North Carolina kept UC-Riverside scoreless for nearly 10 minutes to start the second half as the Tar Heels eased by the visitors 77-52. (11/17)

Carolina had a tough time from the three-point line but the 19-0 second half run that opened the game up featured threes from RJ Davis and Jalen Washington, who hit his first two threes as a Tar Heel in the game.

It was the inside game, or more specifically Armando Bacot, that got Carolina out to a commanding 30-9 lead midway through the first half after a 17-0 run.

The Highlanders, who shoot a load of threes, popped in three late in the first half to chip the deficit down to 37-26.

“That 17-0 run or whatever it was was fun to watch,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “We were locked in defensively and we got out into transition offensively.”

However, Coach Davis said he was disappointed in the way the Tar Heels finished the first half. “We lost the momentum,” he said. “I was proud of the way we came out defensively in the second half. It’s tough to play them because they have a lot of ball movement and everybody on their team can shoot the three.”

While Carolina didn’t shoot as well as Coach Davis thinks they can, defensively the Heels held UC-Riverside to 30.5 percent from the field.

Four UNC players – two starters and two subs – finished the game in double figures led by Bacot’s 21 points. Fellow starter Harrison Ingram had 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Subs Seth Trimble and Jalen Washington each scored 11 points.

Two of Trimble’s points were undoubtedly the play of the game. Up 22-9, Davis whipped a three-quarter court bounce pass to Trimble who went in without dribbling and slammed a two-handed dunk over a taller defender.

UC-Riverside, 1-3, was led by Ben Griscti’s 14 points.

The Tar Heels, 3-0, travel to the Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament to face Northern Iowa Wednesday, Nov. 22.

For a boxscore and more analysis of the game, please click here.