Jae’Lyn Withers has helped North Carolina regroup. Next comes Round 2 with No. 2 Duke

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — The frustration built for Jae’Lyn Withers. His role had slid from starter to spot-rotation minutes for a North Carolina team watching its season hurtle toward a bubble-bursting crashout.

What could he even do about it?

“Just find peace in developing and continuing to get better,” Withers said.

And his approach might have been the key to saving UNC’s season.

The Tar Heels have won six straight with their best stretch of sustained play all season, giving them at least the chance to play their way onto the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble entering Saturday’s visit from second-ranked rival Duke. It’s been rooted in the 6-foot-9 Withers’ rise, stablizing a team once teetering as it churned through guard-heavy lineups.

“I’ll definitely take my flowers,” the fifth-year forward told The Associated Press with a smile. “But it’s more than just me. It’s a ‘we’ thing.”

Maybe so, but Withers has been the key to unlocking UNC’s lineup of late.

North Carolina (20-11, 13-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) has come a long way from early February, when the Tar Heels weren’t competitive and trailed by an unsightly 40-13 score against Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Roughly a week later came a 20-point loss at No. 11 Clemson on Feb. 10 — a “rock bottom” moment, Withers said — that left a team that opened the year at No. 9 in the AP Top 25 at just 14-11.

Yet the Tar Heels haven’t lost since against a favorable stretch of the schedule, a run that began shortly after Withers returned to the starting lineup in that Clemson loss.

He is averaging 11.7 points and 7.2 rebounds in the six-game winning streak, a stretch that included him shooting 59% from the field and 13 of 23 (.565) from 3-point range.

“The way he’s able to shoot the ball, the way he can defend, I’m just proud of him just stepping up big-time for us because that’s what we needed,” teammate RJ Davis said. “Having him being efficient, having him on the floor, makes us 10 times…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/jaelyn-withers-helped-north-carolina-200058738.html

Author : Associated Press

Publish date : 2025-03-07 20:00:00

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