Miami Bullies the Paint, Hands UNC a Wake-Up Call in Coral Gables
CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Hubert Davis saw it coming. The North Carolina head coach flagged Miami’s interior game as a major concern before the Tar Heels even stepped on the floor at the Watsco Center. Less than 24 hours later, that warning turned into reality.
Miami didn’t just test UNC in the paint - they dominated it, pouring in 46 points down low en route to a 75-66 win Tuesday night. That total matched the most points the Tar Heels have surrendered in the paint all season. And it wasn’t just a second-half surge - Miami set the tone early and never let up.
“They’ve got guys that can score in the post, guards that get downhill, lob threats - they’ve got the personnel to do it,” Davis said postgame. “And that’s exactly what they did.”
The Hurricanes wasted no time asserting themselves. In the first 8:04 of the game, they racked up 18 points in the paint - that’s a point every 26.9 seconds, for those keeping track. It was an offensive onslaught built on physicality, timing, and execution, and UNC simply couldn’t keep up.
North Carolina’s frontcourt duo of Henri Veesaar and Jarin Stevenson - the two bigs who logged the most minutes - both found themselves in foul trouble trying to contain Miami’s relentless attack. Each picked up four fouls, a clear sign of just how much pressure the Hurricanes were applying around the rim.
Miami finished the night shooting 19-for-26 at the rim, accounting for nearly 42% of their total shot attempts. That level of efficiency doesn’t happen by accident - it’s the product of smart play design and sharp execution, particularly in the pick-and-roll.
“That’s what they do every game,” Veesaar said. “We tried to take it away, but they did a really good job on ball screens.
They set good screens and made it a two-on-one. That’s hard to stop.”
Stevenson pointed to the rebounding battle as another key factor. Miami won the glass by six, and those extra possessions often led to second-chance points right at the rim.
“A lot of it came from messed-up switches or offensive rebounds,” Stevenson said. “Boxing out and cleaning that up is going to be huge for us going forward.”
To be clear, this wasn’t a failure of preparation - at least not in the eyes of the players. Veesaar was quick to credit the coaching staff for having the right game plan. The issue, he said, was execution.
“It’s on us,” Veesaar admitted. “We didn’t bring the aggressiveness or the ball pressure we needed.
I made a couple of mistakes, like stepping up too early. We’ve got to make them finish over us instead of giving up easy dunks.”
For a UNC team with big aspirations, this loss serves as a gut check. Miami didn’t just outscore the Tar Heels - they outworked them in the trenches. And in college basketball, especially come March, that’s where games are won and lost.
The blueprint to beat UNC - at least on this night - was simple: attack the paint, control the boards, and make the bigs uncomfortable. Miami executed it to perfection. Now, it’s on the Tar Heels to respond.