Winning games over the course of a long college basketball season requires teams, players, and coaches to employ differing approaches tailored to each specific situation that arises in the course of a game. Sometimes, those challenges are caused by an opponent's tendencies. Sometimes, the atmosphere and energy of the game is the culprit. And occasionally, it's both.
That was the case Friday at Gateway Christian Academy in Bimini, Bahamas. The Tar Heels, winners of each of their first four games of the season by at least 33 points, were locked in a battle with VCU. The reigning Atlantic 10 Conference champions had not only become the first team to hold a lead over Carolina at any juncture this season, but grabbed an advantage at 39-38 with 6:14 left in the third quarter.