The Terriers were 0-22 against ranked teams prior to their win over No. 5 UNC Wednesday night.
Andy Katz | NCAA.com Correspondent
Mike Young has coached for 29 seasons at Wofford College for moments like Wednesday night.
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Wofford is Young’s home, a liberal arts school established in 1854, with enrollment this fall of just 1,683. Spartanburg, S.C., with its history dating back to the American Revolution, is where Young has spent his adult life. Coaching — for 13 seasons as an assistant, the last 16 as head coach — at Wofford runs through his blood stream.
He bleeds black and gold.
“I love this place,’’ Young told NCAA.com. “I love the kids. I love the people we have an opportunity to recruit. The high character. They’re fun to coach. And they all graduate. I love Spartanburg. My wife has a great job at Pricewaterhouse. It’s home. It’s what we have built. I’m proud of that. And I believe we can make it better and better. That’s why I have stayed.’’
Wofford’s historic win over No. 5 North Carolina on the defending national champions home court will forever be a moment he will cherish.
But it won’t define him or the program.
This was, after all, a regular-season game on Dec. 20. The holy grail has been and will always remain, winning the Southern Conference tournament and earning an NCAA tournament berth.
He’s done that four times in a six-year span from 2010-2015. However, each year the Terriers have made the tournament, they have yet to play spoiler and advance past the first round.
But, wow, how sweet was this for him.
“Surreal,’’ Young told NCAA.com by phone as he left the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, N.C., late Wednesday night. “This is the North Carolina Tar Heels. This is Chapel Hill. This was the holiday season and not your typical mid-week crowd. But it wasn’t like we hit a buzzer beater. We were up 14 in the second half. We rebounded. We defended. We did all the things you need to do to go anywhere and win.’’
Wofford did it all in the 79-75 win. The Terriers were led by junior guard Fletcher Magee, who scored 27 points. Junior forward Cameron Jackson scored 18 and grabbed nine boards. Wofford forced 14 Carolina turnovers to its 10. The Tar Heels shot just 28 percent on 3s. This was no fluke of a win. Wofford outplayed North Carolina. Of course, play it again, and again and again, go best of three, five or seven and UNC probably wins the majority of games, if not all the others.
But not Wednesday.
When you beat the #5 UNC Tar Heels on the road... pic.twitter.com/JBCLdHa94K — Wofford Basketball (@WoffordMBB) December 21, 2017
“It’s not just any regular-season win,’’ said Young. “It’s North Carolina. You’ve seen them. They’re good, they’re really good.’’
Pitt transfer Cameron Johnson made his debut for North Carolina. He played 17 minutes off the bench. He scored 10 but was 1-of-5, all on 3s.
“They can still have a special year,’’ said Young of the Tar Heels, who got production out of Joel Berry II (23) and Luke Maye (17) but that was about it. “I grew up a North Carolina fan. I have so much respect for coach (Roy) Williams and this school and this basketball program — arguably the most storied in the country.’’
Teams outside of the power conferences have done this plenty, as recently as Fort Wayne going into Indiana this week and beating the Hoosiers just after they beat Notre Dame.
How does a team pull it off when they are supposedly lacking comparable talent, resources and have to play on the road?
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“You have to have a level of toughness and a level of resolve,’’ said Young. “You have to come onto the floor knowing what you have to do to succeed and adhere to those things. And if you do, we should win the basketball game.’’
Shockingly, this was not one-way buy game, either.
Young said this is a two-for-one deal with North Carolina going to Wofford’s new arena in 2018 before Wofford returns the game in 2019. The Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium opened on Nov. 10 against South Carolina. Gamecocks coach Frank Martin had agreed to open the arena, fresh off taking the Gamecocks to the Final Four last April.
Wofford had the same deal with Georgia Tech as it has with UNC, beating the Yellow Jackets earlier this season at home on the back end of the two-for-one with them after the first two games in the series were in Atlanta.
