The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
6-3
North Carolina
7-2
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | 44 | 38 | 82 |
| Texas | 42 | 42 | 84 |
Felix buzzer beater lifts Men's Basketball to 84-82 win against No. 3 UNC
12.12.2015 | Men's Basketball
Felix scores season-high 25 points, including game-winning jumper as time expires.
AUSTIN, Texas – Senior guard Javan Felix electrified a sellout crowd with a game-winning jumper at the buzzer to lift Texas over the No. 3/3 North Carolina Tar Heels, 84-82, at the Frank Erwin Center on Saturday night. Felix finished the night with 25 points, shooting 9-of-14 from the floor and 5-of-7 from 3-point range.
The win was the Longhorns' first over an Associated Press (AP) Top 5 opponent since a victory at No. 2 Kansas on Jan. 22, 2011. Texas (6-3) has now won seven of the last eight meetings against North Carolina (7-2), including the last three straight.
Cameron Ridley recorded his third double-double of the year, scoring 12 points and bringing down 13 rebounds in 33 minutes of play. Isaiah Taylor scored 13 of his total 18 points in the second half, contributing five assists in the Longhorns' win.
North Carolina's Marcus Paige kept the Longhorns on their toes all night, finishing the game with 20 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the floor and four rebounds. The Tar Heels were excellent from the free-throw line, converting 85.7-percent of their attempts (24-of-28).
The Tar Heels hit the ground running following the opening tip, scoring the first seven points of the game. Texas responded with an aggressive scoring attack throughout the first half, outscoring the Tar Heels 16-10 in the paint and 11-2 on second chance points.
The Longhorns took their first lead of the game following 3-pointers from Felix and Eric Davis Jr., putting Texas up 19-17 with 10:22 left in the half. North Carolina would retake the lead to close out the half, but Davis ended the half with a high note by sinking a jumper at the buzzer to cut the Tar Heels' lead to 44-42. Felix and Davis each sank 3-of-4 of their shots from behind the arc to lead the Longhorns with 11 points in the first half.
North Carolina was able to hold a slim lead throughout the majority of the second half until back-to-back treys from Connor Lammert and Felix put Texas up, 65-64, with 7:49 remaining in the contest. Paige would help the Tar Heels retake the lead with a deep three of his own, putting North Carolina on top with 6:18 to go.
The score would go back-and-forth in the final six minutes of the game, which saw nine ties and seven lead changes. Following a traditional three-point play from Isaiah Hicks to put North Carolina up 74-71, the Longhorns tied the game up with another three from Taylor with 3:10 to go. Texas finished the night shooting 50-percent from beyond the arc (12-of-24), matching their highest 3-point percentage of the season.
Following a Taylor jumper to put Texas up 82-80 with 27 seconds left in the game, a quick timeout from UNC coach Roy Williams' crew resulted in a jumper from Brice Johnson to tie the game again with eight seconds left. Electing not to take a timeout, Taylor missed an attempt from behind the arc with three seconds to go, but the loose ball was retrieved by Felix. The senior guard managed to let the ball go from 19 feet with 0.1 remaining, sinking it and sending the Longhorns to victory.
Texas turned the ball over a season-low eight times and dominated the Tar Heels on the glass, outrebounding them 36-27, including 16-4 on the offensive glass. UT posted a 21-to-7 advantage in second-chance points.
Texas concludes its five-game homestand on Tuesday night against Appalachian State. Tip is set for 7 p.m. Central at the Frank Erwin Center, and the game will be televised nationally on Longhorn Network. UT's 1989-90 NCAA "Elite Eight" will be recognized at halftime of Tuesday's contest.
Texas Basketball Postgame Notes
Texas 84, #3/3 North Carolina 82
December 12, 2015
Frank Erwin Center (Austin, Texas)
Attendance: 16,540 (sellout)
Team Notes
Texas has won three straight and seven of the last meetings against North Carolina. UT improved to 3-0 against the Tar Heels in games played at the Erwin Center.
