Courtesy GoHeels.com
By Matt Bowers
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.— North Carolina hit 11 three-pointers and led from start to finish, beating SMU, 82-67, in the first Atlantic Coast Conference meeting between the schools on Tuesday night at the Smith Center.
The Tar Heel defense limited the Mustangs, the ACC’s top-scoring team entering the night, to a season-low 33.3 percent shooting from the floor, including 4 of 18 three-pointers (22.2 percent). UNC has won 22 straight games when holding opponents below 70 points.
“I thought we did a really good job defending the post,” Carolina head coach Hubert Davis said. “We double-teamed the post. We worked on that in the last couple days of practice, and I thought we executed that really well. I thought we also did a really good job staying with their shooters.”
RJ Davis scored 26 points, posting his fifth 20-point game of the season and the 40th of his career before leaving the game with 2:03 remaining after taking a hard foul and suffering a bloody nose. He added five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
“I think I just did a good job of taking what the defense gave me tonight,” RJ Davis said. “I was hitting my open shots, I was more efficient tonight. And I did a lot of good things other than scoring. I was able to penetrate and kick into the new playing zone, find open shooters and stuff like that. So it was really just more about just kind of just playing my game, not trying to overdo anything.”
Drake Powell tied his season high with four three-pointers and scored 17 points, one off his season high of 18 set against Michigan State in Maui. Powell had 14 in the first half and reached double figures for the third time in the last four games.
“”My coaches keep telling me to be aggressive and to just let the game come to me,” said Powell. “It felt great, and [I was thinking], ‘Just to keep shooting.'”
Ian Jackson scored 18 points and tied his season high with a team-high seven rebounds, hitting a trio of three-pointers. He scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half.
Carolina improved to 10-6 overall and 3-1 in the ACC with the win. The Tar Heels have won four of their last five games and six of eight since a loss to Alabama on December 4.
SMU fell to 11-4, 2-2, dropping its second game in a row after winning seven in a row previously. It was the first meeting between the schools as ACC opponents and the first meeting overall since 1987.
SMU entered the game as the ACC’s top rebounding team in terms of average per game and margin, but it only out-rebounded the smaller, gritty Tar Heels by a 41-39 margin.
“It was a challenging game,” remarked Mustang head coach Andy Enfield. “We missed some wide open threes that enabled North Carolina to get a lead on us. They’re an outstanding transition team, we missed seven straight layups, and they were able to get out in transition. They made some tough shots tonight, and they’re a very good offensive team. It’s tough to win on the road, especially against North Carolina with the talent they have.”
How It Happened
First Half
• Seth Trimble, who had missed the previous three games with an upper body injury, entered the game at the 17:04 mark of the first half.
• The Tar Heels shot well in the early going, hitting 5 of their first 7 three-point tries. They finished 7 for 12 from behind the arc in the opening half (58.3 percent).
• Powell connected on his first three three-point attempts for his fourth game of the season with multiple triples.
• SMU missed eight of its last nine field goal attempts and shot just 25.0 percent (8 for 32) from the floor as a team in the opening 20 minutes, including 2 for 11 from three-point territory. The 25 percent was the Mustangs’ worst shooting percentage in any half this season.
• UNC led by as many as 17 before the break.
Second Half
• Carolina continued to shoot well after halftime, hitting 9 of its first 13 shots from the floor in the first eight minutes.
• Meanwhile, the Mustangs’ shooting struggles persisted, picking up slightly to 40.5 percent after the break.
• Things got a little sloppy midway through the half as the Tar Heels went over three-and-a-half minutes without a point. At the same time, SMU was in the midst of missing 6 of 7 shots and could not substantially cut into the UNC advantage.
Up Next
The Tar Heels will visit NC State on Saturday afternoon in Raleigh.
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