That sense of the dramatic may have been initiated in Chapel Hill by the 1957 national champions, but it was perfected by Coach Dean Smith. What Tar Heel follower could ever forget Walter Davis's 28-foot prayer against Duke in 1974; or the 20-point comeback against Wake Forest in 1992; or George Lynch's steal and dunk to overcome a 21-point deficit against Florida State in 1993.

How many Carolina fans remember that in the last four wins of the 1993 NCAA title drive, the Tar Heels trailed by at least double digits in all four contests; or the 1995-96 season in which Carolina rallied to beat Wake Forest and Duke in a span of four days despite a second-half deficit of 18 points to the Deacons and a 17-point, late first-half deficit against the Devils.

As shocking as those comebacks seemed to be at the time, they simply are added chapters to the great comeback story authored for so many years by Coach Smith's Carolina teams. His teams revel in the challenge of a game many observers would be too quick to call lost. The poise, discipline and belief in each other which have been the calling card of UNC teams for the past 35 years, manifest themselves in such situations.

Last year, Dean Smith turned the program, and Carolina's calling card for late-game success, over to Bill Guthridge. The Tar Heels won four of a school-record five overtime games, including a 107-100, double overtime win at Georgia Tech, and overtime wins in the ACC Tournament semifinal and NCAA Tournament second round.

Detailed below in chronological order are some of the classic comebacks, last-second thrillers and fantastic finishes in Tar Heel history.

1957 Season
In Carolina's incredible 32-0 national championship season, the Tar Heels had to pull out several thrillers to preserve their perfect record. In the fourth game of the season, South Carolina took the Heels to overtime in Columbia before UNC prevailed, 90-86. The 17th win was a double-overtime contest, this time against Maryland in College Park. The Tar Heels trailed by four with just two minutes left in regulation before emerging as the 65-61 victors. The next game was at home in Woollen Gym against Duke, and the score was tied with a minute to play. Tommy Kearns' free throws provided the winning margin in the 18th consecutive win, 75-73. The 23rd win was one of Carolina's many battles with Wake Forest that season. Trailing by four with just three minutes remaining in Winston-Salem, the Tar Heels pulled out a 69-64 win. Only three games later, the Heels met the Deacons again in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament semifinals in Raleigh. Carolina trailed with less than a minute left, but squeaked out a 61-59 win for its fourth victory over Wake Forest of the 1956-57 season. In the NCAA Tournament, the close contests continued. In the national semifinals, the Spartans of Michigan State went three overtime periods with Carolina before falling, 74-70. Pete Brennan hit a jump shot with only three seconds left in double overtime to force the third extra frame. The NCAA championship game began with 5-11 Tommy Kearns jumping center against 7-1 Wilt Chamberlain of the Kansas Jayhawks and ended in an epic battle that went three overtimes. Tar Heel star Lennie Rosenbluth fouled out of his last college game in regulation, but the rest of the team picked up the slack. Joe Quigg hit two free throws with only six seconds remaining in the final overtime period to give Carolina a 54-53 win.

January 4, 1967
Playing in Winston-Salem, Carolina was engaged in one of its many classic battles with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. It seemed as though this was the Deacons' game to win, however, when Tom Gauntlett missed a 23-foot jumper with 15 seconds left that would have tied the game for Carolina. But the Tar Heels' Rusty Clark was there for the tip-in and the score stood at 74-74. Wake Forest brought the ball upcourt for its game-winning attempt, but Larry Miller came up with a steal at halfcourt. Miller drove to the basket, made an off-balance layup and just kept on running straight to the Carolina locker room. The Tar Heels ran out of Winston-Salem with another last-second victory, 76-74.

December 29, 1967
In the semifinals of the Far West Classic in Portland, Ore., Carolina faced unbeaten Utah. The Utes sprinted out to a 54-41 halftime lead and, with 14:34 left in the contest, they had extended their lead to 67-50. But, led by Charlie Scott and Larry Miller, the Tar Heels staged a furious comeback. With just two minutes left, Dick Grubar scored his first basket of the game and tied the score at 82-82. Then, with the score tied at 84 apiece, Scott hit the game-winning shot with eight seconds to go. Both Scott and Miller finished with 24 points, and Carolina went on to defeat Oregon State the following day to win the tournament title.

