[NCAA] 20090207 Virginia at North Carolina - 엘링턴의 호조

[Flash_Melo_PsychoT]

 

올해의 선수 Tyler Hansbrough에게도 한계는 있다.

그리고 그럴 때 Wayne Ellington이 등장한다.

Ellington은 후반전에 자신의 20득점 가운데 12점을 득점하며 부진한 출발을 보인 North Carolina에게 76-71의 승리를 안겼다.

Hansbrough는 15득점과 13리바운드를 기록했지만 상대편의 존 디펜스에 고전하며 11개의 슛 가운데 4개를 성공하는데 그쳤다. Danny Green은 17점을 득점했고 Ty Lawson은 10득점과 9어시스트를 기록했다.

 

한편 여전히 사람들의 관심은 Hansbrough에게 향하지만 현재 이 팀의 얼굴은 Ellington이고 그의 활약은 최근에 팀에게 승리만을 안겨주고 있다. 시즌 초반 부진했지만 이 3년생 가드는 최근의 연승 기록 동안 4번이나 20득점 이상을 기록했다.

“Wayne과 Danny는 슛을 잘 들어가고 있다. 그들의 슛이 잘 들어갈 때 상대는 수비를 펼쳐서 모든 이들을 다 수비해야한다.”고 Hansbrough는 말했다.

컨퍼런스에서 가장 잘나가는 이 팀은 후반전 20분동안 50%의 야투 성공률을 보이고 전후반을 잇는 13분 동안 29대 11의 득점행진으로 전반전의 부진을 벗어났다.

"소중한 경험이었다. 모든 승리가 다 완벽하게 이루어지는 것은 아니다. 힘들게 얻은 승리였다.”고Ellington은 말했다.

그리고 다음 경기는 수요일에 펼쳐질 공동 선두이자 대학농구에서 가장 치열한 라이벌 관계인 Duke 와의 경기이다.

하지만 어느 누구도 그 경기에 대해 생각하고 있지 않은 듯했다.

"아직 수요일 경기에 대해 생각도 안 해봤다.”고 Ellington은 말했다.

Jeff Jones는 19점을 득점했지만 Viginia는 7연패를 기록하며 ACC와 공동 꼴찌로 떨어졌으며  Tobacco Road에서 7일만에 두번째 패배를 기록하게 됬다.

신입생 Sylven Landesberg은 16점을 기록했지만 North Carolina 수비에 의해 22분간 무득점으로 봉쇄당하기도 했다.

하지만 전반을 3분 48초 남겨둔 시점까지 24-23으로 추격하며 그들은 경기를 흥미롭게 만들었다.

하지만 그 때부터 Tar Heels는 점수차를 벌리기 시작했다 Ed Davis의 훅슛과 Ellington의 3점으로 득점행진이 시작됬다.

“우리는 수비의 빈틈을 발견했고 공을 잘 운반하기 시작했다. 모든 이들이 좋은 자리를 찾았으며 쉬운 득점을 하기 시작했다.”고 Hansbrough는 말했다.

그 이후 Lawson이 경기를 지배하며 골밑 돌파를 강하게 시도했고 두 개의 3점을 성공시키면서 11분을 남긴 상태에서 53대 34로 점수를 벌렸다. 그리고 Green의 레이업으로 6분을 남기고 점수를 20점차로 벌렸다.

 
Virginia는 이 곳에서 2002년 1월 이후 승리하지 못했으며 5위권 팀과의 원정경기 24연패를 기록했다.

Tar Heels는 한번도 뒤지지 않았지만 마치 Duke와의 경기에 더 맞춰진듯 플레이했다. 그들의 3명의 3점슛터가 터지기 전까지는 승리를 장담할 수 없었다.

"전반전은 이빨을 뽑는 것 같은 고통이었다. 수비는 잘했지만 슛이 들어가지 않았다.”고 Roy Williams 감독은 말했다.

"지난 경기처럼 많은 슛을 성공시키지는 못했지만 후반전에 우리는 슛들을 성공시켰다." 고 Ellington은 말했다.

 

AP

 

Even national player of the year Tyler Hansbrough has his limits.

That's where Wayne Ellington has been coming in for No. 3 North Carolina.

