North Carolina finally put together a complete game with transfer Cade Tyson finally showing Tar Heel fans his shooting touch with 23 points off the bench as the home team beat LaSalle 93-67. (12/14)
“It was probably our most complete game all season,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said noting that the defense did a good job protecting the paint and boxing out to get rebounds. “On offense, our pace was good and we did a good job sharing the basketball.”
Coach Davis said his squad could have done a better job from the free throw line it would have been a complete game. The Heels missed 12 free throws, going a season-low 11 of 23 from the stripe.
It looked as if the Tar Heels might continue their slow starts as the Explorer got out to a quick 8-2 lead but even more quickly Carolina turned it around, going on a 16-0 run to set the tone for the rest of the game.
Carolina led by as many as 19 points in the first as a Tyson dunk late in the half gave the Heels a 42-23 lead before settling for a 42-25 lead at the break.
Tyson had averaged just 2.7 points a game and had hit just four threes all season. In this one, he scored five three pointers and was nine of 14 from the floor with five rebounds, two steals and a block in 21 minutes of play.
“Cade played with confidence after having a really good week of practice,” Coach Davis said. “We need him.” Davis said that his size and ability to shoot is important to his team which hasn’t been consistent from beyond the arc.
Tyson said, “Good things happen to those who work hard.” Despite his scoring 23 of Carolina’s 49 bench points, he pointed to the defense as a key. The Tar Heels held the Explorers to just over 35 percent shooting while shooting more than 57 percent themselves.
Other Tar Heels in double figures were RJ Davis with 13 and Seth Trimble and Ven-Allen Lubin with 10 each.
Demetreus Lilley led LaSalle, now 6-4, with 16 points after going four of eight from behind the three-point line.
The Tar Heels, who improve to 6-4 on the season, play Tuesday night in Charlotte against unbeaten Florida.