By: Matt Bowers
CHARLOTTE, N.C.—Eleventh-ranked North Carolina seized control early and led virtually from start to finish in an 81-69 win over seventh-ranked Oklahoma on Wednesday night in the Jumpman Invitational at the Spectrum Center.
Carolina held the previously undefeated Sooners to season lows with 69 points and 40.4 percent shooting as a team.
RJ Davis starred offensively once again, as the Tar Heels posted their second win this season over a team ranked in the top 10 of the Associated Press poll. Davis led Carolina in scoring for the seventh consecutive game, finishing with 23 points and hitting 5 of 9 three-pointers.
Armando Bacot added 14 points and eight rebounds, Cormac Ryan had 13 points and seven boards, and Harrison Ingram chipped in 11 points and seven rebounds.
The Tar Heels improved to 8-3 and snapped a two-game losing streak. The Sooners dropped to 10-1.
Oklahoma’s previous scoring low in 2023-24 had been 72 points. UNC held the Sooners to 40.6 percent shooting from the floor, seven percentage points below their previous worst shooting day of the season (47 percent).
Carolina forced 18 OU turnovers, and the Sooners never led in the game. UNC had a 24-11 advantage in points off turnovers and had 23 fast break points to Oklahoma’s nine.
The Tar Heels led for over 17 minutes of the first half, forcing 10 turnovers and holding the Sooners to 32.3 percent shooting before the break. Carolina led by as many as 12 points early, piling up a 13-0 edge in fast break points with eight first-half scorers.
The Sooners missed 10 of their first 11 three-point attempts, including 9 of 10 in the first half, before rallying to make 6 of 13 in the second half. OU cut the Tar Heel lead to as few as seven at 68-61 in the final five minutes.
How It Happened
First Half
• Carolina’s defense limited the Sooners to 32.3 percent shooting in the opening 20 minutes.
• UNC had a 13-0 edge in fast break points and advantages of 7-1 in steals and 6-1 in blocked shots before halftime.
• Davis led all scorers with 10 first-half points, Ryan scored seven, Ingram had four points and six rebounds and Bacot had five points and five boards.
• UNC was 2 for 10 from three-point range in the first half, while OU was 1 for 10.
• OU’s 28 first-half points were a season low.
Second Half
• The Tar Heels matched their largest lead of the first half before the first media timeout of the second period, leading by 12 at 44-32.
• UNC eventually led by 15 with 7:52 remaining before OU hit several late three-pointers to cut into the deficit.
• Carolina hit 7 of 12 second-half three-pointers (58.3 percent).
Postgame Tidbits & Notes
• UNC is 2-2 against teams ranked in the Associated Press poll through the first 10 games of the season, including 1-1 against top-10 foes.
• Davis has led UNC in scoring in seven consecutive games.
• Davis has scored 20+ points 20 times, and UNC is 16-4 in those games. He’s scored 20+ in eight of Carolina’s first 11 games in 2023-24.
• Ingram has posted 21 consecutive double-digit scoring games (the last 10 games of 2022-23 for Stanford and the first 11 games this season).
• Carolina lost the rebounding competition for a third consecutive game, 41-34.
• Bacot’s 14 points tonight gave him 1,975 in his career, passing Antawn Jamison for eighth place in Carolina history.
Up Next
Carolina will return to action on Friday December 29 against Charleston Southern at home in the Smith Center.
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