March 8, 1969
On this day it was Charlie Scott who provided the heroics in Carolina's ACC Tournament championship win over Duke in Charlotte. Dick Grubar missed most of the game with a knee injury and Bill Bunting played only sparingly before fouling out with 9:26 left. The Tar Heels trailed by nine at the half before Scott put on one of the greatest individual performances in Carolina history in the second 20 minutes. He connected on 12 of his 13 second-half field goal attempts, many of which were long jumpers, and scored 28 points in the half. Scott's game-high 40 points led the Tar Heels to a come-from-behind 85-74 win and their third consecutive ACC crown.

March 15, 1969
A week later, Scott again put on one of his amazing performances, almost single-handedly carrying the Tar Heels to victory. This time the opponent was Davidson and the setting was the NCAA East Regional final in College Park, Md. Scott was dazzling in the second half, connecting on 10 of 14 field goal attempts. Dick Grubar was out of action with a knee injury, but Carolina stayed close. Davidson had the ball with 1:05 remaining, and the score tied, 85-85. Gerald Tuttle drew a charge for the Tar Heels, setting up the final possession of the game. Carolina ran a play for Scott, who took the ball at the top of the key, soared above a defender and launched a 20-footer with three seconds left. The ball sailed through the hoop, the buzzer sounded and the Heels were off to their third-consecutive Final Four.

January 19, 1974
In a vintage Carolina-Duke hardcourt battle, the Tar Heels defeated the Blue Devils on another last-second shot at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham. After the Tar Heels had rallied to tie the score at 71-71, Duke had the ball at halfcourt with four seconds left. But Bobby Jones stole the inbounds pass and hit a spinning, off-balance layup with one second left to give Carolina a 73-71 win.

March 2, 1974
In perhaps the most famous comeback in college basketball history, the Tar Heels rallied from eight points down with 17 seconds remaining against Duke to force overtime at Carmichael Auditorium. Trailing 86-78, Bobby Jones connected on both ends of a one-and-one with just 17 ticks left on the clock. John Kuester cut the deficit to four with a layup when Duke threw away the inbounds pass, but there were still just 13 seconds left. Again, the Blue Devils lost the inbounds pass. Jones then cut the Duke lead to two on a put-back of an Ed Stahl miss. Six seconds remained. With four seconds left, the Tar Heels fouled Pete Kramer, who missed the front end of the one-and-one. Stahl grabbed the rebound and called a timeout with but three ticks left. Mitch Kupchak inbounded the ball to Walter Davis, who launched a 28-foot prayer as time expired. The prayer was answered as Davis' shot kissed off the glass to tie the score at 86-86. Carmichael Auditorium erupted and Carolina went on to win 96-92 in overtime.

March 6, 1975
In the opening round of the ACC Tournament in Greensboro, Carolina trailed Wake Forest 90-82 with only 50 seconds remaining. A 20-footer by Phil Ford cut the deficit to six with 43 ticks left. After the Demon Deacons turned the ball over in their delay offense, Mitch Kupchak scored on a drive to the hoop to pull the Tar Heels within four with 34 seconds to go. Wake Forest's inbounds pass grazed the scoreboard, turning the ball over to Carolina. Walter Davis quickly capitalized on the mistake, making the score 90-88 with 29 seconds left. Two Deacons failed to convert their one-and-one opportunities and Carolina called timeout with nine seconds on the clock. Brad Hoffman drove the baseline and nailed a 12-footer to tie the game with two seconds left. The Tar Heels pulled out the 101-100 win in overtime and went on to capture the ACC title two days later.

