UNC dominates Northeastern basketball in Tar Heels’ first home game in nearly a month
There’s good reason why North Carolina wanted to schedule another home game with all the impending doom of ice storms and postponed games looming. There’s really no telling when the Tar Heels will get a chance to do this again.
After the Tar Heels’ Feb. 16 game against Virginia Tech was postponed due to COVID-19 issues within the Hokies’ program, North Carolina went looking for a new team to play and found one in Northeastern. UNC coach Roy Williams said the Huskies were one of the programs that responded to Carolina’s request through its Twitter account for schools seeking to play a game.
The Heels made good on their last-minute scramble to line up the Huskies as an opponent, by dispatching their Colonial Athletic Association foe 82-62 in the Dean E. Smith Center.
“I feel a heck of a lot safer coming here and playing than I do getting on the plane going somewhere else and playing,” said Williams, who added that UNC had the lowest percentage of home games played than all the teams in NCAA Division I. “And again, we didn’t try to find No. 353 in the country, we found a team that had a higher (NET) then three teams in our league. So yes, if we have to go on Twitter again, I’m gonna try to find another home game.”
UNC (13-7, 7-5 ACC) had not played a home since its 86-76 win over N.C. State back on Jan. 23. Four straight road games and three postponed home games later, the Heels are scheduled to play Louisville on Saturday. The game hasn’t been postponed yet, but the ACC announced Wednesday the Cardinals’ game against Syracuse was postponed due to positive COVID tests within their program.
Shortly before tipoff with the Huskies, the ACC revealed UNC’s game on Tuesday with Boston College would be postponed. The uncertainly has caused some anxiety for the players. Williams said the players have consistently been on edge that he’s going to present bad news.
“You never know what’s going to happen, it’s nerve-racking” said UNC freshman guard Kerwin Walton, who finished with 14 points, of the team’s ever-changing schedule. “You just keep our fingers crossed and hope everything goes your way.”
Everything went Carolina’s way against the Huskies, once it figured out how to defend Tyson Walker. The sophomore guard scored a game-high 27 points, but only six of those came in the second half.
“We did some things, but again, maybe he was just tired of making baskets,” Williams joked.
The Heels’ scored 41 points in the first half, which marked just the fifth time this season they reached at least 40. A game after having no one reach double figures for the first time since 1966, UNC had four players do so. That included senior forward Garrison Brooks, who had just his second double-double of the season with 11 points and 13 rebounds. UNC freshman guard Caleb Love added a career-best nine assists and only two turnovers.
Williams said he challenged his bench before the Virginia game and they provided a big boost with guard Andrew Platek scoring all nine of his points in the first 20 minutes. Forward Day’Ron Sharpe scored nine points of his team-high 15 points in the first half and the two energized a lineup that showed its rust in the opening four minutes.
UNC freshman Walker Kessler topped his career-high nine points at Virginia with a new high of 10 points and seven rebounds. He redeemed himself after dubiously banking a 3-pointer by getting a steal off a deflection and taking it in for a dunk.
“Rust acquires pretty quickly and you can see that just because, with any team that has a big span of time off, they’re usually a little rusty coming back,” Kessler said. “It was big for us to get a win and get back in the flow.”
NABC tribute to John Thompson
Williams joined many coaches across the nation who have paid tribute to former Georgetown coach John Thompson by wearing a towel across his shoulder. The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) designated this week for coaches to pay their respects to Thompson.
Williams said Thompson was a major influence on him in addition to being was a close friend of former UNC coach Dean Smith.
“One time I said, ‘Big fella, I’m gonna start wearing a big ol’ towel on my shoulder like you do,’” Williams told Thompson. “And he started laughing. He said a few words that we won’t repeat, but he basically told me, ‘If you were a big ‘ol towel like mine, it’ll be like you wearing a big blanket, boy.’”
Here are updates from earlier:
Heels way out in front
Carolina matched its biggest lead of the game, 69-49 and is up on Northeastern with 7:31 left in the game.
The Tar Heels have looked better defensively in the second half, locking down the Huskies leading scorer Tyson Walker. After scoring 21 points in the first half, he’s managed just two points and has not made a shot from the field. As a team, Northeastern is just 5-for-16 shooting in the second half.
Offensively the game has gone about as expected with UNC taking advantage of its superior size in the frontcourt. The Heels have grabbed 13 offensive rebounds and used them to outscore the Huskies 15-0 in second-chance points.
UNC leads at halftime
The Tar Heels haven’t found a way to slow Northeastern’s Tyson Walker, who scored 21 points on 7-for-8 shooting including four 3-pointers. But they closed the half with an 11-4 spurt to lead 41-30. It marked just the fifth time this season Carolina has scored 40 or more points in the first half.
UNC has gotten a boost from its bench, with Andrew Platek and Day’Ron Sharpe leading the team in scoring with nine points each. Eight of the nine players coach Roy Williams has used have scored as Carolina shot 44 percent from the floor.
Heels a little rusty
Carolina’s first home game in nearly a month has looked at times like it’s playing in unfamiliar territory. The Heels jumped out with baskets on their first two possessions then went the next seven straight with four turnovers and did not make a shot.
UNC took a 22-16 lead into the under-8 timeout with Armando Bacot leading the way with six points.
Starting lineups
North Carolina: Caleb Love, Kerwin Walton, Leaky Black, Garrison Brooks, Armando Bacot.
Northeastern: Jason Strong, Tyson Walker, Greg Eboigbodin, Shaquille Walters, Coleman Stucke.
This story was originally published February 17, 2021 at 6:30 PM.