Off the cuff: Even during a close first half, North Carolina looked much better than it did against Elon.
While Carolina opened up a tie game in the first five minutes of the second half, scoring on nine of its first 10 possessions, the Heels also scored on 12 of their first 14 possessions of the game.
The difference was that Furman was hot early, hitting eight shots in a row, including a trio of threes.
Coach Davis was pleased with better defense against the three pointer in the second half but frankly Furman was hitting contested threes in the first half and didn't in the second.
The Smith Center may have been loudest when the fans thought Leaky Black had hit back-to-back threes early in the second half. Turns out, officials changed one of the threes to a two after watching it during a timeout.
Still it was an important stretch of the game plus knowledgeable fans knew Black hadn't hit many threes lately. Before he hit the three, Black had only converted three of his previous 28 three point attempts.
The Tar Heels, winners of five in a row, are gaining confidence and they'll need it against UCLA Saturday afternoon. Along with Purdue, it is the toughest early-season matchup and one where the Heels will be underdogs. It should be a good yardstick about how good the team is at this point.
Regardless, I suspect this Tar Heel team, barring injuries, will be much better late in the season.
Tar Heels 74, Furman 61 Carolina breaks open close game
North Carolina scored on nine of its first 10 possessions of the second half to take control of a tie game as the the Tar Heels went on to defeat Furman 74-61. (12/14)
While it was close throughout the first half and tied 39-all at the half, North Carolina led by as many as 22 points in the second half as the Heels got hot while the Paladins went cold.
Furman shot more than 50 percent in the first half but were held to just 28 percent in the second half with just two threes after canning eight in the first half.
"The effort on the defensive end in the second half was fantastic," UNC coach Hubert Davis said. "Our guys were locked in defensively. Furman has a bunch of guys that can shoot. We contested their threes better in the second half."
North Carolina didn't play poorly in the first half though as Furman was just hot, hitting eight straight shots at one point - most of which were contested. Furman's Alex Hunter, who played at Raleigh's Leesville Road in high school, hit 17 of his game-high 21 points in the first half.
On the Carolina side, Dawson Garcia scored 16 of his team-high 20 points in the first half to keep the Heels even with the Paladins. "Dawson started off hot and got us going," Coach Davis said. "His start put us in a good position."
The taller Tar Heels dominated inside outscoring Furman 19-0 in second-chance points while outrebounding the Paladins 44-25.
During the game-changing 15-4 run at the start of the second half, Armando Bacot scored eight while Leaky Black scored five, including a rare three pointer.
Bacot finished with 14 points while Brady Manek, coming off a poor shooting performance against Elon, hit six of nine shots for 13 points. Caleb Love was the fourth Tar Heel in double figures with 10 points.
North Carolina, now 8-2 and winners of five straight, plays favored and highly ranked UCLA Saturday afternoon.
