Off the cuff: I had to keep telling myself that it was only Evansville but Carolina looked fluid on offense and active on defense.
This could have been one of those trap games you hear about. Evansville isn't expected to do well this year but they have some shooters (who were off) and they were playing their last game in their old stadium. Zeller could have had trouble. Sometimes players in their homecoming games are anxious or nervous. But Zeller played well throughout despite getting a pair of fouls on him in less than a minute in the second half.
In fact, considering that Carolina scored 46 points in the first half when Zeller was playing and only 30 in the second half when he sat out a bit, the blowout could have been worse. Zeller only played 26 minutes but that was still the second most minutes among UNC players. Harrison Barnes, who is still struggling evidenced by his three of 11 shooting performance, saw the most minutes with 32.
Justin Knox came off the bench to have a really nice game as he went four of five from the field and five of six from the line for 13 poins. He also hauled in five rebounds in 24 minutes of play.
Tar Heels 76, Evansville 49 UNC handles Aces in Zeller home game
North Carolina went to Indiana to play overmatched Evansville as Tyler Zeller's homecoming game. Despite a sell-out crowd watching its last game in 54-year-old Roberts Stadium, Zeller and the Heels easily handled the Purple Aces 76-49. (12/8)
Zeller, from nearby Washington, Ind., scored a game-high 18 points, including 10 in the first half when the Tar Heels went on two 10-0 runs to rush out to a 46-27 halftime lead.
The second half was lower scoring and the Aces weren't hitting shots, shooting less than 32 percent for the game including going three of 20 from three-point range. But the Tar Heels managed to go on a 15-0 run to go from being up 57-39 to being up 72-39.
Zeller also pulled down nine rebounds while Justin Knox was the only other Tar Heel to score in double figures with 13 points. Carolina shot less than 43 percent from the field and 72 percent from the foul line.
UNC, 6-3, plays at home against Long Beach State Saturday night. Evansville, picked to finish 10th in the Missouri Valley Conference, falls to 3-4.
