It seems UNC has a different star each week. Boston College just the latest team to find out.
Last week, freshman guard Coby White starred for the North Carolina Tar Heels, averaging 31 points in two games.
Two weeks ago, senior forward Luke Maye earned ACC player of the week for averaging 22.5 points and 13 rebounds in two games.
And on Tuesday, both Maye and graduate senior Cam Johnson were the stars, recording double-doubles and helping UNC beat Boston College on the road 79-66 in game that was not as close as the score suggested.
Maye, who finished with 17 points, a career-high 20 rebounds and five assists, had a double-double by halftime. And Johnson finished with 22 points, 12 rebounds and five assists also.
The third-ranked Tar Heels (25-5, 15-2 ACC) have won six straight and 13 of their last 14 games, because offensively, they have multiple players who can score 25-plus on any given night. This season, those players have mainly been either White, Maye or Johnson.
Those weapons were on full display Tuesday against Boston College (14-15, 5-12). Five different Tar Heel players scored in double figures. Along with Maye and Johnson, White had 11 points and freshman wing Nassir Little and senior guard Kenny Williams both had 10 points.
“We’ve got a lot of guys that can score from a lot of spots,” Johnson said. “It’s tough to guard, so you can’t give too much defensive attention on one person.”
Teams have made that mistake at times this season. On Feb. 9, in UNC’s game against Miami, the Hurricanes’ players began to put too much focus on White, who had scored 33 points, and left Maye open for a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left in the game. Maye knocked down the 3-pointer and sent the game to overtime.
The Tar Heels would eventually win in overtime 88-85.
On Tuesday night, Maye went to work early. He scored eight of the Tar Heels’ first 12 points and was 4 of 4 from the floor. He had 15 points and 10 rebounds in the first half. He scored in a variety of ways — on post-ups, on fast breaks and on second-chance points.
“I thought I needed to come out aggressive and try to make plays,” Maye said. “I thought that was big for us. Kind of early they were making a lot of shots and we just had to combat that. I thought we did a good job getting the ball inside and dominating there.”
The score was tied 16-16 after about six minutes of play. Both teams were efficient from the floor, and Boston College junior guard Ky Bowman, a native of Havelock, N.C., hit his first three 3-pointers.
But the Tar Heels made plays and got stops. They went on a 12-0 run over the next four minutes to take a 28-16 lead. Five different UNC players scored shots during that run. The run was started by a Maye fast break layup.
Johnson finished the first half strong too. He had 16 points and seven rebounds at halftime. His offensive rebound and putback layup with 37 seconds left, gave the Tar Heels a 48-25 lead at the half.
The Tar Heels didn’t particularly shoot well from the floor — 42 percent overall — but they dominated the Eagles on the glass. UNC outrebounded Boston College 60-35.
One-third of those rebounds were offensive rebounds, including Johnson’s rebound before the half.
Johnson, who had three offensive rebounds, said he tried to put more of an emphasis on helping his teammates on the glass.
“If I’m not rebounding, I’m putting a little too much stress on Garrison (Brooks) and Luke to get them,” Johnson said. “And Luke is always like in the game like ‘come on man, help me out on the rebounds,’ especially in the Clemson game.”
Boston College cut UNC’s lead to 14 points with about 10 minutes left in the second half. But the Tar Heels got stops on defense, and made easy buckets. They went on an 8-0 run over the next three minutes. All four of the Tar Heels’ baskets occurred in the paint, where UNC had the advantage 44-18.
“I think just our scoring inside and our rebounding the basketball was the biggest part of the game,” UNC coach Roy Williams said. “They cut it to 12 or 13 or 14 at that time and we went on a nice run at that point.”
It was a run that included buckets again from three different players. This season, Little has led the team in scoring twice, Maye seven times, White 10 times and Johnson 12 times.
The benefit of having more than one scoring threat is that defenses can’t focus on just one player. There’s another player who can score 25 points that night, too. Or in UNC’s case, two or three more players.
This story was originally published March 6, 2019 at 3:46 AM.