January 17, 1979
Playing at Reynolds Coliseum on the campus of N.C. State, it looked as though the Tar Heels would finally have the tables turned against them. Carolina charged out to a 40-19 halftime lead and was seemingly in control of the game. With 10:30 to play, the Heels still led by 17, but then the Wolfpack hit a torrid streak. State had cut the Carolina lead to three with 43 seconds to play when Hawkeye Whitney went to the line for the Wolfpack. At the same time, Carolina's Jimmy Black was whistled for a technical foul and Whitney hit two of the three free throws to cut the Wolfpack's deficit to one. After the inbounds play, Kenny Matthews hit a long-range jumper with 32 seconds left that gave State a 69-68 lead. Reynolds erupted. Carolina tried to regain the lead, but Dudley Bradley missed a long jump shot and State grabbed the rebound with 16 seconds left. Reynolds celebrated. But Bradley atoned for his miss when he stole the ball from State's Clyde Austin at midcourt and drove in for the game-winning dunk. A Wolfpack desperation shot bounded off the glass and Carolina escaped with a 70-69 triumph.

November 30, 1982
Coming off their 1982 national championship, the Tar Heels had opened the season with losses to St. John's and Missouri before returning to Carmichael for the home opener. The opponent was the Green Wave of Tulane, which had taken Carolina to the wire several times over the years. With the score tied at 49-49, Tulane's John Williams hit a layup with 1:29 remaining to put the Wave up by two. With just 36 seconds left, Michael Jordan scored on an offensive rebound to tie the game. But with eight seconds left, Williams made two free throws to give Tulane a 53-51 edge. Jordan was whistled for an offensive foul with four seconds remaining, and it appeared the Heels would start a season with three successive losses for the first time since 1928-29. However, Jordan came up with the Green Wave's inbounds pass and hit a spinning 24-foot prayer at the buzzer to tie the game. Carolina finally prevailed, 70-68, after three thrilling overtime periods.

February 10, 1983
Carolina trailed Ralph Sampson and second-ranked Virginia by as many as 16 points in the second half and was down 63-53 with just 4:12 left on the clock. Jimmy Braddock hit a long three-pointer from the right side to cut the margin to seven, and Matt Doherty made both ends of a one-and-one to close the gap to five. Sam Perkins also converted his one-and-one to trim the Cavalier lead to 63-60 with 2:54 remaining. Terry Holland then had Virginia stall and Perkins was forced to foul Sampson with 1:20 left. The All-America center missed the front end of his one-and-one and Michael Jordan proceeded to take over the game. Braddock missed a three-pointer, but Jordan was there to put in the rebound. As Rick Carlisle dribbled the ball upcourt for the Cavaliers, Jordan stole it and slammed it home for a 64-63 Tar Heel lead. Carlisle missed a potential game-winning shot and Jordan grabbed the rebound to seal the win as Carmichael exploded in celebration.

January 9, 1985
Late in Lefty Driesell's career at College Park, Maryland seemed poised to knock off Carolina at Carmichael Auditorium. The Terps led 72-69 with only 23 seconds left and star guard Keith Gatlin on the line for a one-and-one opportunity. The 83 percent foul shooter missed the front end and Kenny Smith rushed upcourt and sank a jump shot with 16 seconds left. Steve Hale fouled Adrian Branch, a 78-percent free-throw shooter, on the inbounds pass. Branch also missed. Dave Popson provided the winning points with a high-arcing jumper over Maryland defender Derrick Lewis from 16 feet away. The swish at 0:09 gave the Tar Heels a 73-72 lead. Curtis Hunter's steal and free throws secured the win as Carolina prevailed, 75-74.

March 16, 1985
In the second round of the NCAA Tournament, the higher-seeded Tar Heels played Notre Dame at South Bend. The score was tied 58-58 with 1:38 to go when the Irish's Donald Royal went to the foul stripe. Royal missed, but Jim Dolan grabbed the rebound and the Irish decided to hold for the last shot. As the clock wound down, point guard David Rivers lost control of the ball, enabling Carolina's Curtis Hunter to scoop it up and make a lead pass to Kenny Smith. Smith slammed it home for the game-winning shot and then stole the inbounds pass to seal the win.

