No. 8 Tar Heels rally past Miami with defense

CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- The North Carolina Tar Heels lead the nation in scoring and rebounding. They showed Miami they can be good on defense, too.

Sputtering on offense and evenly matched on the boards, No. 8 North Carolina used smothering defense to erase an eight-point deficit in the second half and beat Miami 73-64 on Wednesday.

The Tar Heels, who came in averaging 83.5 points, shot 38 percent and went 5-for-18 from 3-point range. But they forced turnovers on four consecutive possessions in the second half and held Miami without a point for nearly five minutes down the stretch.

Harrison Barnes led North Carolina with 23 points, including three 3-pointers in the final 16 minutes. John Henson had 14 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks for the Tar Heels.

North Carolina (22-4, 9-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) took a half-game lead over Duke and Florida State atop the league standings.

"It was one of those wins you have to have to have a fantastic year," Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said. "It was a tough win, it was an ugly win in some ways."

Miami (15-9, 6-5) lost its 10th straight to the Tar Heels and fell for the 18th time in the schools' 20 meetings.

Durand Scott scored 15 points for the Hurricanes, and Kenny Kadji added 13 points and seven rebounds. But Malcolm Grant's shooting slump continued, and he scored only three points.

The Tar Heels hit all five of their 3-pointers in the final 16 minutes. They fell behind 44-36, then used defense to get back in it.

Turnovers by Miami helped North Carolina score eight consecutive points and make the score 44-all. Barnes' 3-pointer moments later gave the Tar Heels their first lead since early in the game.