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Off the cuff: Carolina had 10 players who played 13 minutes or more in the game against Hofstra in Puerto Rico. Even more impressive was that the most minutes anyone played was 25 - by Barnes and Zeller.

Barnes is getting all the attention nationally but this is shaping up to be a pretty deep Carolina team - even if the Heels were only playing Hofstra.

For instance, bench players contributed greatly. Kendall Marshall dished out a team-high nine assists while Leslie McDonald scored 16 and Justin Watts scored 13. In addition, transfer Justin Knox had eight points and eight rebounds in 17 minutes of play.

Barnes led the way with 19 points, all in the first half, while John Henson scored 12 and Tyler Zeller and Dexter Strickland tallied 11 each. Point guards Larry Drew II and Kendall Marshall combined for 15 assists and just three turnovers.

Junior walk-on D.J. Johnston got into the action late as he swished in a 15-footer from the baseline and then banged one in off the backboard, much to the delight of the faithful Tar Heels fans who made the trip.

While there were lots of empty seats, most of those in attendance seemed to be Carolina fans. ""We have a core group who are just sensational," UNC coach Roy Williams said. "They follow us a lot of place, places where they can get tickets. And Puerto Rico is a pretty nice place to go also."

Tar Heels 107, Hofstra 63
UNC puts in threes early to rout Hofstra

Six North Carolina players scored in double figures led by freshman Harrison Barnes, who scored 19 points including four three-pointers, as the Tar Heels routed Hofstra 107-63 in Puerto Rico. (11/18)

Carolina hit 12 of 17 three-pointers including an eight of nine performance in the first half as the Heels opened it up early.

"We've scored a lot of points my entire career, because I like to go up and down with the basketball," UNC coach Roy Williams said. "Last year we didn't do that very well and we didn't make many shots. (Tonight we were) 12-for-17 from the three-point line. Last year we'd go for two or three games and not make 12 threes. Again, it was outrageous how well we shot it early."

The first three of the game came from Barnes who drilled one at the 15:45 mark to put the Heels up 15-2.

Hofsta, mainly behind the shooting of Charles Jenkins who finished with a game-high 24 points, got it down to 17-12 before other Tar Heels got into the three-point scoring mood. Freshman Reggie Bullock canned a couple of threes and Leslie McDonald came off the bench for another one and just like that Carolina was up 30-16 and it never got closer the rest of the way.

The Heels worked the margin up to 25, their largest of the half, when freshman Kendall Marshall looped a pass to Tyler Zeller who dunked it for 56-31 lead.

Barnes scored all 19 of his team-high points in the first half.

In the second half, Carolina's defense created more points rather than the Heels relying on the three-point shot over the Hofsta zone. In fact, the play of the second half may very well have been a fastbreak dunk by Dexter Strickland after John Henson blocked a shot seconds earlier at the other end of the court.

UNC consistently increased the lead with the largest margin coming with 2:35 to go as Justin Knox hit a follow shot inside to make it 103-56 - a 47-point advantage.

The only Tar Heels to score in double figures were McDonald with 16, Justin Watts with 13, Henson with 12 and Tyler Zeller and Strickland with 11 each.

The Tar Heels will play the winner of the Minnesota-Western Kentucky game in the eight-team tournament Saturday night.

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