November 21, 1987
Carolina was pitted against top-ranked Syracuse in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic at Springfield, Mass. Playing without standouts J.R. Reid and Steve Bucknall, the Tar Heels seemingly were undermanned against the powerful Orangemen, who a season earlier were NCAA finalists. Indeed, with 15:39 left in the game, Syracuse had built a 14-point lead. But Carolina stormed back, and Syracuse led only 85-83 when the Tar Heels had the last possession of regulation. Freshman Pete Chilcutt hit a rim-rattling, turnaround jumper at the horn to send the game to overtime. Carolina prevailed, 96-93, in the extra session to complete the upset of the Orangemen.

November 24, 1989
In Carolina's season opener against James Madison at the Maui Classic, the Tar Heels trailed, 79-70, with less than a minute to play. Rick Fox started the Carolina surge with a rebound basket with 51 seconds remaining. Hubert Davis stole the ball three seconds later and canned a three-pointer to cut the margin to 79-75. The Dukes' Billy Coles missed the front end of a one-and-one with 18 seconds left and Pete Chilcutt drilled a trey to cut the deficit to one with 10 ticks remaining. Steve Hood also missed a one-and-one attempt for James Madison, but Jeff Denny's pass upcourt was stolen by the Dukes' William Davis. However, Davis stepped out of bounds, giving Carolina one last shot. King Rice threw up an off-balance runner from the top of the key and the ball banked high off the glass and in as the buzzer sounded. Final score, 80-79 Carolina. It was not the first time James Madison coach Lefty Driesell had been the victim of a Tar Heel miracle.

March 17, 1990
Facing the top-ranked team in the country in the NCAA Tournament second round, Carolina was in jeopardy of not advancing to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1980. The Tar Heels trailed the Oklahoma Sooners, 74-73, with 55 seconds to play when Rick Fox nailed a three-pointer from 25 feet away with the shot clock winding down. The Sooners countered with a conventional three-point play and led, 77-76, when King Rice was fouled with 10 seconds left. Rice hit the first shot, but missed the second. The rebound hit off the Sooners out-of-bounds and Carolina had the ball with eight seconds to go and a 77-77 score. Fox took a pass from Hubert Davis and drove the right baseline. His kiss off the glass as the buzzer sounded gave the Tar Heels a 79-77 win and a 10th consecutive Final 16 berth.

January 12, 1991
Carolina engaged the Cavaliers of Virginia in a classic battle in Charlottesville, but the game became a one-on-one contest between point guards King Rice and John Crotty at crunch time. Trailing 69-64 with 2:10 left in regulation, the Heels came back and tied the score at 71 on Rice's drive with 31 seconds left. Virginia trailed, 78-75, in the first overtime when Crotty hit a three-pointer with 12 seconds left to play to force a second extra session. With Carolina leading 86-84 in the second overtime, Crotty evened the score with a pair of free throws at 0:26. But Rice came back and rattled in a shot over Crotty with one second left, capping another UNC last-second win.

February 8, 1992
Just three days after knocking off top-ranked Duke, Carolina rallied from 22 points behind to defeat Wake Forest, 80-78, on Brian Reese's jumper at the buzzer in Chapel Hill. The comeback was the biggest in terms of point deficit (22) in Tar Heel history. Despite making several mini-runs to cut that 22-point first-half deficit, UNC was behind by 20 with 14:49 to play and still trailed by 11 with 6:17 to go. The Tar Heels then went on a 10-0 run to cut the Demon Deacon lead to 75-74. Then, with 38 seconds remaining, Pat Sullivan tied the game at 78 with a pair of free throws n his only shots of the game. Reese came up with a steal that set up one final possession for Carolina with 16 seconds to go. After a timeout, Reese drove the lane and misfired off the front rim. But he followed his shot, grabbed his own rebound and launched a swish at the buzzer from 12 feet away to give the Heels an improbable 80-78 win. The final score was Carolina's first lead since Reese had nailed a three-pointer to put UNC up 3-2.

JANUARY 27, 1993
One of the most memorable second-half comebacks in Carolina history came against Florida State on January 27, 1993. Seminole head coach Pat Kennedy spent the pregame browsing through the Carolina media guide, reading about the great Tar Heel comebacks of the past. Kennedy surely was unaware that his team would soon become another chapter in that storied history.

