Chapel Hill, N.C. —North Carolina men’s basketball team (15-6, 7-3ACC ) beat rival North Carolina State (10-11, 3-8 ACC) 100-80 on Coach Roy Williams Day in a game that featured the 1982 National Championship team reunion.
Armando Bacot recorded his 16th double-double of the season, scoring 18 points and pulling down 13 rebounds for the Tar Heels.
It was the fourth contest in eight days for North Carolina who have won three straight. The Tar Heels never trailed in the game. The members of the 1981-82 national championship team were honored before tip-off.
With the win, The Tar Heels lead the all-time series, 162-79, winning 34 of the last 39 and 51 of the last 63 games against the North Carolina State.
UNC came out firing on all cylinders offensively, in the first five minutes of the game. On offense, the Tar Heels hit six of its first seven field-goal attempts and four of its first four 3-point attempts along with three blocks and two steals. Sophomore guard Caleb Love was the catalyst for the dominant start and forced NC State to take timeout with a and-1 layup to put his team ahead 17-7.
UNC later delivered a 14-3 two-minute scoring spree fueled by accurate shooting from downtown to increase their lead to 40-19. UNC took a 56-31 lead into the halftime break. They finished the last five minutes of the first half on a 16-5 run, while holding the Wolfpack to 2-11 shooting from the court.
The Tar Heels continued to step on the gas after the break. Within the first minutes of the second half, UNC made an 11-3 run to stretch its lead to 70-37.
UNC put up a season-high 56 points before halftime on the strength of 10-for-15 shooting from beyond the arc and finished 15 for 27 from downtown.
Halfway through the second half, NC State’s offense started to come around, as the Wolfpack hit five of eight field goals. The Tar Heels’ offense, however, wouldn’t let up, extending their lead to over 30 points at certain intervals of the game.
Brady Manek led the first-half onslaught with four 3’s and seven Tar Heels connected on 3 during that half. The 56-first half points were just two shy of what North Carolina tallied in a 58-47 win over Boston College on Wednesday night.
In addition to Bacot’s double-double, he recorded six blocked shots for the night. Love finished with 21 points and R.J. Davis and Manek scored 17 apiece.
Terquavion Smith scored 34 points and Jericole Hellems had 25 for North Carolina State.
Up Next:
For North Carolina State (10-12, 3-8) is a Wednesday night matchup at home against Syracuse.
North Carolina travels to Louisville for a Tuesday contest.
