By: Matt Bowers
Courtesy of Goheels.com
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—North Carolina went on a 20-2 run in the first half to seize control and never looked back, winning its second game in a row, 93-67, over La Salle on Saturday afternoon in the Smith Center.
Cade Tyson led the way with his best game as a Tar Heel to date, finishing with a season-high 23 points on 9 of 14 shooting. He scored nine first-half points, hitting his first 3FG in seven games in the early going. He hit back-to-back threes in a span of 37 seconds in the second half and finished 5 of 10 from behind the arc.
Tyson had 24 points in the first nine games and 23 on Saturday.
“He’s shown up to work every day,” UNC head coach Hubert Davis said of Tyson. “His preparation is fantastic, and he showed up today and played extremely well. It’s not about his shot, he’s a basketball player. He can rebound, he can handle the ball, he can pass and he can defend. Being able to stretch the floor and shoot from three is one of the many things that he can do, but his ability to shoot at multiple positions is a huge benefit for us and it was nice to see his shots go in tonight.”
RJ Davis started by missing his first four shots before rallying to finish with 13 points and five assists. Ven-Allen Lubin posted 10 points and five boards, and Seth Trimble added 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
With the win, Carolina won its second consecutive contest and improved to 6-4 this season. The Explorers fell to 6-5, losing their third in a row.
The Tar Heels dominated points in the paint, 50-20, and the rebounding totals, 47-36. UNC posted its third game of the year with 50 percent shooting in both halves, connecting at a 50.0 clip in the first half and 57.6 in the second.
“We just moved the ball,” Trimble said of the efficient offensive performance. “We were just really unselfish. When we’re unselfish and we’re just moving the ball and playing free, we’re always just the best that way.”
UNC’s bench scored 49 points versus 44 points from the starters, marking the first time its reserves outscored the starting lineup in four seasons. Carolina hit seven second-half three-pointers after hitting just 3 of 13 in the first 20 minutes.
“I didn’t think we handled that speed as well as we could have,” said Explorers head coach Fran Dunphy when asked about Carolina’s preferred pace and backcourt quickness. “We made some decisions with the ball that were way too quick. Then in the second half my man Tyson was tremendous. It was tremendous for him, but not so good for us.” The Tar Heels struggled a bit and trailed briefly in the opening few minutes of the game before ripping off its 20-2 rally to take the air out of the Explorers’ chances before halftime. UNC led by 17 at intermission, its largest lead at the half this season and biggest since being up 17 against Louisville at the break last January.
It was more of the same in the second half as Carolina’s shooting improved to 57.6 percent (19 of 33). Tyson scored 14 after the break. Twelve Tar Heels scored in the game, the most since 13 scored against The Citadel two years ago.
“I’m glad for Cade, the way he was able to shoot the ball and find his rhythm,” said RJ Davis. “He was confident. We were able to find him. And we’re gonna need more of that from him moving forward.”
How It Happened
First Half
• La Salle led, 8-2, in the opening minutes before a 16-0 run gave the Tar Heels the lead. The run eventually ballooned to a 20-2 burst that put the game out of reach early.
• Ten Tar Heels played in the first half, and all 10 of them scored.
• Tyson led UNC with nine points before the break, matching his second-highest scoring output of the season in just the first half. Tyson had scored a combined two points in five games entering Saturday’s contest.
• UNC scored at least 40 points in the first half for the fourth time this season and the first time since scoring 41 in the first half against Hawai’i.
• Carolina shot 50 percent from the floor in the first half, the eighth time this season it’s shot at least 50 percent in a half and the third time it’s shot at least 50 percent in the opening half.
Second Half
• Four minutes into the second half, UNC had built its biggest lead to that point at 52-29. The Explorers never cut their deficit to fewer than 21 the rest of the way.
• Tyson hit back-to-back three-pointers midway through the second half to give him a season scoring high. He finished with 23.
• The lead grew to as large as 33 points with 7:40 to play.
Notes
• Carolina is 481-88 (.845) all-time in the Smith Center in its 40th season playing in the arena, including 4-1 this season and 231-19 (.924) against non-ACC opponents
• The Tar Heels have one non-conference game remaining at home this season, scheduled for December 29 against Campbell.
• UNC will play back-to-back neutral site games next week against Florida (in Charlotte on Tuesday December 17) and UCLA (in New York City on Saturday December 21).
• Ty Claude was in uniform for the game and tallied two points and five rebounds in seven minutes. He missed last Saturday’s win over Georgia Tech due to a right corneal abrasion suffered in the December 4 game against Alabama.
• Carolina scored 90 or more points for the fifth time this season and leads the ACC in scoring.
Up Next
Saturday’s game was Carolina’s last home game before Christmas. The Tar Heels will play Florida in Charlotte on Tuesday December 17 in the Jumpman Invitational before meeting UCLA on Saturday December 21 in New York City in the CBS Sports Classic.
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