Brice Johnson and Kennedy Meeks lead UNC in points and rebounds two games into season

In a weird kind of way, it’s like asking a couple when they fell in love.

Each person has a different story. The when is not really when.

So, when did Brice Johnson and Kennedy Meeks first notice things click between the two of them as a tandem in the North Carolina men’s basketball team’s frontcourt?

“Probably the Richmond game,” Johnson said after UNC’s 103-59 victory against Robert Morris Sunday. “He didn’t play too well of a game, but he still did his job.”

Oh, Meeks knows. That game, Nov. 23, 2013, the then-freshman center had just one point on 0-for-2 shooting. Johnson: 24 points on 8-for-15 shooting.

Meeks remembers a different game when things began to gel between him and Johnson.

“I wouldn’t say for me the Richmond game. I played bad that game,” Meeks says. “For him, I think absolutely the Richmond game. That’s when we really realized that he could have the ability to take over a game.

“I think the Louisville game. The Louisville game. I think that’s when we really started clicking.”

Louisville, Nov. 24, 2013: Johnson and Meeks each put up 13 points, helping UNC upset then No. 3 Louisville and win the Hall of Fame Tipoff Tournament. It was chemistry in the making.

Down the road, maybe deep into this season, Johnson and Meeks’ stories might change. Maybe they’ll look back to the first two games of the 2014-15 season as a time when they noticed things really clicked between them.

After a 76-60 victory against North Carolina Central in the opener Friday and a defeat of Robert Morris Sunday, Johnson and Meeks find themselves as UNC’s top two leading scorers and rebounders — after just two games as full-time starters together in UNC’s frontcourt.

Sunday against the Colonials, Johnson scored 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds on a career-high 10 field goals. Meeks pieced together a 21-point, 12-rebound night for his third career double-double.

Johnson is averaging a team-high 17.5 points and eight rebounds, while Meeks is right behind him with 15.5 points a game and a team-high 10.5 rebounds.

“It’s something we talk about all the time — just tryna be the best we can be for this team,” Meeks says. “We understand it’s not just us, but when we’re in there we have to produce.”

Coach Roy Williams may be considered the matchmaker of the relationship. He had a specific plan of attack to bring them together, focusing on each player individually first. Williams called for Johnson, who came to UNC in 2012 weighing 187 pounds, to put on the pounds to be a force inside. Now, Johnson weighs 228.

Williams encouraged Meeks, who came to UNC in 2013 weighing more than 300 pounds, to slim down to be more effective on both sides of the floor. Now, Meeks weighs 270.

Together, for Williams, they’d be the inside presence the team needs. Two games into this season, he’s reaping the benefits of the relationship he’s built but still sees room to grow.

“What we gotta do is see that over the course of a season. I thought last year those guys had some really good games every now and then,” William says. “But it’s really got to be on a consistent basis.”

Johnson says Richmond. Meeks says Louisville. Regardless of when things first clicked, they both know where their relationship now stands.

“I’m loving it. We did it last year. It’s nothing new,” Johnson says. “We love each other.”

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