UNC avenges its early-season loss to NC State basketball
North Carolina looked inside to avenge its loss to N.C. State with an 86-76 victory Saturday at the Dean E. Smith Center. The Tar Heels scored 48 points in the paint led by 17 from Armando Bacot and 16 from Day’Ron Sharpe.
The win moved Carolina (10-5, 5-3 ACC) to 33-5 against N.C. State during coach Roy Williams’ tenure in Chapel Hill. N.C. State (6-5, 2-4), playing for the first time since its program paused due to COVID-19 quarantines, is now on a four-game losing streak.
Carolina led by 13 with 5:41 left when the Pack used a 7-0 spurt to pull within six for the first time since early in the half. Braxton Beverly’s second 3-pointer of the game made it 72-66 and the cheering from the visitor’s bench made a dent in the cavernous Dean E. Smith Center silence.
Kerwin Walton answered with a 3-pointer only to watch Devon Daniels knock one down for NCSU to signal the last four minutes of the game was going to be a battle.
The Tar Heels were ready for one. Caleb Love, who finished with 15 points, made a pair of free throws and after Sharpe’s outstretched arm made Beverly miss a layup, the Heels pushed their lead back to 10. Love missed a 3-pointer, but Anthony Harris scooped it out of the air for the putback and a 79-69 lead with 2:17 left.
Harris, just in his third game back after rehabilitating a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, was again a spark for the Heels off the bench. He finished with 10 points in just 11 minutes.
In N.C. State’s win, its bench played a big role, specifically Shakeel Moore scoring 17. But Moore’s play was limited to just four minutes and he was scoreless.
Daniels again led the Pack in scoring with a game-high 21 points. D.J. Funderburk (14), Beverly (12), Jericole Hellems (11) and Manny Bates (10) all joined him in double figures scoring.
Here are the earlier updates:
UNC keeping Pack at bay
The Tar Heels were in control heading into the final 7:53 of the game leading 67-55. After grabbing their largest lead at 14, they allowed State to score six straight point. But every time the lead had dipped below 10, UNC found an answer to extend it again.
Carolina’s freshman guard R.J. Davis came off the bench and scored all eight of his points in less than a two-minute stretch. When he made a 3-pointer, it gave the Heels a 59-45 lead.
Devon Daniels continued to be the most effective scoring threat for the Pack with 18 points.
Heels lead at half
Carolina closed out the half on a 10-2 spurt to take a 43-33 lead over the Wolfpack. The Tar Heels dominated inside, outscoring the Pack 28-14 in points in the paint in the first half. Forwards Armando Bacot and Day’Ron Sharpe led the way for UNC, with 12 points apiece on a combined 12-for-16 shooting. Devon Daniels, who led the Pack with 21 points in their first meeting, was their lone player in double figures with 11 points.
Any worries about N.C. State being rusty have been shed early on. The Pack shot 46.7 percent from the floor including 3-for-8 from 3-point range. Where their 10-days off may have showed up is in their eight first half turnovers.
The Heels followed their hot shooting in the second half against Wake Forest by setting a new season-high for a half by shooting 56.8 percent.
Shootout brewing
Carolina and N.C. State started off in a similar manner as their first meeting when both teams shot more than 50 percent from the field in the first half. The difference is, this one was actually close. The Wolfpack and Tar Heels had seven lead changes throughout the game’s first 14 minutes.
If the Heels finish the half at 50 percent shooting, it will mark the first time this season they have had done it twice in a row. UNC shot a season-high 54.8 percent in the second half against Wake Forest on Wednesday.
In their Dec. 22 meeting, NCSU shot 52 percent in the first half and owned a 49-42 lead at intermission.
Starting lineups
North Carolina: Caleb Love, Kerwin Walton, Leaky Blacky, Armando Bacot, Garrison Brooks.
N.C. State: Braxton Beverly, Devon Daniels, Thomas Allen, Jericole Hellems, D.J. Funderburk.
This story was originally published January 23, 2021 at 1:32 PM.