Ellington scored 12 of his 20 points in the second half of his latest big game, helping the Tar Heels shake off a sluggish start and beat Virginia 76-61 on Saturday for their seventh straight win.

Hansbrough had 15 points and 13 rebounds but was 4-for-11 shooting against a zone defense determined to make him a nonfactor. Danny Green added 17 points and Ty Lawson scored all 10 of his points during the game-breaking run while adding nine assists for the Tar Heels (21-2, 7-2).

And while most of the attention falls to Hansbrough, the current face of the program, Ellington's emergence has made the Tar Heels unbeatable lately. After a rough start to the season, the junior guard has scored at least 20 points four times during the winning streak - including a season-high 34 last time out against Maryland.

"Wayne, obviously, he's making shots, Danny Green's making shots. ... We've talked about it a lot, when they make shots, it's hard to put a lot of guys inside, and it makes the defense spread out and guard everybody," Hansbrough said.

The Atlantic Coast Conference's hottest team overcame a slow first half by shooting 50 percent in the final 20 minutes and outscoring the Cavaliers 29-11 during a 13-minute stretch that bridged halftime.

"It's an experience that we needed to have," Ellington said. "All games aren't won the pretty way where we're making shots and going up and down the floor. It was a grind-it-out type of game."

Next up: No. 4 Duke on Wednesday night in a matchup of the ACC's co-leaders and the latest renewal of college basketball's fiercest rivalry.

Not that anyone in powder blue would admit to peeking ahead.

"We're not even looking at Wednesday yet," Ellington said.

Jeff Jones scored 19 points to lead the Cavaliers (7-12, 1-7). They lost their seventh straight game, slipped into a tie for last in the ACC with Georgia Tech and absorbed their second lopsided loss on Tobacco Road in seven days. Duke beat them by 25 points on Feb. 1.

Freshman Sylven Landesberg scored 16 points on 6-of-16 shooting, and went roughly 22 minutes between field goals against the same North Carolina defense that last month held him to two points in a 22-point rout.

"We're not going to back down. We're going to keep fighting, keep playing our game and go after you," Landesberg said. "You have to have a short memory in this game."

This time, he was fouled while making a layup barely 5 minutes in, but missed the free throw that followed - and didn't score again until he hit a 3-pointer with 13:39 remaining.

Yet for a while, at least, he and the Cavaliers kept things interesting. They closed within 24-23 on Jones' goaltended layup with 3:48 before halftime.

That's when the Tar Heels finally got rolling. Ed Davis hit a hook shot on his next trip downcourt and Ellington followed that with a 3-pointer to start the decisive push.

"Once we saw some openings in the zone, we started moving the ball around a little bit better, everyone started making cuts to the right positions and we started getting some easy baskets," Hansbrough said.

Lawson then took over after the break, driving hard to the basket on consecutive possessions before knocking down two 3s 90 seconds apart, the second of which put North Carolina up 53-34 with 11 minutes left. Green gave the Tar Heels their first 20-point lead with a layup just inside the 6-minute mark.

"Usually, we make our runs in the second half, because we have to fight back from the first-half deficit," Landesberg said. "We played pretty well in the first half, but we let it get away in the second half."

Sammy Zeglinski added 11 points for Virginia, which was denied its first victory in Chapel Hill since January 2002 and lost its 24th straight game on a top-five team's home floor.

The Tar Heels never trailed, but at times they played like they were looking ahead to that meeting with the Blue Devils. They didn't come close to putting this one away until their top three outside threats got hot.

North Carolina hit a season-best 16 3-pointers last time out against Maryland. Ellington, Green and Lawson teamed to hit 24 of 37 shots in that rout - but they were a combined 3-for-15 at one early point against the zone.

And midway through the half, North Carolina went nearly 8 minutes between field goals by anyone other than Hansbrough.

"The first half was like pulling teeth," coach Roy Williams said. "I thought we were doing OK on the defensive end. We just couldn't make anything."

Ellington's 3-pointer 30 seconds after the break gave the Tar Heels their first double-figure lead, 36-25.

"We came out, we weren't making many shots - nothing like last game," Ellington said. "In the second half, we started making some shots."

AP