North Carolina got out to a 10-0 lead on its way to a 98-65 win over a Davidson team that was off to its best start to a season since 1969, when Lefty Drisell was the Wildcats coach. (12/6)
Five Tar Heels scored in double figures for the third time this season. Nate Britt had 13 off the bench in the first half alone and ended with a team-high 17. Britt scored five during a 45-second stretch late in the first half that put the Heels up by 25, their largest lead of the half, at 47-22.
Davidson, 5-1, never got closer than 20 the rest of the way while the Tar Heels led by as many as 33 points, which included the final score.
There were three plays in the second half that really got the home crowd going. The first was a Brice Johnson outlet pass to Marcus Paige, which ended with a fast break layup and foul for a three-point play. The second was when Joel James battled hard for a rebound follow and was fouled for another three-point play. Finally, sub Spencer Dalton scored a contested layup for his first points as a Tar Heel with 13 seconds left for the final 98-65 tally.
"It was a total team effort for us," UNC coach Roy Williams said. "We got a lot of things from a lot of people."
Britt scored his 17 points in only 16 minutes. "You like a guy coming off the bench that can add something," Coach Williams said.
Britt said that he thinks his experience as a junior has helped him play with more poise. "Everybody is starting to gel," he said. "We're playing as a team pretty well."
Joining Britt in double figures were Justin Jackson with 15, including 11 in the second half, Johnson with 13, Paige with 13 and Joel Berry, who drained three threes, with 11.
Carolina hit eight of 23 threes while Davidson hit eight of 31 threes. UNC hit 50.7 from the field compared to 34.3 for the visitors. The Tar Heels outrebounded the Wildcats 52-31
The Tar Heels, 7-1, have a few days off for exams before playing at Texas Saturday afternoon.
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