ATLANTA – North Carolina survived Virginia Tech without Ty Lawson. They were a different team, they got the best shot Virginia Tech could give them, and still won. That points to just how deep this team is, a point Seth Greenberg made when asked about Lawson, as well as the job Bobby Frasor did in his place.
“It’s been a difficult week not knowing if Ty was going to play,” said North Carolina head coach Roy Williams. “We told the team last night he was not going to play.”
This wasn’t the running and gunning Tar Heel team we normally see with Lawson out there. The Tar Heels had just five fast break points the entire game, aided by Virginia Tech turning the ball over just seven times. But it’s well-known that this team is also dangerous off a made basket, and the Tar Heels almost never rushed the ball up the floor off a Hokie basket.
Of course, it’s nice having players like Tyler Hansbrough (game-high 28 points, eight rebounds) and Wayne Ellington (16 points, four assists, no turnovers), as well as Deon Thompson (12 points, seven rebounds, two blocked shots). The roster has eight McDonald’s All-Americans. That will likely come into play more tomorrow at least, as Williams said he “would think it unlikely he would play tomorrow” despite feeling better.
“It’s not like they’re void of players,” said Greenberg. “They have a lot of players. Bobby Frasor was a McDonald’s All-American. They took a Player of the Year out and put a McDonald’s All-American in. It’s pretty good to have that luxury.”
Frasor very capably ran the show in a career-high 37 minutes. Here’s a young man who started every game as a freshman and made 37 of his 40 career starts in his first two seasons, giving way to Lawson as a sophomore. He never sulked, instead being a key contributor all along when he was healthy. He also missed the last three months of last season after tearing the ACL in his left knee December.
All Frasor has done is put up a career assist/turnover ratio of 2:1 and be the consummate teammate. Eye-popping numbers have never been his specialty; winning has. That was true on Friday, as he had four points, three assists with just one turnover – not stats that will instantly catch someone’s attention. He knew what was needed of him here.
“No one is going to be able to fill Ty’s shoes,” said Frasor. “He’s the ACC Player of the Year, All-American guard and gets us so many easy plays. No one can duplicate that. I just wanted to come in with a steady hand, not turn the ball over and get guys the ball. I’m surrounded by scorers here, so I don’t need to be putting up a lot of shots or doing things like that.”
Meanwhile, without running, North Carolina won in a different way. They pounded Virginia Tech inside, as they out-rebounded the Hokies 44-33 and had 24 second-chance points thanks to rebounding 19 of their 40 misses. Ed Davis added 10 points and six rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench, to go along with what Hansbrough and Thompson did. Virginia Tech battled valiantly, but with Jeff Allen in foul trouble to go with a height disadvantage, they had a difficult time.
“We weren’t tough enough when we needed to be,” said Greenberg.
Virginia Tech battled, and had their chance, especially late in the game. But North Carolina came out on top without Lawson and without running the way they normally do, which isn’t a good sign for the teams that have to face them later on.
