On Sunday, Atlanta will be host to the Super Bowl but on this day it was North Carolina blitzing Georgia Tech in Atlanta. The Tar Heels broke open a seven-point halftime lead by going on a 22-2 run to start the second half and went on to win easily, 77-54. (1/29)

UNC grad student Cam Johnson, who led Carolina with 22 points, was the catalyst at the start of the second half, scoring the Heels' first eight and last two points of the game-breaking run.

UNC freshman Coby White, who was razzed by Georgia Tech students for missing everything on one shot in the first half, scored 11 points in the second half and finished with 19 points and eight assists.

Carolina's defense bothered the Yellow Jackets throughout the game as Tar Heel players got their hands on a slew of passes. The Heels, who came up with 10 steals, turned the ball over 15 times, only one fewer than the Jackets, but they scored nine more points off turnovers than did Georgia Tech.

The Yellow Jackets were held to just 35 percent from the floor, including just two of 16 from beyond the three-point line. The Tar Heels, on the other hand, were hot from deep as they were 13 of 27 from three-point land and finished 48 percent from the field.

"It was a road win and I feel very good about that," said UNC coach Roy Williams. But he wasn't pleased with offensive rebounding, where the Heels got just seven rebounds off their 35 misses.

"We've got to rebound better but we got lucky and made shots," he said.

Johnson said the Heels have a lot of guys that can score. "We've got guys that can knock down shots over their zone," he said. "When we did that, it made their zone not very effective."

In the first half, threes by Nassir Little and Brandon Robinson gave the Heels a 10-point lead before settling for the seven-point halftime cushion. Three different Tar Heels hit six threes over the first 10 minutes of the second half as they worked up their biggest lead at 30, 65-35.

North Carolina moves to 16-4 and 6-1 in the ACC while Georgia Tech, led by Abdoulaye Gueye's 14 points, falls to 10-9 overall and 3-5 in the conference.

The Tar Heels travel to Louisville for a Saturday afternoon game. Carolina played perhaps its worst game of the year at home in a loss to the Cardinals.

"We've got to play a complete game to win at Louisville," Coach Williams said.

Box score

UNC's Cam Johnson led the Heels with 22 points. (UNC Sports Information photo.)