The Longhorns improved to 7-4 in home games against AP Top 5 opponents dating back to the start of the 2002-03 Final Four season.
Texas recorded its first victory against an AP Top 5 opponent since a 74-63 win at No. 2 Kansas on Jan. 22, 2011.
The Horns registered its first home win against an AP Top 5 opponent since a 73-68 victory against No. 2 Oklahoma on Feb. 21, 2009.
UT improved to 196-26 at the Erwin Center in the last 14 seasons (dating back to the start of the 2002-03 season). Texas is 5-0 at home this year.
Javan Felix's game-winning shot at the buzzer marked the first true 'buzzer beater' (shot counts with no time remaining) since Cam Ridley's put-back with no time remaining in the NCAA Second Round vs. Arizona State (87-85) on March 20, 2014 (Milwaukee, Wisc.). It was the first buzzer beater by the Horns at the Erwin Center since Jonathan Holmes sank a 3-pointer as time expired to beat Kansas State (67-64) on Jan. 24, 2014.
Texas posted a +9 rebound margin (36-27), including a 16-4 advantage in offensive rebounds. The Horns recorded a 21-7 advantage in second-chance points.
UT hit 50% (12-of-24) from three-point range for the second consecutive contest. Texas converted 15-of-30 threes against UTSA (Dec. 8).
Reached double figures in scoring (16 points) for the fifth time in his career (9 games)
Tied his career high in FG made (6-of-10) and three-pointers made (4-of-5)
Topped the 20-point mark (25 points) for the first time this year and eighth time in his career (108 games)
Reached double figures in scoring for the sixth time this year and 49th time in his career
Set season highs in scoring, FG made (9-of-14) and three-pointers made (5-of-7) and tied his season high in minutes (35)
Recorded his third double-double (12 points, 13 rebounds) of the year and 16th of his career (111 games)
Reached double figures in scoring for the seventh time this season and 39th time in his career
Reached double figures in rebounds (13, one shy of career high) for the fifth time this season and 24th time in his career
Reached double figures in scoring (18 points) for the sixth time this season and 50th time in his career (68 games)
Tied his career high in three-pointers made (2-of-4)
Postgame Quotes
Texas Head Coach Shaka Smart
On win over UNC: Well we want our guys to play with no hesitation, and I think early in the year for a variety of reasons we had some avoidance. But, today I think we played loose and aggressive, and we weren't playing not to make a mistake, and it allowed our guys to make some shots. If we carry that over to the foul line, it would help a lot; but I am really proud of our guys.
On final shot of the game: You're in limbo. The coaches and I wanted to talk to our guys about what we were going to do if we went into overtime, but I do believe in the power of intention and I didn't want to intend that, so I didn't say anything. But we stayed confident that he made the shot and our guys stayed poised.
On Javon Felix: He has an un believable amount of fortitude and fight. I am really happy for him because he is a guy who, for whatever reason, lost a little bit of the passion for it, and even over the last eight months you wonder how does he feel about how things are going. He has been terrific since the beginning of the season and has been one of those guys trying to carry over what we're trying to implement.
On Isaiah Taylor: Well he's so fast, probably the fastest guy I've ever coached. But, it's a fine line because you want to use that speed but you can't be a great player playing at one speed. You have to be able to change speeds and you have to be able to play with poise. North Carolina did a god job of stepping in and taking two charges on him; and then when that happens, it can take you out of your aggressiveness mode and put him in foul trouble. He did a good job of playing with fouls for the middle part of the game. We told our guys to be aggressive from the start and not to wait until the middle of the game, but Isaiah Taylor did a nice job of getting in the paint. We did feel like pick-and-roll options were good for us and he was able to get in the paint a lot for us off of those.
On the communication on defense: Well it's amazing what you do when you have to do it. And again I think this is a classic example that you see all the time in sports of a team deciding winning the game is more important than any type of individual agenda we may have as players or coaches or whoever, so we are going to do everything that goes into winning and follow that process. Talking is a big part of that and talking has been one of those non-negotiable things during practice.
