Tar Heels move into a three-way tie for third with win at GT

North Carolina moved into a tie for third place in the ACC after the Tar Heels held Georgia Tech scoreless for seven minutes in the second half en route to a 70-58 win in Atlanta.

The Tar Heels led by just four at 41-37 at the first TV timeout of the second half. But Carolina turned a close game into a commanding lead with an 18-4 run to go up 59-41. A three by Yellow Jacket Robert Carter broke a seven-minute scoreless streak, which included 13 straight misses.

The lead got as high as 22 at 66-44 with 4:50 to go. Carolina seemed to coast the rest of the way while Georgia Tech got three three-points to make the final score more respectable.

The Yellow Jackets led by as many as four points in the first half but UNC’s James Michael McAdoo took over offensively, scoring 15 first-half points to lead the Tar Heels pack to a six-point lead at the half, 36-30.

McAdoo finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds. It was the first time he had broken into double figures in the last four games. Leslie McDonald came off the bench to score 15 points in 17 minutes as he hit four three pointers. P.J. Hairston was only four of 15 from the floor but he managed 10 points.

Carolina shot just 38 percent but the Jackets didn’t do much better at 40 percent. The Tar Heels also had 10 more points from the free throw line (14-4) and 10 fewer turnovers (9-19).

“It was an ugly game at times for both teams,” UNC coach Roy Williams said. “I thought we had 100 turnovers but we only had nine.” He said he would take nine turnovers every game.

“It’s hard to get a win when you shoot 38 percent but we’ll take it,” Williams said.

Carolina at 8-5 in the ACC (18-8 overall) is in a three-way tie with Virginia and N.C. State with just five league contests left, including a Saturday afternoon matchup against the Wolfpack in Chapel Hill.

Boxscore

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