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Check back prior to the 2008 season for a preview and a program outlook.

Click here for Carolina baseball analysis.

Off the cuff: The Tar Heels played three games in five days and Coach Roy Williams said it showed with some sloppiness.

Carolina is down two players with Theo Pinson out until January or later and Luke Maye out for two or three weeks with an ankle sprain.

As a result, nine players saw 17 minutes or more of playing time. It's always good to be able to play guys multiple minutes early in the season.

This is the first time since the 1994-95 season that the Tar Heels have scored more than 90 points in each of the first three games. That affords Coach Williams the opportunity to play a lot of guys a lot of minutes.

The Tar Heels now head off to the Maui tournament with the first game against Hawaii on Friday. They'll be without longtime assistant coach Steve Robinson who will not fly with the team due to a blood clot in his leg.

Tar Heels 93, Long Beach State 67
Heels start fast to easily subdue LBS

UNC came out of the locker room playing aggressive defensively, forcing numerous turnovers and storming out to a 15-point lead before Long Beach State even scored. The Tar Heels moved to 3-0 as they lead by 23 at the half and by 30 in the second half before settling for a 93-67 victory. (11/15)

Joel Berry scored a career-high tying 23 points while Kennedy Meeks added 15, Justin Jackson had 14 and freshman Tony Bradley got 10.

During that first half when Carolina seized control, the Tar Heels scored 17 points off nine Long Beach State turnovers. After giving up four points, the Heels converted a turnover into a massive Tony Bradley dunk to give the Heels a 17-4 lead.

A Nate Britt layup gave the Heels their first 20-point lead of the game with 6:45 left in the opening half. A Meeks follow shot gave Carolina its largest lead of the first half at 45-21.

Up 50-27 at the break, the Heels went cold early in the second half, allowing Long Beach to cut the margin to 16. But Carolina went on a 17-4 run over the next six minutes to open it up.

A couple of plays by Berry highlighted the stretch. First, he drove to the hoop, was fouled and converted the old-fashioned three-point play. Then, on a fastbreak, he pulled up and hit a jumper to give the Tar Heels a 29-point cushion at 75-46.

Carolina, 3-0, now goes to the Maui Classic in Hawaii starting Friday.

Box Score

Berry shoots.

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