North Carolina took its fourth game in a row, winning 68-59 at Clemson, tying the longest streak of the year, but it took a 20-6 run over the last 10 minutes of the first half to do it as the second half was ugly.
With the score tied at 18, UNC’s Leslie McDonald came off the bench to drain a pair of threes from opposite sides of the court to start the 20-6 run.
P.J. Hairston followed with a three and James Michael McAdoo added an old-fashioned three to put the Heels up 30-20. A Dexter Strickland jumper followed by a Marcus Paige to McAdoo play worked the lead up to 14 at the half at 38-24.
In the second half, the Tigers couldn’t take advantage of Carolina’s sloppy play but, after UNC increased the lead to 17, they did cut the margin under 10 near the end.
“I’m happy we got the win but the way we finished the game was about as ugly as you can win it,” UNC coach Roy Williams said, pointing out that the Heels were outrebounded by 14 in the second half in addition to going only eight of 15 from the foul line.