Junior Guard Isaiah Taylor
On the final minutes of the game: Coach had the confidence in me just to take the final shot. I took the shot with six seconds left on the clock. It floated in the air for about three or four seconds, and then came off the rim perfectly to Javan [Felix]. When he got it off, I thought it was good. I wasn't sure, but it was a good shot at the end. I think this was a great win for us and our university just to get us going into our conference.
On proving confidence to Coach: Yeah, I want to prove it to Coach, to the fans, to the University of Texas. We had a great fan showing today. I think this more reason for the fans to come out to the game. We need that energy inside the Frank Erwin Center. If we get this every game, it gives us a better chance at winning. We are a confident team and we believe in ourselves. Eric [Davis] and Javan [Felix] did a great job of getting shots today and really just keeping us in it. Cam [Cameron Ridley] did a great job on the boards. Conner [Lammert] and Prince [Ibeh] gave us great looks, too. So this win goes to my teammates.
Senior Guard Javan Felix
On the buzzer shot: I know I had it. When I started going to go get the ball, I noticed that I had 1.7 seconds left. I knew I had time to pick it up and get a shot off.
On beating a top three team: It means a lot because we work hard every day. We know how good we can be if we put everything together. We know we can match up against a lot of these teams that are praised and have these high ranks, but we are just going to keep working hard and do what we do. It's a really good game for us today, but we still have a lot of work to do.
On what's the difference from last year: Having that experience from last year, from losing these games, knowing we needed to do better, knowing what it takes, and having that little more push this year. It's our job to carry that on and give it to (freshmen) Eric [Davis, Jr.], Kerwin [Roach, Jr.], and Tevin [Mack], so they can follow along with us.
Freshman Guard Eric Davis, Jr.:
On mindset going into a big game like this: Just the same as any other game. I just wanted to contribute to the team either with defense or enthusiasm and maybe even scoring. It just happened to be one of those nights, I got lucky and hit some shots. I am happy about it, so I am looking forward to Tuesday night's game and getting better from here.
On his recruitment by Coach Smart: I think when he recruited me, it was more of a relationship thing, getting to know each other. That the biggest thing for me and him. And that's what I wanted. I wanted to know what type of person he was. He did a really good job of communicating with me. I got to know him really fast. I am glad I came.
On your role on the team: I am learning a lot form the older guys. They are setting a great example for me. It's just stays. I feel like that can helps us win so everybody needs to calm down. You need that one person that can calm everybody down to give everybody confidence. My teammates, they have the most confidence in me. Probably more than any other team I have experienced, so I give a lot of credit to my teammates for believing in me and setting me up in situations where I can prove to them.
North Carolina, Head Coach, Roy Williams
Opening statement: I have to congratulate Shaka and his team. This was a big time game, big time atmosphere, and they made the plays down the stretch. Their last four points were offensive rebounds their guards got. They out-rebounded us badly 36-27 and scored 21-points on offensive rebounds. As a team, I thought we battled and we need to practice in games how to not get into foul trouble and work on playing defense without fouling. [Javon] Felix is a big time player for them and that's a big moment for him, and you have to congratulate Shaka and his staff.
On play of team in loss: I think it was a high-level game. I think we scored those shots as well. They shot 47-percent and we shot 52-percent. That's just good basketball players making shots. We got shots, we didn't make enough.
On foul trouble: Isaiah [Hicks] did some good things but the biggest thing is rebounding the basketball. You can't rebound like that and expect to beat good teams. You have to have five guys boxing out and five guys rebounding.
On losing on the road: We have a bunch of kids that played last year, but that's so far in the past I don't even care about that. We have to focus on playing today. You have to play anywhere whether it's a barn, my place, your place you have to do the little things to win.
On Javan Felix: He's got the old-man YMCA game. That isn't a cut towards him. He knows I have great respect for his game. He had 13-points 5-of-7 from 3-point range and had the game-winning shot. I would like to have a bunch of old-men YMCA players on my team like that.