And this isn’t totally out of character for Wofford to beat power schools, having knocked off Purdue, Virginia Tech, NC State, Clemson and Cincinnati in its past.
The win over NC State was the last game for the Wolfpack in Reynolds Coliseum on Dec. 4, 2014. The Terriers beat Clemson on Nov. 21, 1999. The win over Purdue was Dec. 19, 2007. The Boilermakers weren’t ranked at the time but did finish the season in the top 25. The win over Virginia Tech was Dec. 2, 2002. The 91-90 triumph against the Bearcats came on Nov. 21, 2006.
The respect for Wofford's program runs deep.
"On the offensive end (Young) gets his players to cut so hard and read so well off all multiple different staggered screens that they run," Mercer coach Bob Hoffman told NCAA.com. "He uses his players strengths exceptionally well. They run so many different endings to the same look it's hard to prepare for. He has always had a least one guy that was almost unguardable shooting the ball.
On the defensive end, they have a certain defensive system and stay to their principles well. He's a tough minded coach and they are a beast to prepare for. I have the utmost respect for him and his coaching. He does everything right. The way college basketball should be."
Now, Wofford was 0-22 against ranked teams prior to this win. So there’s that.
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But the Southern Conference is no stranger this season to knocking off “brand” name teams or giving them a major scare.
East Tennessee State was up 22 on Xavier in the second half last Saturday before losing.
Furman was tied with Tennessee with a minute left Wednesday before losing in Knoxville.
Mercer, then a member of the Atlantic Sun but now in the Southern Conference, did beat Duke in the 2014 NCAA tournament first round in Raleigh.
And there was that former member, Davidson, and a player named Steph Curry, who had quite a run for the Southern Conference. Davidson reached the Elite Eight in 2008, but surprisingly the wins weren't against any team ranked as high as UNC Wednesday, beating No. 24 Gonzaga, No. 8 Georgetown and No. 6 Wisconsin. The only other ranked wins for the league were College of Charleston beating then No. 21 Baylor in 2012 and No. 9 North Carolina in 2010 and Davidson knocking off No. 12 Kansas in 2011.
Oh, and in addition to Wofford beating Georgia Tech this season, UNC Greensboro beat NC State in Raleigh last Saturday.
So now what? Does this win go in the archives, into a trophy case with framed photos but doesn’t amount to much in March?
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The Southern, as you see above, is no joke and the 8-4 Terriers will have a hard time winning the league or the automatic qualifier with four other teams mentioned above (Mercer, ETSU, UNCG and Furman) all having an equal shot.
“This is certainly a great win for us and a step ahead for us,’’ said Young. “We’ve got a lot of work to do. The first two weeks of the season we were nothing to write home about (losing to South Carolina, at Cal, at Texas Tech and at UNC Asheville). I see us getting better and understanding and believing we have a shot. But we can win the league, absolutely.’’
Young, 54, will savior every last second of this one, though.
“There’s nothing like winning our conference championship and playing in the NCAA tournament,’’ said Young. “That’s the ultimate. But this is a surreal moment for us and I’m so proud of our team.’’
Aaron Beard | The Associated Press
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Fletcher Magee scored 27 points to help Wofford stun No. 5 North Carolina 79-75 on Wednesday night, snapping the reigning national champion's 23-game home winning streak.
The Terriers (8-4) led the entire second half and by as many as 14 points before holding off UNC's late-game run for a huge road win and their first win over a ranked team in 23 games.
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The Tar Heels (10-2) got within a point twice and missed four 3-pointers for the tie in the final six minutes. But they never could overtake the Terriers, who played confidently and kept counter-punching every time UNC made a run.
The Terriers closed it out with four straight free throws in the final 15.2 seconds to seal it, then mobbed each other at midcourt as the horn sounded and the Tar Heels headed to the locker room.
When you beat a Top-25 program FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SCHOOL HISTORY!!!#Wofford #ConquerAndPrevail pic.twitter.com/k5iUDLwB57 — Wofford Athletics (@WoffordTerriers) December 21, 2017
Joel Berry II scored 23 points to lead UNC, which suffered its first loss to an unranked team while ranked in the top five since falling to Boston College in January 2009.
