North Carolina was locked in a tough battle, leading just 34-33 at the half at Boston College, but the Tar Heels dominated the boards in the second half and pulled away in the final minutes to win 90-82.
At the half, UNC coach Roy Williams challenged his players to use its height and size advantage inside. As a result, the Tar Heels outrebounded the Eagles by 12 in the second half and, whenever the lead was in danger, the Heels got it inside for a bucket or came up with a big offensive rebound and follow shot.
“We had a better start getting it inside in the second half,” Coach Williams said.
Isaiah Hicks, who finished with 14 points, started the second half with a tip in, followed by Kennedy Meeks, who finished with 20 points, hitting a short half hook and then getting a layup to put the Heels up 40-33 early in the second half.
The lead got down to two on a couple of occasions in the second half but BC could never get over the hump.
Still, the Eagles trailed by just four with two minutes to play. But Theo Pinson, who came off the bench for 11 points, hit a couple of free throws. Then, Joel Berry, who had not scored in the second half, swished a step-back three with 1:12 to put a dagger in the Eagles, making it 81-72.
The lead got to 12, the highest of the game, before the Heels settled for the eight-point margin.
BC’s Ky Bowman, a Havelock, NC native, almost singlehandedly kept Boston College in the game with a career-high 33 points, including seven threes. “For a while it was the Ky Bowman Show,” Coach Williams said.
After Carolina got its first double-digit lead at 27-17, Boston College went on a 10-0 run to tie it. All 10 points came from Bowman, who hit two threes and got a steal and dunk during the stretch.
Boston College sank 12 three-pointers, compared to just six by Carolina.
But the Tar Heels got inside, got to the line and got 22 points from Justin Jackson to offset those numbers. Carolina was 24 of 29 from the free throw line compared to just six of seven for BC.
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