play at the end of the game. The Tar Heels led by 18 at the start of the second half, but the Hurricanes (18-11, 4-11 ACC) kept chipping away, and a 3-pointer by Adrian Thomas cut the deficit to 59-58 with 3:33 remaining.
But Thompson, who had just checked back in after sitting out four and a half minutes to stretch his aggravated back, responded on the other end with a jumper to push UNC's lead to three points.
Larry Drew II then stole the ball on Miami's next possession and hit the second of two free throws to increase the lead to four. Miami's Durand Scott, who finished with a game-high 29 points, then made a bucket to make it 62-60 with 38.7 seconds remaining, but that was as close as the Hurricanes would get the rest of the way.
"It was a hard-fought game," Miami coach Frank Haith said. "Give them a lot of credit. They made shots, and when you can make shots, that makes a difference in the game."
UNC shot 40.4 percent from the floor compared to Miami's 34.8 percent and out-rebounded the Hurricanes 51-27. Arugably the most active Tar Heel on the boards was Ginyard, who has 35 rebounds over his past five games.
The forward said he knew he was closing in on his first double-double and was not worried when he had nine points and nine rebounds with two minutes to play.
"I definitely had mentioned it to numerous people that I had been kind of flirting with a double-double in the past," Ginyard said. "It got to the point where I did look up there and I saw nine points, nine rebounds and I was thinking, 'All right, I have plenty of time here to get another rebound and score another point.' "
Ginyard grabbed his 10th rebound with 1:20 to play, then made two free throws with 27.1 seconds to spare to put the score at 67-60. Junior Will Graves, who had a team-high 16 points, made the final two free throws to seal the win.
"It wasn't necessarily pressure [to win], it was like we owe it to them for them to go out right on senior night," said freshman John Henson, who had seven points and 12 rebounds. "Coach said it was our job to play the best for them."
Along with Ginyard and Thompson, reserve Marc Campbell and walkons James Gallagher and Thomas Thornton also started. The five seniors gave the Tar Heels a solid to start to the game, and when regular starters Henson, Drew and Will Graves checked in at 16:51 mark, the Tar Heels led 6-3.
UNC continued to control the tempo, and back-to-back 3-pointers by Graves helped the Tar Heels take a 20-8 lead eight minutes in. It was the first time UNC has led by at least 10 points in the first half of an ACC game this season.
Miami went on a 15-3 run, and a layup by Scott tied the score at 23.
But then Thompon hit a layup and Ginyard made two consecutive buckets, and the Tar Heels went on a 13-3 offensive to end the half with a 36-26 lead.
"I really wanted it to end this way," said Ginyard, who admitted he was teary eyed before the game. "I couldn't have enjoyed it anymore."
NOTES -- Donald Williams, the Most Outstanding Player of the 1993 Final Four, had his No. 21 jersey hung in the rafters at halftime. Williams hit 5 of 8 from 3-point range in both Final Four games to lead UNC to the national championship. "It's a great feeling," Williams said. "I'm not only happy for myself but the '93 team, because I couldn't have done anything without my teammates. I wish they could be here so I could thank them, because I needed someone to pass me the ball, I needed somebody to set screens for me."