Florida State jumped out to a 45-28 advantage at the half and extended the lead to as many as 21 points in the second stanza. With under nine minutes to go, Carolina still trailed, 73-54. Spurred by pressure defense and long-range shooting, the Heels ran off 15 straight points to cut the deficit to four. Later, an Eric Montross jump hook with 1:59 left cut the FSU lead to 77-76. Then, in a play reminiscent of a Michael Jordan exploit against Virginia 10 years earlier, George Lynch stole a Charlie Ward crosscourt heave at midcourt and slammed the ball home to give Carolina a 78-77 lead. Clutch foul shooting by Donald Williams sealed the 82-77 victory. The Tar Heels had amazingly outscored the Seminoles 28-4 over the last nine minutes to end the game.

1993 NCAA Tournament
In the run to Carolina's fourth national championship, the Tar Heels had to overcome double-digit deficits on three different occasions against tough tournament competition. In the East Regional semifinal at the Meadowlands, Carolina trailed a quick and deep Arkansas team, 25-14, more than 10 minutes into the first half. Sparked by George Lynch and Donald Williams, however, the Heels went on a 14-3 run to tie the game at 28. Carolina again fell behind 38-31 before knotting the score at 45 at halftime and eventually prevailing 80-74. Two days later in the regional final, the Tar Heels trailed Cincinnati 29-14 with under seven minutes remaining in the first half. The Bearcats' Nick Van Exel hit his sixth three-pointer of the half with 4:50 remaining to chalk up his 21st point and a 33-20 lead. But led by Derrick Phelps' suffocating defense on Van Exel, Carolina cut the deficit to one by halftime, held Van Exel to only two more points in the final 20 minutes and pulled out a 75-68 overtime win. After defeating Kansas in the Final Four in New Orleans, the Tar Heels fell behind Michigan 23-13 in the national championship game. Carolina then went on a 12-2 run to tie the game, capped off by a 22-foot three-pointer by Donald Williams. Carolina took a 42-36 halftime lead and went on to win the title, 77-71.

March 12, 1994
In the semifinals of the 1994 ACC Tournament, the Tar Heels overcame 31 points and 10 assists from Wake Forest junior guard Randolph Childress and erased a five-point deficit in the final 1:15 of regulation to down the Demon Deacons, 86-84 in overtime. With an 81-78 lead, Wake coach Dave Odom called a time out and instructed guard Charlie Harrison to foul Carolina's Derrick Phelps with 11.8 seconds left. Phelps made the first free throw and missed the second, but he grabbed the rebound and dribbled to the left side of the court. He found Dante Calabria on the opposite side of the lane and Calabria's baseline drive and basket with 3.8 ticks left on the clock in regulation tied the score at 81, forcing the extra stanza. After a low-scoring overtime, Tar Heel freshman Jerry Stackhouse, who was later named the tournament MVP, took a pass from Phelps and sunk a driving shot in traffic to win the game, 86-84. Carolina went on to win its 13th ACC title the next day with a hard-fought 73-66 victory over Virginia.

January 28, 1995
UNC again victimized Wake Forest in what would be the first of two comeback road wins over in-state rivals in the span of five days. Winston-Salem was the stage for an epic battle between centers Tim Duncan and Rasheed Wallace. The Demon Deacons' Duncan, who finished the game with 18 points, 17 rebounds and seven blocked shots, and Carolina's Wallace, with totals of 17 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks, each showed the stuff that made them first-team All-ACC honorees at the close of the season. Carolina did not score during a five-minute stretch of the second half and trailed Wake Forest by 10, 53-43 with 6:39 left. Strong inside play from Wallace and the timely three-point shooting of Jeff McInnis and Donald Williams brought the Heels back within one at 61-60. Williams then hit a running one-hander from the right of the lane with 5.5 seconds remaining to seal a 62-61 win.

