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Off the cuff: Most Carolina fans were probably highly frustrated after seeing the Heels be unable to get the ball inbounds for the third time in the first half. And seeing Armand Bacot unable to hit a free throw.

The turnovers and the free throw shooting led to a first-half deficit.

But after a Brady Manek swished a three from the right side and R.J. Davis, who was in foul trouble and failed to score in the first half, completed an old-fashioned three-point play, it looked like a different team.

Other highlight reel plays in the second half included a nifty Bacot up and under shot that put the Heels up for good with 15:50 to go and a Kerwin Walton behind the back dribble and three from the top of the key that kept Charleston at bay 75-71 with six minutes left.

Tar Heels 94, Charleston 83
Heels come from 11 down to win by 11

North Carolina, playing in a hostile environment for the first time in two years, got down by 11 at Charleston in the first but came back in the second half behind Armando Bacot and Caleb Love to win 94-83. (11/12)

Carolina turned the ball over 11 times in the first half, leading to 15 points for Charleston, which led 42-36 at the break.

A 12-4 run to start the second half, highlighted by a Brady Manek three from the top of the key, gave the Tar Heels their first lead of the game at 48-46.

The Heels worked the lead up to eight but Charleston managed to cut the lead to 72-71 with just over six minutes to go. A pair of threes by Kerwin Walton and six points from Love upped the lead to double figures at 84-74 with four minutes to go.

It never got closer than eight the rest of the way.

"I don't know what happened at the beginning of the game," Coach Hubert Davis said. "We turned the ball over and we couldn't get into our offense."

But he said he was proud of the way the players came back. Love, who was in foul trouble in the first half, scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half. Bacot, who kept the Heels in it in the first half, was equally as good in the second half finishing with a career-high 24 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks.

Other Heels in double figures were Manek with 17 and Walton with 14.

While Charleston outshot Carolina from beyond the arc with 11 threes compared to seven for the Heels, the home team managed only 36 percent from the floor.

"When we decide to play defense, we can be great," Coach Davis said. "When we need a stop, we get it. Our next step is to do it for a full 40 minutes."

Bacot said the Heels beat themselves in the first half. "We have a lot of guys who were playing their first true road game," he said. "The second half, we didn't beat ourselves."

While Carolina turned the ball over 17 times, the Heels ended up shooting 54 percent from the floor and managed 13 more rebounds than Charleston.

The Tar Heels, now 3-0, play sixth-ranked Purdue in Connecticut Saturday at 4 p.m.

Box Score

Armando Bacot dunks in two of his career-high 24 points against Charleston. (UNC Sports Information photo by Maggie Hobson.)

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