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Off the cuff: Saint Francis coach Don Friday sounds like a fan of North Carolina's. He praised the way he and the team was treated off the court and even on the court. He said the Tar Heels have "classy kids" who'll knock you down and then help you up.

Saint Francis is a young team that had little chance to win but any time you score more than 100 points and win by almost 50, it's impressive. Coach Friday said Carolina just had too many bodies that wore them down with an aggressive, trapping defense.

Without any air of cockiness, UNC coach Roy Williams matter of factly summed it when he said, "we're more gifted than these guys are."

Tar Heels 105, St. Francis 54
Eight Heels hit double figures in big win

North Carolina won big and again it was a team effort as eight Tar Heels scored in double figures in a 105-54 victory over Saint Francis at home. (1/2)

John Henson and Dexter Strickland led the balanced scoring with 13 points. Reggie Bullock and Leslie McDonald dropped in 12 points, Zeller 11 and Justin Knox, Larry Drew II and Harrison Barnes added 10.

The final nonconference game before the Atlantic Coast Conference season begins proved to be a fun one for the home crowd, which, with students still on winter break, was composed of many fans who don't normally go to the games. A lot of young Tar Heel fans got to see every player play and saw eight Heels scored in double figures for the first time since 2005.

Saint Francis, 2-11, looked to be a worthy opponent at first as the Red Flash hit nine of their first 16 shots, including a three-pointer. After that, Carolina's superior talent started to take over midway through the half and Saint Francis never hit another three (going one of 15 on the night) and finished shooting only 33 percent.

Carolina, on the other hand, hit a season-high 59 percent from the field and worked the lead up to 19 at the half at 52-33.

The Tar Heels extended the lead quickly in the second half. A pair of Knox shots inside worked the lead over 30 for the first time at 72-40 with 11 minutes left. With seven minutes to go Barnes drove the baseline for a reverse layup to give Carolina its first 40-plus lead at 85-44.

A Strickland steal, one of nine Tar Heel takeaways, and dunk gave the Heels their biggest margin of 49 at 99-50 with just over two minutes remaining.

The Tar Heels had a season-low 10 turnovers as starting guards Drew and Strickland didn't turn the ball over at all. The Red Flash scored only two points off Carolina turnovers while the Heels scored 18 points off Saint Francis' 16 turnovers. In addition, Henson had six of Carolina's 10 blocks.

"I thought we were good defensively today," UNC coach Roy Williams said. "We still have some lapses, but I think we are also getting better offensively by moving the ball and sharing the ball and you have to love eight guys in double figures, but they always say strong teams can make substitutions and have people help you, and I think that's what our guys did tonight."

Carolina, 10-4, travels to Virginia for a noon tipoff Saturday.

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