Big picture
Wofford: The Terriers were picked to finish sixth in the Southern Conference. But Magee and the Terriers closed the first half on an 8-0 run to take a 34-33 lead, then made 10 of 15 shots out of the break to steal momentum and put UNC in catch-up mode. More importantly, they never folded even as the Tar Heels kept inching closer and closer.
UNC: This wasn't the way the Tar Heels wanted to follow a tough weekend road win at No. 21 Tennessee. They were often sloppy with the ball, spent much of the game missing shots and struggling to get consistent defensive stops. Luke Maye struggled offensively (17 points on 4-for-16 shooting) and UNC finished the game shooting just 36 percent.
Wofford pulled off the biggest upset of the season Wednesday, topping fifth-ranked North Carolina 79-75 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, as 25.5-point underdogs.
The landmark victory is the Terriers' biggest in program history, as it is their first-ever win over an Associated Press Top 25 opponent. It's also the best win of the season, according to KPI and KenPom.
Wofford’s win at North Carolina tonight is worth +1.05 in KPI, making it the best win by any team so far this season. — KPI Sports (@KPIsports) December 21, 2017
"You come in here and see all these banners, you better believe you can play," coach Mike Young said in a postgame interview on ESPN. "Awfully proud of these guys. This is a terrific win, it'll make the Christmas holiday more enjoyable."
Wofford led by as many as 14 points in the second half before the reigning national champion Tar Heels stormed back to close it within one possession. UNC couldn't completely close the gap as Fletcher Magee found his stroke and refused to let his Terriers fall.
Magee finished with 27 points on 10-of-23 shooting, including four 3-pointers, and committed zero turnovers despite playing a team-high 39 minutes. He overshadowed -- and spoiled -- the highly anticipated season debut of North Carolina wing Cam Johnson, who finished with 10 points and three rebounds in his first game after transferring from Pitt last season.
"Needless to say Fletcher hit some big shots for us," Young said. "We had a lot of guys play well."
After jumping out to a rocky start to the season, Wofford has found its groove of late. The victory over UNC on Wednesday is the second ACC win for the Terriers this season after their triumph two weeks ago over Georgia Tech, the second game of what is now a five-game winning streak.
Wofford was picked to finish in the middle of the pack by the media and coaches in the Southern Conference this season, but the Terriers are rolling and coming off the biggest win in program history before league play begins Dec. 30 against UNC Greensboro.
The No. 5 North Carolina Tar Heels suffered a rare loss at the Dean Smith Center, falling 79-75 to the Wofford Terriers on Wednesday night to snap a 23-game home winning streak.
Fletcher Magee scored 27 in the win, including 4-for-13 from three-point range, to lead Wofford in its fifth straight victory. Cameron Jackson added 18 points and nine rebounds in the win.
The Tar Heels’ last home loss was to Duke on Feb. 17, 2016. This was North Carolina’s first home loss to a nonconference team since falling to Iowa on Feb. 3, 2014, snapping a 22-game home streak against non-ACC foes.
It was the first win for Wofford against an AP top-25 opponent.
When you beat a Top-25 program FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SCHOOL HISTORY!!!#Wofford #ConquerAndPrevail pic.twitter.com/k5iUDLwB57 — Wofford Athletics (@WoffordTerriers) December 21, 2017
North Carolina (10-2) led by as many as seven points in the first half, but Wofford (8-4) used a 13-0 run to close out the first half and open the second half to seize the game. Wofford held the Tar Heels to 35.7-percent shooting from the field.
The Terriers led by as many as 13 with 12:26 remaining but the Tar Heels closed the gap to one point with 1:22 left in the game. UNC took 38 free throws in the game compared to 18 for Wofford, but the Tar Heels missed 10 of them (73.7%).
Joel Berry scored 23 points for North Carolina in defeat, while Luke Maye added 17 points and 14 rebounds.
