Second-half surge carries No. 9 UNC past NC State

By Brian Murphy, WRAL

Chapel Hill, N.C. — North Carolina blitzed rival NC State with a dominant second half Saturday in Chapel Hill, offering a demonstration of the Tar Heels' offensive depth and its strength entering the season's most important stretch.

NC State, too often on the short end of this rivalry for its liking, melted down in the second half, undone by a string of missed shots and a loss of focus.

No. 9 UNC's 79-70 marked its nine win in its last 11 games against NC State and its second this season.

For the first 20 minutes and one possession of the second half, it was NC State that appeared headed to a signature victory in a season lacking one. Casey Morsell's jump shot gave NC State a 47-37 lead with 19:32 remaining in the game.

But the Wolfpack missed its next 15 field-goal attempts over the next 10 minutes of game action as UNC asserted control.

"There was a segment of about two minutes where it kind of got away from us a little bit," NC State coach Kevin Keatts said. "We had a couple things that didn’t go our way and we didn’t respond well on both ends of the floor."

Despite the cold shooting, NC State trailed just 54-52 with 11:26 remaining. But UNC went on a 12-1 run over the next 2:12, fueled by seven made free throws and capped by a Harrison Ingram 3-pointer.

NC State, which shot 19-of-33 in the first half, made just six of its 27 field-goal attempts in the second half.

"We kind of let go of the rope a little bit, let go of our focus," NC State guard DJ Horne said. "Emotions kind of started flaring a little bit. They were probably in the bonus at that time. So they were getting put on the free throw line a lot. We kind of just lost our focus."

Ingram led the Tar Heels with a season-high 22 points, just the second time he'd paced the team in scoring. He had 13 in the first half to keep the Tar Heels' afloat.

"I don't really think that they had on the court that was — I don't want to sound cocky — but suited to guard me," said Ingram, who was 8-of-14 from the floor.

Three other Tar Heels scored in double figures, including freshman guard Elliot Cadeau (15 points). UNC is 7-0 when he scores in double figures.

Cadeau, who entered the contest averaging 7.6 points per game, was able to drive to the basket and finish among the taller players.

"When you go into it, you can focus on one person, but there's a number of parts to this team that allows us to be successful,"UNC coach Hubert Davis said. "That's a sign of a pretty good team."

RJ Davis, the likely ACC player of the year, scored 14 points as NC State keyed its defense to stopping him.

"I don't always have to be the leading scorer or the main scorer," said Davis, who scored a career-high and Smith Center-record 42 points on Monday against Miami. "We have a lot of guys that are able to contribute in multiple ways."

NC State got a team-high 22 points from Jayden Taylor, who made five 3-pointers (four in the first half). But he and Horne (20 points) were the lone Wolfpack players in double figures.

Center DJ Burns scored six points in just 17 minutes. He had four fouls. His absence impacted NC State's ability to score in the post and deprived the offense of a needed passer, Keatts said. Morsell had nine points in 26 minutes before fouling out.

"Guys can tend to get a little frustrated when your shots are not falling and i think it hurt us defensively," Keatts said.

UNC (23-6, 15-3 in the ACC) is assured of a top-two finish in league play with games remaining against Notre Dame and at Duke.

NC State (17-12, 9-9) hosts Duke on Monday night and closes the regular season at Pittsburgh.

"We might be the only team in America that’s ever played Carolina on Saturday and Duke on Monday without it being a tournament situation," Keatts said.