North Carolina ended the calendar year on a strong note at home to move to 10-3 with an 84-51 drubbing of UNC-Wilmington.

The Tar Heels broke open a modest 31-23 halftime lead with a 12-2 run to start the second half. Nate Britt stole a pass and threw to Marcus Paige to start the run and seconds later passed to James Michael McAdoo for a dunk that forced former UNC player Buzz Peterson to call a timeout for Wilmington.

A pair of powerful dunks by JP Tokoto got the crowd going but it was probably loudest at the Smith Center when Kennedy Meeks got a steal, threw an outlet pass to Britt, who lobbed it to McAdoo for a dunk. That made it 61-37 and it never got any closer.

The Heels worked the lead up to 33 with just over four minutes to go and finished ahead by 33, which proved to be the largest lead of the game.

Neither team was sharp to start the game as Carolina hit only one of its first six and UNC-W failed to get a basket in its first 11 attempts. But the Tar Heels got hot in the second half, shooting 63 percent.

UNC coach Roy Williams said that’s what happens when you are unselfish, move your body and move the ball around.

“We were much better in the second half,” Williams said. “We took some bad shots in the first half. In the second half, the trap helped us. In the first half, it helped them.”

McAdoo had perhaps his best game of the year with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Paige finished with 15 points while Leslie McDonald and Brice Johnson finished with 14 points each.

The night was billed as “Happy Blue Year” as the Tar Heels wore blue uniforms, normally reserved for away games. The win was the 2,100th victory in history for Carolina basketball.

The Tar Heels travel to Wake Forest for their first conference game Sunday.

Boxscore

North Carolina fans are getting used to not knowing which UNC team will show up. The other Tar Heel team – not the one that beat Louisville, Michigan State and Kentucky – showed up after Christmas break to play 4-7 Northern Kentucky and managed to limp to a 75-60 victory.

The Tar Heels led by just five 35-30 at the half despite working the lead up to 14 early at 22-8.

As a result, UNC coach Roy Williams benched the starting five, except for Marcus Paige, to start the second half. The second five did show more enthusiasm and intensity. A fast-moving Paige to Desmond Hubert to Isiah Hicks dunk play got the loudest ovation of the night and put the Heels up by 10 at 40-30 early in the second half.

Williams said the second team’s desire gave the Heels a lift. He said they competed harder and cared more.

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Boxscore

Art Weiner, former University of North Carolina football star and member of the College Football Hall of Fame, died Christmas evening at Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital in Greensboro at the age of 87. He was with his family at the time of his passing, including his wife of 65 years, Boots, his sons, Gregg and Patrick, and daughter, Beth.

Weiner teamed with Charlie Justice to form one of the most dynamic one-two punches in college football history, leading the Tar Heels to 32 wins and three New Year’s Day bowl games from 1946-49. Weiner is one of five Tar Heel football players whose jersey number (#50) is retired by the school.

Weiner shattered the school record for receptions with 106, a mark that stood atop the Tar Heel record book for 36 years. He also hauled in 18 touchdown receptions, a school record that stood until 1997. He averaged 16.3 yards per catch, still the fifth-highest figure in Carolina history.

Weiner led the nation with an NCAA record-tying 52 catches in 1949. A two-way standout, he earned most outstanding lineman honors at the ’49 Senior Bowl and made a game-saving tackle at the end of UNC’s 21-20 win at Duke that same year.

He earned first-team All-America honors in 1948 and 1949 and was a three-time first-team All-Southern Conference selection.

He was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 1973 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1992.

The family will hold a wake on Friday (Dec. 27) from 6 to 8 p.m. at Forbis and Dick Funeral Services on 1118 North Elm Street in Greensboro. The funeral service is Saturday (Dec. 28) at 2 p.m. at Guilford Park Presbyterian Church at 2100 Fernwood Drive in Greensboro.

The Newark, N.J., native is survived by his wife, three children, eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

– News release

UNC’s Marcus Paige, who was held to no points in the first half and six points in the second half, erupted for 11 in overtime as the Tar Heels escaped with a 97-85 victory over Davidson at home. (12/21)

With 38 seconds left in regulation, Carolina trailed 79-77 to a Wildcat team that stood at 4-7 and lost to Clemson by more than 30 points.

But Paige drew a foul and canned two free throws to tie it with 29 seconds left and Davidson’s Brian Sullivan, who seemingly couldn’t miss from beyond the arc, couldn’t get a long three to go and the game went into overtime.

Paige quickly took over with a driving layup from the left side to start overtime. UNC’s Nate Britt followed with a long two. After a Davidson free throw, Paige scored five straight points including a swished three to put the Heels up 88-80 with 2:43 left.

It never got closer than seven the rest of the way as the Heels worked the final margin up to 12, the largest lead of the game.

The first half was back and forth but after a 15-3 Carolina run, it appeared the Tar Heels might be in control at 31-22. Leslie McDonald started the run with a three and a quick Luke Davis to McAdoo to Jackson Simmons lay in play ended the run.

But a quick 7-0 Davidson run, highlighted by a Sullivan three for his 13th point of the first half, put the Wildcats right back in it and the Heels led 38-35 at the break.

Carolina employed a full-court press and trapping defense at times in the second half to rattle Davidson. The Heels finished with 11 steals and forced 22 Wildcat turnovers.

While Paige was the hero late, JP Tokoto led the way throughout with 22 points.

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The University of North Carolina will not seek reinstatement from the NCAA for men’s basketball junior guard P.J. Hairston. The Greensboro, N.C., native has already sat out 10 games this season due to eligibility issues.

“Unfortunately P.J. made a number of mistakes that placed his eligibility at risk and the University’s joint review with the NCAA made it clear that seeking reinstatement for P.J. would not be possible,” says director of athletics Bubba Cunningham. “The University thanks him for his contributions to Carolina Basketball.

“We also want to thank Coach Williams for the way in which he has held the team together over the early stages of this season despite not having two veteran players and for the level of care and concern he has for the young men on his team,” says Cunningham. “We are glad that Leslie McDonald was reinstated and look forward to watching his Tar Heel teammates and him compete the rest of this season.”

Hairston scored 707 points and made 127 three-pointers in 71 games as a Tar Heel. Last year, he led UNC in scoring at 14.6 points per game and connected on 89 threes, the second-most in Carolina single-season history.

“I am extremely disappointed for P.J., his family and our team as he will no longer be playing basketball at North Carolina,” says head coach Roy Williams. “P.J. made mistakes and I was very disappointed by his actions and now he is suffering the very difficult consequences. He is not a bad kid; he just made some mistakes.

“Since summer, P.J. has been outstanding with our basketball program and with his schoolwork. He went through an extremely intense conditioning program with flying colors. He has been called a ‘perfect teammate’ by one of our other players. He has dominated our practices and at times has been as good as any perimeter player I have ever coached, giving great effort to help our team. He cares deeply about Carolina and the basketball program.

“P.J. has learned from this experience and will continue to grow as a player and adult. I will support him and help him as much as I possibly can as he enters this next phase of his life and basketball career.”

“We all wish this had turned out differently for P.J. and the University,” says Cunningham. “We first learned of this situation back in the summer and getting to this point took a great deal of time because the University, the NCAA and P.J.’s family took great care to learn as many of the facts as were possible to learn. I know everyone, from P.J. and his family, to the basketball team, our fans and the media, wanted this process to play out faster than it did. However, it took the time that was necessary and ultimately came to this difficult conclusion.”

– News release

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