North Carolina's Commitment to Defense Will Be Lynchpin of Its Title Chances

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — North Carolina beat UCLA 89-76 at the Barclays Center on Saturday, and the most popular storyline after the game wasn’t Brice Johnson’s 27 points or nine rebounds.

It was his potty mouth.

Upset with his performance early in the contest, Johnson uttered—OK, let’s make it screamed—an expletive that earned him a spot on the Tar Heels’ bench, where he stewed for nearly nine minutes before returning to help UNC erase an 11-point deficit in what turned out to be an easy victory at the CBS Sports Classic.

“Coach was really pissed about it,” said the 6’10” Johnson, whose profanity could be heard by fans seated near UNC’s bench. “He looked past me about four times (when subbing). It put a fire under my butt.”

Tar Heels coach Roy Williams may not have liked Johnson’s outburst.

Frank Franklin II/Associated Press

But I did.

I’m not suggesting it’s always OK for players to spew four-letter, earmuff words that can be heard in the stands. But in this case, I was good with it.

Talented and deep as they are, the one thing Williams’ teams often lack—and it’s been this way for years—is toughness. Sure, they play fast and score in bunches and attack on offense. But defensively they rarely have a presence—a nastiness and bravado that can make them elite on both ends of the court instead of only one.

“Defensively, when we’re locked in, we’re a different team,” point guard Marcus Paige said, and UCLA coach Steve Alford agreed.

“This is the best team, top to bottom, that we’ve played,” Alford said.

That’s a telling statement considering UCLA’s resume includes victories over Kentucky and Gonzaga and a loss to Kansas. But it’s certainly not bold. Alford, after all, saw the Tar Heels when they were at their best, even if it took a while for them to flip the switch Saturday.

UCLA jumped out to a 26-15 lead and made six of its first seven shots from beyond the arc. At one point the Bruins were shooting 61 percent from the field overall. While Johnson was cursing on the court, you can bet plenty of North Carolina fans were doing the same thing in their living rooms while watching the game at home.

“We started the game so sluggish,” Paige said. “[UCLA] traveled all the way across the country. We’re just flying up from North Carolina. You’d think we’d have the advantage of being ready to play and smacking them in the mouth.”

Eventually the Tar Heels did exactly that to the Bruins, and perhaps it’s no coincidence that the intensity picked up once Williams re-inserted Johnson with UNC trailing 28-19 at the 8:07 mark of the first half.

Johnson, who was scoreless at the time, racked up 13 points before intermission to help his team force a 38-38 tie. The senior forward was a catalyst in the second half, too, when North Carolina led by as many as 17 points, thanks largely to its defense and hustle.

The Bruins shot just 41 percent over the final 20 minutes and were only 2-of-7 from three-point range during that stretch. For the game UNC forced 17 UCLA turnovers and turned them into 24 points.

“Defensively,” Williams said, “we don’t have the lockdown defenders that we’ve had in the past. It’s got to be more of a team effort like it was tonight.”

What’s frustrating to Williams is that defensive performances like Saturday’s aren’t occurring on a more consistent basis. The Tar Heels were physically manhandled in a rather surprising 84-82 loss to a mediocre Texas squad in Austin on Dec. 12. Texas outscored UNC 21-7 on second-chance points while winning the rebounding battle 36-27. The Tar Heels grabbed just four offensive boards in the setback—an all-time low for a Williams-coached UNC team.

	Opp FG %	Turnovers Forced (Avg.)	Rebounding Margin (Avg.)
In 9 wins	.417	14.1	+11.6
In 2 losses	.444	7.0	+4

Most disappointing to Williams was that the Tar Heels couldn’t get stops in crucial moments. Texas guard Javan Felix swished the game-winner as the play clock expired.

“They scored the last two points of the first half with less than a second to play,” Williams said, “and the last two points of the game with less than one-tenth of a second to play. You take those baskets away and everyone would be fat and happy right now.”

Perhaps, although North Carolina also failed to buckle down defensively in a shocking setback at Northern Iowa. Even without leading scorer Paige, who missed the contest with an injury, there’s no way a UNC team that’s been ranked as high as No. 1 should lose that game.

No team in the country boasts an offensive attack as lethal as North Carolina. While Paige, a senior, has been one of college basketball’s top scoring threats for more than two years, it’s the improvement of players such as guard Joel Berry, Justin Jackson and Kennedy Meeks (who is currently out with a knee injury) that has taken the Tar Heels to another level.

Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

“I can’t think of many times where our offense has stalled to the point where it’s hurt us,” Paige said. “This year, you hear less of, ‘If Marcus struggles, Carolina’s offense will struggle.’ We’ve got too many guys who can score, too many shooters, too many good inside players.”

No Tar Heel has been as hot lately as Johnson, who went 11-of-12 from the field in Saturday’s 27-point effort, which came just three days after he scored 25 points on 11-of-17 shooting in a win over Tulane. Even more importantly, Johnson displayed a rare burst of energy and hustle on the defensive end of the court.

“I almost hugged him and kissed him one time until I realized who it was,” Williams said.

Frank Franklin II/Associated Press

Former Tar Heel standout Eric Montross said he couldn’t have been more impressed with UNC’s intensity Saturday—especially in the second half.

“There’s no question that the strength and potential of this team lies with its defense,” said Montross, now the color analyst for the Tar Heel Sports Network. “When the defense creates their offense, that’s when they’re the most potent.”

That was obvious against red-hot UCLA on Saturday, when North Carolina increased its intensity and turned a close game into a lopsided win. It also made the biggest difference in an 89-81 home win against then-No. 2 Maryland, when UNC forced 22 turnovers.

And moving forward, North Carolina’s defense will likely determine whether the Tar Heels win the ACC title and contend for a national championship like so many pundits expect—or flop in the second or third round against a team that prides itself in the brand of toughness UNC has only shown in spurts. 

“If we can somehow extend it to as close to 40 minutes as possible and stay locked in,” Paige said, “I don’t think anybody is better than us.”

Jason King covers college sports for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JasonKingBR.