LAHAINA >> A last-second shot denied North Carolina a national championship in April. The Tar Heels made sure it didn’t come down to that on a smaller stage in November.
Fourth-ranked Carolina rolled past No. 16 Wisconsin to the 2016 Maui Jim Maui Invitational title, 71-56, at a packed Lahaina Civic Center on Wednesday night. It was the Heels’ fourth banner on the Valley Isle, second only to nemesis Duke’s five. The Tar Heels have more wins here than anybody at 18-3.
Senior point guard Joel Berry II scored 22 points on 9-for-12 shooting and locked down his Wisconsin counterpart, Bronson Koenig, at the other end en route to tournament MVP honors. He extended the tradition of Carolina floor generals winning Maui’s top individual honor; Ty Lawson took it in 2008 and Raymond Felton in 2004.
Both those years, UNC claimed Maui and went on to win the national title in the spring. Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams was well aware of that fact.
“It remains to be seen,” he said of replicating it.
As well as his team played defensively — it held Wisconsin to 38.2 percent shooting and the lowest point total in 33 Maui championship games — Williams knows there’s room for improvement, especially on the offensive end, and in consistency. UNC (7-0) looked dreadful at times in its 83-68 win at Hawaii last Friday, then rebounded with three closer-to-normal performances in three straight days.
“I’m not gonna go out and make my reservations for the Final Four. I don’t even know where the hell it is,” Williams said. “I’ve never seen a national championship won the day before Thanksgiving. It’s usually won on that first Monday night in April.”
Center Kennedy Meeks had a double-double by halftime and finished with 15 points and a career-high 16 rebounds to join Berry on the all-tournament team. Wisconsin forward Ethan Happ, Oklahoma State guard Jawun Evans, UConn guard Jalen Adams and Chaminade guard Rohndell Goodwin rounded out the team.
Berry harassed Koenig into 1-for-13 shooting and one assist to three turnovers. Berry himself was about that bad at UH, 1-for-9 with four turnovers.
“Honestly just being more involved in the game,” Berry said of what changed. “Over in Honolulu, I didn’t even feel like myself on the defensive end, and usually that’s what gets me going. So I tried to do a great job on Bronson tonight. I wasn’t worried about anything else but playing defense on him and trying to stop him, because he was their best player.”
Meeks established a physical tone inside against a team used to grinding out games. Wisconsin opened the game shooting 0-for-11 and was scoreless for the first seven-plus minutes, resulting in a 20-point first half.
“Having played them before, several times, this may be their best defensive team we’ve played against,” Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said.
After Nigel Hayes hit a 3 to cut it to its closest in the second, 33-27, Carolina extended it to double figures for good with a 14-2 run. Meeks capped the spurt by scrapping for a putback bucket, and-1.
“It’s a grown man’s game,” Meeks said of his coach’s emphasis. “We took that seriously.”
Forward Isaiah Hicks added 14 points and wing Justin Jackson 12, putting him over the 1,000-point career threshold.