February 2, 1995
Five days later, Carolina and Duke waged one of the finest battles in the history of the greatest rivalry in college basketball. It was a game of surges that seemed at times as if it would never end. The Tar Heels jumped out to an early, 26-9 lead on a reverse dunk by Jerry Stackhouse over two Blue Devil players and the ensuing free throw. Duke's three-point shooting pulled the Blue Devils within five at halftime and gave them the lead by as many as 12 midway through the second half. UNC then mounted a comeback of its own, battling back from a nine-point deficit with 6:18 to play to force overtime. The Tar Heels raced out to a nine-point lead in the first extra stanza, but four Duke three-pointers, including a running 30-footer from Blue Devil sophomore Jeff Capel at the buzzer, knotted the score at 95 and forced a second overtime. The clutch shooting of Donald Williams and a steal and basket by Jeff McInnis with under a minute to play sealed Carolina's 102-100, double-overtime win. The 202 points between the two teams were the most points ever scored in a UNC-Duke game.

January 27, 1996
UNC actually had more turnovers than field goals in the first half and trailed Wake Forest by 14 at halftime, 42-28. The Deacons stretched the lead to 18 (41-23) with 17:23 left in the game before freshman Antawn Jamison ignited the UNC comeback. Jamison had a three-point play at 16:17 to cut the lead to 13, at 15:41 to cut it to 11 and then he followed an Ademola Okulaja three-pointer with yet another put-back basket at 12:00 to get the deficit to single digits at 43-35.

Ricky Peral and Tim Duncan scored successive baskets to build the Wake lead back to 12 with 10:56 to play, but from that point on the Tar Heels outscored the Deacons, 30-12. Jeff McInnis scored in the lane, Dante Calabria banked one high off the glass and a layup by Jamison made it six. Wake led by seven with 7:09 to play after a dunk by Duncan, but Carolina then went on a 12-3 tear to take the lead. Okulaja pulled down an offensive board to keep a possession alive which ended with a three from the right corner by Calabria to close within four points. Vince Carter hit a baseline jumper to cut it to one and with 2:24 to play Okulaja buried a three from the left wing for a 56-54 UNC lead.

Tony Rutland dropped in a three late in the shot clock with 1:49 to play for the Deacons' final lead of the game at 57-56. McInnis stole the ball after a UNC miss and hit a runner in the lane over Duncan to give Carolina the lead for good at 58-57 with 1:09 to play. McInnis and Shammond Williams each made a pair of free throws, with 38 and 15 seconds left, respectively, and Carter capped the scoring with a reverse, alley-oop dunk from McInnis.

January 31, 1996
Duke led UNC, 37-20, with 4:32 to play in the opening half and by 12, 42-30, at the half. Carolina pulled within two at 44-42 with 14:14 to play, but the Blue Devils extended the lead to 11 points at 63-52 with 8:44 remaining. A jumper in the lane by Vince Carter, a tip-in by Antawn Jamison and a three-pointer by Shammond Williams trimmed Duke's lead to 63-59 and free throws by Ademola Okulaja and Jeff McInnis narrowed the gap to one. Ricky Price, who scored 20 for Duke, hit a three-pointer with 4:54 to play for a 67-63 advantage. The Blue Devils' lead was three when Okulaja grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to make it 69-68 Duke with 1:55 to go. Steve Wojciechowski hit a three-pointer at the top of the circle for a 72-68 Duke lead with 1:13 to play, but Williams countered with a three of his own with 58 seconds left. Duke turned the ball over right in front of the Blue Devil bench, and the Tar Heels nearly returned the favor but a hustling Williams forced a jump ball after a wild scramble near midcourt. Possession favored the Tar Heels and Carolina had one last chance.

McInnis drove into the lane and fed Zwikker on the low block. Zwikker's shot was deflected by Greg Newton, but Calabria tipped the ball in for a 73-72 lead. Duke had one final chance to win, but Price's baseline jumper at the buzzer hit the front of the rim and bounced away.

January 15, 1997
The Tar Heels began ACC play with three straight losses for the first time in history and a fourth consecutive loss seemed imminent. Carolina led 36-28 at halftime, but did not score a field goal in the second half until the 8:09 mark and had just two baskets in the first 18 minutes of the second stanza. The Wolfpack led 56-47 with 2:00 to play, but that's when the Tar Heels went on a 12-0 run to finish the game. Antawn Jamison began the rally by forcing a steal in the backcourt and Shammond Williams hit a layup to pull within seven. Williams hit a three-pointer and Jamison added a layup to pull within two points with 50 seconds to play. Trailing by one with 28 seconds left, Carolina fouled and the strategy worked as State missed the front end of a one-and-one. The Tar Heels went ahead for good with 12 seconds to play as Ademola Okulaja fed Jamison on the low block for a layup. Vince Carter stole the inbounds pass after the go-ahead score to secure the win.

February 12, 1997
This 45-44 UNC win is the lowest scoring victory in Dean Smith's 36 years as head coach. The Tar Heels trailed 28-19 at the half and fell behind by 11 moments after halftime. Carolina chipped away at the Pack's lead and pulled within 42-41 with 7:25 to play on a dunk by Antawn Jamison. Neither team scored for the next 5:22 until a Damon Thornton basket gave State a 44-41 advantage. Serge Zwikker scored for UNC to make it 44-43 and, with just two team fouls, Carolina began to foul to send the Pack to the line. With 12.3 seconds to play, however, Jamison forced a turnover right in front of the bench and Carolina got the ball back for one last play. Freshman point guard Ed Cota drove to the left baseline and lofted a soft lob shot which found the net with 4.5 seconds remaining. State's last-gasp shot, a three-pointer from the right wing by Danny Strong, was blocked by Vince Carter.

February 15, 1997
Georgia Tech led 37-30 at the half and built its lead to 59-44 with 7:42 to play in front of a boisterous crowd in Atlanta. Carolina had to play the entire second half without senior center Serge Zwikker, who suffered a concussion in the first half. Shammond Williams and Ademola Okulaja hit three-pointers and UNC pulled within nine points with 6:37 to play. More than three minutes later, the Yellow Jackets lead remained at nine points, 67-58. From that point on, however, the Tar Heels outscored Tech, 14-1. Antawn Jamison hit three free throws, Ed Cota set up Vince Carter and Jamison for layups and the Yellow Jackets lead was down to 67-65. Cota then set up Williams for a go-ahead three from the left corner with 1:12 to play. Tech sank one free throw to tie the game, but Cota calmy sank two free throws with 33 seconds left for the win.

December 27, 1997
Carolina trailed Georgia, 73-66, in Athens, Ga., but outscored the Bulldogs 7-0 over the final 2:00 in regulation. Vince Carter's jumper and a tip-in by Ademola Okulaja cut the lead to three with 1:44 left. Okulaja hit three straight free throws to tie the game, the final two with just 25.3 seconds remaining. Okulaja then forced a jump ball on Georgia's last-second possession and the game went to overtime. Okulaja hit a three-pointer early in the overtime and Carolina led by five points in the extra period, but the Dawgs tied the game at 80-80 with 31.9 seconds to play. With 3.2 seconds to play, point guard Ed Cota fed Carter for the game-winning basket.

February 8, 1998
The Tar Heels let a seven-point lead slip away in the final minute of regulation, but Shammond Williams put on an awesome three-point shooting display as Carolina prevailed, 107-100, in double overtime in Alexander Memorial Coliseum. Williams sent the game to a second overtime with a pair of free throws with six seconds left in the first extra period. In the second OT, Williams scored 12 of his career-high 42 points, including two long-range threes.

The above is not even an all-encompassing list of great Carolina finishes. It is truly remarkable how the Tar Heels always seem to pull out the close games, and Carolina basketball has thus earned the title, "The Boys of Poise." Chubby Wells, a former Clemson player, expressed the frustration felt by countless teams over the years:

"When the games are close at the end, the North Carolina players know they're going to win. They know they're going to win because they're supposed to win. They're North Carolina. The bad thing is the players on the other team know it, too. That gives Carolina a great psychological edge."